Section: 4. Skill Acquisition | Pre A-Level PE Course - Summer 2020

Topic outline

Main course page

4. Skill Acquisition
About this section:

This topic is all about how we learn skills and how we grow/mature through the stages of learning from beginner to advanced.

Guidance

Guidance is a key topic within this section. How do we receive instructions? What is the difference between good and bad guidance? Do we need visual demonstrations? Do all athletes need the same type of guidance?

Your learning:

I want you to make some origami frogs.

Below are three separate links to making the origami frogs.

Note: it is important that you follow each task description carefully and in the correct order. This will help you understand what I'm trying to achieve by setting these tasks.

Note: you will need somebody to do this with and read you the instructions. Family member/friend will be ideal.
- Origami Frog - Verbal Guidance URL
  
  What do I do?
  
  1) Get a piece of A4 paper or card and make it into a square. You will need to trim a little bit off obviously.
  
  2) Ask a partner to read the instructions to you stage by stage. Make sure you allow yourself enough time between each stage of instruction.
  
  Note: it is vital here that you do not see the images. This is all about verbal guidance, so please avoid looking at the images. I also want you to make sure that your partner only reads the exact wording. They are not to offer any feedback or alternate wording/phrasing/demonstrations.
  
  This is purely about how effective the verbal instruction is at achieving the goal - the creation of an origami frog.
  
  Note: when we did this with the A Level pupils this year, the results were very different. The following guidance links should make it easier!
- Origami Frog - Visual Guidance URL
  
  About this task:
  
  This time, prepare your paper/card in the same way as before.
  
  But you are only allowed to use the diagrams and images to guide you to achieving your goal.
  
  Do not use a partner giving verbal guidance.
  
  Did your resulting frog look any better/different?
- Conclusion:
  
  There we have 2 different guidance methods.
  
  You may have 2 very different outcomes.
  
  Which method of guidance worked best for you?
  
  Would it work better if we combined both visual and verbal guidance?
  
  Were the verbal guidance instructions clear enough?
  
  Hopefully this makes you think about how important it is that we provide clear instructions when we are trying to teach/deliver tasks and skills. This is vital when young athletes are learning skills for the first time. Perhaps elite athletes who are experts need guidance in a different way to achieve the desired result?
  
  Maybe this will help you create the perfect origami frog. Does the involvement of a demonstration help even further?