Movement Skills: Acquisition, Development and Improvement (Year 11 PDHPE)

Movement Skills Acquisition – Comprehensive Notes

• Note-taking framework used in the unit:

  • Syllabus definition

  • Elaboration of concept

  • Relevant example

  • Link statement to verb

  • TEEL: Topic sentence, Illustration, Explain, Link back to question

• Extended Response Question De-construction – CUBE:

  • Common PDHPE NESA Verbs: Outline, Sketch in general terms; indicate the main features of; Describe; Provide characteristics and features; How; Show the relationship between concepts; Explain; Relate cause and effect; Discuss; Identify issues and provide points for and/or against; Analyse; Identify components and the relationship between them; Assess; Evaluate; Justify

STAGES OF LEARNING / SKILL ACQUISITION

• There are three stages that describe how learners acquire new movement skills:

  • Cognitive stage

  • Associative stage

  • Autonomous stage

• Cognitive stage (initial stage):

  • Fundamental requirement: learner gains an understanding of the task required

  • Use demonstrations, videos, and guidance to highlight important points

  • Learner experiences errors, awkwardness, and possible disorientation

  • Continuous feedback is essential to guide progress

  • Rate of progress varies by individual and task complexity

  • Some difficult skills (e.g., handstands, somersaults) may never be mastered by some

• Associative stage (second stage):

  • Less tuition from coach; more practice by the learner

  • Learner practices the whole movement; errors persist but fluency/smoothness increases

  • Kinaesthesis (sense of movement) improves; confidence rises

  • Learner begins to provide some own feedback as proficiency grows

  • Some athletes may remain at this stage without reaching automatic performance

• Autonomous stage (third stage):

  • Skill executed automatically with proper sequencing and fluency

  • Subroutines (discrete components) consolidated; movements are fluent (temporal patterning)

  • Enhanced kinesthetic sense; ability to self-correct during performance

  • Attending to other cues during performance becomes possible (e.g., in netball, deciding who to pass to and what pass to make under pressure)

  • Training should reflect game/competition scenarios to adapt skills to real performance

• Practical activity reference:

  • In pairs, learners assess each other’s skill acquisition level using a variety of skills (handballs, tennis balls, rugby balls) to categorize stages

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEARNERS (CHEAP)

• Confidence

  • Confidence = belief in success; crucial to skill acquisition

  • Athletes must feel capable of achieving the skill autonomously, even before mastery

• Heredity (Genetics)

  • Psychological traits, physical attributes, and biology passed from parents

  • Somatotypes (ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph) influence sport suitability

  • Fast-twitch vs slow-twitch muscle fiber ratios influence performance (e.g., sprinting vs endurance)

• Prior experience / Transfer of learning

  • Prior related experiences can accelerate new skill learning

  • Example: Divers with gymnastics background transfer movement mastery to diving

  • Athletes moving codes can succeed due to transferable skills and problem-solving strategies

• Personality

  • Common personality traits shape learning patterns: enthusiasm, reliability, determination

  • Positive attitudes correlate with greater commitment and learning outcomes

• Other notes:

  • Factor interactions (confidence, heredity, prior experience, personality) influence rate and quality of skill acquisition

HEREDITY AND PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN DETAIL

• Heredity:

  • Physical attributes: height, limb length, body shape

  • Biomechanical and morphological predispositions influence sport suitability (e.g., tall linear frame for high jump; tall/muscular for basketball)

  • Muscle fiber composition (fast-twitch vs slow-twitch) affects sprint vs endurance capabilities

• Prior Experience (Transfer of Learning):

  • Prior exposure to similar skills can accelerate learning in a new sport

  • Example: Gymnasts transitioning to diving benefit from established spatial awareness and body control

  • Activity: identify sports where prior experience enhances skill acquisition

• Transfer examples across sports (from the notes):

  • Athlete examples where families or role models are involved in elite sport

  • Transfer of learning across sport lines can facilitate elite performance

MOTOR SKILL CHARACTERISTICS

• Key categories that influence learning and performance:

  • Gross vs Fine motor skills

  • Gross: large muscle groups; e.g., cycling, running, swimming

  • Fine: small muscle groups; e.g., darts, archery, putting

  • Continuous vs Discrete vs Serial skills

  • Continuous: no real beginning or end; ongoing (e.g., running, swimming)

