Chapter 13 Assessment of Sport Skills and Motor Abilities

Guidelines for Sport Skills Testing and Motor Performance Tests acceptable reliability and validity simple to administer and take easy to understand instructions not expensive nor require extensive equipment reasonable time for preparation and administration encourage correct form involve only one participant

Guidelines for Sport Skills Testing and Motor Performance Tests (con’t.) suitable difficulty interesting and meaningful exclude extraneous variables provide for accurate scoring provide target scoring guidelines (if appropriate) sufficient trials yield diagnostic scores

Effective Testing Procedures Pretest Duties time, forms, procedures, instructions Testing Duties location, materials, cheating, safety, absences, make-ups Posttest Duties transcription, item analysis, reporting, confidentiality

Figure 13.3 Flowchart for Construction of Motor Performance Tests

Issues in Skills Testing In addition to reliability and validity (the most important issues) Feasibility Testing method Objective skills tests? Alternative (authentic assessment)? – See chapter 8

Skills Test Classification Objective Accuracy-based Repetitive Performance (wall-volley) Total Body Movement Distance or Power

Subjective Rating Scales Relative Rank-order Absolute Evaluation against a fixed standard Common Errors Halo Effect "Standard" Error Central-tendency

Developing Well-Constructed Scales State objectives in terms of observable behavior Select traits that determine success Define selected traits in observable behavior Select and develop the rating instrument Define degrees of success Test and revise the rating scale Use the scale in an actual testing situation

More Rating Scales Suggestions Develop well-constructed scales Train raters well Explain common rating errors to raters Permit ample time to observe performance If possible, use multiple raters

Other Tests Performance-Based Testing Actual performance of the skill Trials-to-Criterion Testing Could save considerable time and effort

Ability or Skill? Ability general, innate psychomotor trait Skill specific, learned psychomotor capacity Specificity determined with concurrent validity

Measurement Aspects of the Domain of Human Performance Muscular Strength Speed Anaerobic Power Flexibility Balance Kinesthetic perception

Power Tests Arm Power One-hand shot put Two-hand shot put over head Medicine-ball pitch Basketball throw Leg Power Margaria-Kalamen Leg Power Test Incline Run

Strand & Wilson Reprinted, by permission, from B. Strand and R. Wilson, 1992, Assessing sport skills (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).

Effective testing consists of... Including sport relevant variables, Selecting reliable and valid tests, Developing sport specific protocols, Controlling test administration, Maintaining athletes rights to respect, Repeating the tests periodically, and Interpreting the results for the performance and interested parties (e.g., coaches, parents, etc.)

Purposes of Human Performance Testing and Analysis Selection Classification Diagnosis

Classification Tests for High School Tennis Players Motor Performance 50-yard dash Agility line drill Tennis Skills Tests Forehand Backhand Volley Moving forehand Moving backhand Serve

Table 13-9 Men's Volleyball Performance Profile

Performance Test Construction ACDB

ACDB Which is the LEAST valid test?

ACDB Which is the MOST valid test?

ACDB Which test might you use if you have limited time? You might use A or B – realize you lose some validity

Which test would you use? MOST valid

Which two tests might you use? MOST valid with LEAST overlap