A1. Introduction to learning in PE

Knapp (1973) considers learning to be ‘permanent change in performance associated with experience.’ To help expand on this definition and provide some practical application of how learning takes place in PE, the following 3 stages should be considered; understanding phase, verbal motor phase and motor phase. Phase 1 – Cognitive (understanding phase). This stage is inconsistent and performance is not guaranteed. Students rely on the teacher to inform them of what to do and the technique associated with success. The main source of information for this stage comes from external feedback (from an outside source i.e. the teacher). This is because the student is not experienced enough to rely on their own inferences on how to improve performance, experience is required for this to happen. Phase 2 – Associative (verbal motor stage). At this stage performance is becoming more consistent. Simpler tasks such as catching with dominant hand or kicking a ball with dominant foot look fluent (general spatial awareness). In this stage a student’s sense of how the skill should ‘feel’ and look is being developed, this will help to develop their ability to evaluate their own performance and try improvements. Phase 3 - Autonomous (motor phase) In this final phase of learning, skills have become fluid and consistent. The motor programming involved in learning skill is now stored in the long term memory. This is the stage where a student can focus upon tactics and strategy. However, all skills need practice and a student should be encouraged to do this regularly.

Although these are considered to be ways in which students learn, we must be aware that children will develop and master skills at their own level. It is also dependent on the child’s individual preference as to what system of learning they prefer. In this sense learning can take on many forms. However, education is an ever changing and developing environment and teachers of all levels should be aware of the various systems/strategies available to promote learning. Within this MESH we will concentrate on Scaffolding as this is deemed to be more appropriate and reflects the learning needs and training a teacher receives more so than the tradition VAK (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic) model developed by Fleming in 2001. There is little evidence that people learn better if this preferred modality is favoured in all situations. This may be because learning is context-dependent and therefore meaning and content is the most important influence over what is the most appropriate way to present information (Reiner &Willingham, 2010).

References & Research

Knapp (1973)

Fleming (2001)

Criticism of VAK model

http://repository- intralibrary.leedsmet.ac.uk/open_virtual_file_path/i391n604179 t/LearningStylesSrc/7.Learning+styles/LS-critVAK.html

http://www.vark-learn.com/documents/The%20Case%20Against%20Learning%20St...

References & Research

Riener, C. & Willingham, D. T. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change, 42, 32-35.