  • Discrete: definite beginning and end (e.g., pitching, serving, free throw)

  • Serial: sequence of discrete skills performed in a series (e.g., lay-up, javelin run-up + throw + follow-through)

  • Open vs Closed skills

  • Open: environment is variable and unpredictable (e.g., surfing, returning a tennis serve, saving a penalty)

  • Closed: environment is predictable (e.g., basketball free-throw, archery, time-trial cycling)

  • Self-paced vs Externally paced

  • Self-paced: athlete controls timing (e.g., long jump, penalty kick, bowling a cricket ball)

  • Externally paced: timing controlled by external factors (e.g., returning a tennis serve, defending in rugby)

• Practice activity: learners evaluate a table of skills by category (closed/open, gross/fine, discrete/continuous/serial, self-paced/externally paced)

• Flipped learning reference (URL) included in the notes

PRACTICE METHODS FOR THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF LEARNING

• Massed practice

  • Single skill practiced continuously with little to no rest

  • Suitable for highly motivated or highly skilled learners; risk of boredom and fatigue; not ideal for highly complex or physically demanding skills

  • Example: basketball free-throw sequence in one block

• Distributed practice

  • Sessions interspersed with breaks; reduces fatigue and fatigue-related errors; better for complex or high-risk skills

• Whole practice

  • Skill practiced in its entirety to build kinaesthetic sense; good for discrete and continuous skills

• Part practice

  • Break skill into sub-skills (subroutines); practice parts before integrating; used for serial skills (e.g., basketball layup components)

• Blocked practice

  • Fixed sequence of repeating the same skill; structured and predictable environment

  • Keeps skill practice focused but may limit transfer to variable game situations

• Random practice

  • Varied skills in a non-predictable order; promotes transfer and long-term retention; closer to real-game context

• Practical examples and teacher/student demonstrations are provided for each method

PERFORMANCE ELEMENTS

• Critical for competition and game-like contexts:

  • Decision-making: choosing when/how to execute a skill for maximum effectiveness

  • Strategic development: understanding how to maximise outcomes within a game plan

  • Tactical development: applying strategies to exploit opposition weaknesses and coordinate team actions

• Game-centred approach:

  • Practice through competitive games or small-sided games to integrate skills with decision-making and tactical awareness

• Application example:

  • Soccer coach using small-sided games to enhance passing under pressure

• Activity prompts:

  • Identify three team sports with pivotal decision-making roles and specify positions

FEEDBACK TYPES AND THEIR ROLE IN SKILL ACQUISITION

• Intrinsic (task-intrinsic) feedback

  • Internal feedback from proprioception and senses; useful in autonomous stage for accurate self-assessment

• Augmented feedback

  • External input supplementing intrinsic feedback (coach comments, crowd reaction, performance results, video reviews)

• Concurrent feedback

  • Provided during performance; helps adjust technique in real-time; often external or internal

• Delayed feedback

  • Given after a performance; often external; supports reflection and correction for future attempts

• Knowledge of Results (KR)

  • External feedback indicating overall success or failure (e.g., number of goals, score)

• Knowledge of Performance (KP)

  • Feedback about the quality of the technique or execution (e.g., angle of elbow, height of toss)

• Notes on usage:

  • Intrinsic feedback tends to dominate in the autonomous stage; augmented feedback is crucial in cognitive/early associative stages

  • The timing and type of feedback should align with the learner’s stage of skill acquisition

RESEARCH IN A SPORT OF CHOICE

• Task for students:

  • Choose a sport and identify all skills involved

  • For each skill, classify its position along each continuum: closed/open, fine/gross, self-paced/externally paced, discrete/continuous/serial

• Part learning:

  • Break one skill into segments; identify segments and how to teach a beginner

• Practice in practice:

  • Discuss how teaching approaches would apply in practice for a beginner

• Suggested teaching plan and structure vary by the chosen sport

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: STAGES OF SKILL ACQUISITION

• Practical activity guidance:

  • Practice a new skill daily (e.g., juggling or using non-dominant hand to target)

  • Record daily results for 20 trials over 5 days

  • Tasks:

  • Describe the skill and scoring procedure

  • Graph average scores by day

  • Identify which stage was reached

  • Explain progression through stages

  • Identify requirements to progress further

  • Identify attributes of an autonomous-stage performer

  • Reflect on problems, issues, and feelings at each stage

  • Compare results with peers

EXTENDED RESPONSE: TEACHING PLAN FOR BEGINNERS TO MASTERY

• Example plan: Basketball lay-up

  • Lay-up described as an open, gross, serial, internally paced skill

  • Break into sub-skills: dribbling, catching, jumping, shooting

  • Early stage: mass practice of sub-skills; external feedback focused on performance; concurrent and delayed feedback

  • Associative stage: join sub-skills; continue external feedback focusing on performance; partial internal feedback begins

  • Autonomous stage: integrate into game-like contexts; feedback becomes more internal and results-based; emphasis on performance elements rather than process

  • Massed practice implemented once integrated; progression depends on athlete’s motivation and cognitive capacity; distributed practice may be used if motivation or reliability is an issue

HOW PRACTICE IN PRACTICE IS STRUCTURED IN PROJECT NOTES

• Practical sessions are designed to reflect both the cognitive and associative stages and progressively shift to autonomous execution

• Game-sense approaches and small-sided games are used to develop decision-making and tactical awareness

EXAMPLES OF PAST EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (SELECTED)

• Multiple-choice examples (with answers):

  • Q: Which stage feature is evident in the associative stage? Answer: D - Experiencing repeated success with a decreasing number of errors

  • Q: What is most evident when athletes have achieved the autonomous stage? Answer: B - They fluently perform skills and tactics learnt in practice

  • Q: During which stage is anticipation initially learned? Answer: A - Associative

  • Q: Outline the stages of skill acquisition. [Descriptor and marks provided]

  • Q: An athlete transitions from basketball to netball; which learner characteristic is most relevant? Answer: C - Confidence or potentially Prior experience depending on phrasing (reference provided in notes)

  • Q: An individual performing a discrete, open, externally paced skill (which would it be?) Answer: D - Returning a tennis serve

  • Q: Feedback type for scoring at the end of a routine? Answer: C - Knowledge of results

• The notes include additional context for each question type and its reasoning

FURTHER EXPLICIT CONTENT FROM THE NOTES

• Identity of key terms:

  • Open vs Closed skills, Gross vs Fine, Continuous vs Discrete vs Serial, Self-paced vs Externally paced

  • Massed, Distributed, Whole, Part, Blocked, Random practice

  • Decision-making, Strategic development, Tactical development

  • Knowledge of Results (KR) vs Knowledge of Performance (KP)

• Teaching and research prompts:

  • How the research informs practical coaching strategies for skill development

  • How to structure three training sessions for a chosen sport with emphasis on one of: massed/distributed, whole/part, blocked/random

• Peer feedback and marking criteria sections show how learners assess and reflect on their own or peers’ learning progress

SUMMARY OF KEY IDEAS (REPHRASED)

• Skill acquisition is a progressive process through three stages: cognitive (understanding), associative (practice with feedback and growing fluency), and autonomous (automatic performance with high consistency and adaptability)

• Learner factors (CHEAP) — Confidence, Heredity, Experience, Personality — affect rate of skill acquisition

• Movement skills have core characteristics (gross/fine, continuous/discrete/serial, open/closed, self-paced/externally paced) that shape how they are practiced and learned

• A variety of practice methods exist to suit skill type and stage (massed, distributed, whole, part, blocked, random); each has benefits and limitations

• Performance elements (decision-making, strategy, tactics) should be integrated into practice via game-centred approaches to improve real-world performance

• Feedback comes in multiple forms (intrinsic vs augmented; concurrent vs delayed; KR vs KP) and should be matched to the learner’s stage

• Research tasks and extended-response planning emphasize breaking skills into sub-skills, describing teaching sequences, and applying to sport contexts

• Practical tasks and real-world examples help translate theory into coaching practice (e.g., lay-ups, juggling, transfer between sports)

REFERENCE TO SOME IN-UNIT RESOURCES (FOR FURTHER STUDY)

• Cognitive stage guidance and demonstrations (video resource mentioned in notes) to avoid information overload while maintaining progress feedback

• TEEL and CUBE frameworks for structuring notes and exam responses

If you want, I can tailor these notes to a specific sport or topic area within the unit, or convert them into a printable study sheet with checklists for each stage and skill type.