Undergraduate Course: Skill learning in physical education: theory, research and practice. (EDUA10213)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education and Sport |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the ways in which teaching and learning in physical education can be informed by information processing and constraint theories. It will encourage students to explore research literature related to each perspective and provide them with opportunities to critically reflect on, and understand, the ways in which research might inform their practice as teachers of physical education. Furthermore, students will be able to apply this understanding through a series of practical tasks and micro teaching episodes. Towards the end of the course, there will be greater focus on the role of constraints in shaping motor learning, and students will consider the role that constraints and non-linear pedagogy have in the development of decision-making skills in games. |
| Course description |
The main themes covered in this course are:
1. Learning, motor skill acquisition, degrees of freedom, theories of motor learning and implications for research and practice.
2. Practice scheduling - massed distributed time scales, blocked, randomised, variable and constant conditions, contextual interference and the role of search in learning.
3. Feedback - 'feedback family'; augmented and intrinsic feedback and their consequences for learning. General feedback and encouraging search for unique solutions to motor problems.
4. Demonstration - modelling, observation, beginner / expert demonstrators.
5. Manipulating constraints to influence learning - organismic, task and environmental. Encouraging search, strengthening perception and action coupling and developing decision-making skills in games through the application of non-linear pedagogy.
The course is taught through weekly lectures, seminars and practical workshops. The course content is delivered in a variety of ways i.e. whole group lectures, small seminar group discussions and student led tasks. In addition to the taught lecture, seminar and workshop programme, students will learn independently e.g. undertaking set reading prior to each session, as well as completing formative and summative assessment tasks.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment Task 1: Lesson planning for skill learning (50% weighting)
Students will plan a lesson where the focus is on learning sports skills in the context of physical education. The student must present an introduction to the lesson (500 words), providing contextual detail relating to the nature of the class (age, abilities, etc), the 'block objectives', where the lesson is situated in the block, the length of the lesson, the time of the lesson and the specific lesson objective aligned with policy expectations. Within the lesson plan, the students must describe the learning tasks, along with some detail about the role of the teacher in supporting pupil learning (a lesson plan template will be provided). To conclude, the students will critically evaluate their lesson in relation to a) how it aims to facilitate learning and b) how the decisions they made about their approaches to skill learning can be supported by theory(ies) of motor skill acquisition (1000 words).
Assessment Task 2: Exam (50% weighting)
Students will be asked to critically evaluate a skill paper of their choice to demonstrate the ways in which theory and research have informed their understanding of teaching and learning games within physical education.
- Marks will be aggregated to provide the overall mark.
- Formative Assessment (Assessment Task 1) - Students will be given the opportunity to teach their lesson and receive peer feedback prior to the submission of assessment task 1.
- Formative Assessment (Assessment Task 2) - Students will deliver a 15-minute presentation on the paper that they select for the exam. They will receive verbal feedback on this presentation.
- Formative assessments directly support the summative assessment tasks.
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| Feedback |
A variety of feedback methods will be provided inclusive of whole cohort feedback, whole cohort feedforward, peer feedback and tutor feedback. In addition, seminars and workshops will afford students the opportunity to receive regular verbal feedback on any questions and ideas arising from tasks, discussions and reading undertaken.
Summative Assessment:
Written feedback will be provided, via Turnitin, for summative task 1. All students will be given the opportunity to discuss their exam performance and results with their tutor. All written feedback will follow the MA (Hons) PE assessment guidelines.
Formative Assessment:
Students will be expected to produce work as part of the formative assessment procedures inclusive of course readings, seminar leading tasks and creative writing tasks. These will allow students to demonstrate a subject focus, allows checks on student progress with ideas and theory and permits students to become more confident explaining and developing ideas for teaching purposes. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically understand research in skill acquisition in relation to the theory that it is underpinned by, implications for pupil learning (retention and transfer), and how this might inform their own physical education teaching practice in a variety of contexts.
- Apply their theoretical knowledge in a variety of practical contexts and articulate the ways in which knowledge of theory has informed their planning and teaching decisions.
- Understand performance in games as a dynamical system and consider how non-linear pedagogy might facilitate the emergence of decision-making in games.
- Communicate their understanding of theory, research and teaching , using qualitative and quantitative data and information from a range of evaluated sources including current research, scholarly, and/or professional literature.
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Reading List
Buszard, T., Machar, R., Lyndon, K., Kovalchik, S. and Farrow, D. (2017). Quantifying Contextual Interference and its Effect on Skill Transfer in Skilled Youth Tennis Players, Frontiers in Psychology, 8. DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01931
Lee MCY, Chow JY, Komar J, Tan CWK, Button C (2014) Nonlinear Pedagogy: An Effective Approach to Cater for Individual Differences in Learning a Sports Skill. PLoS ONE 9(8): e104744. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0104744
Magill R A (2007) Motor Learning Concepts and Applications., McGraw Hill
Pedro Passos, Rita Cordovil, Orlando Fernandes & João Barreiros (2012): Perceiving affordances in rugby union, Journal of Sports Sciences, 30:11, 1175-1182
Renshaw, I, Chow, J. Y, Davids, K and Hammond, J (2010) 'A constraints-led perspective to understanding skill acquisition and game play: a basis for integration of motor learning theory and physical education praxis?', Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, 15: 2, 117-137.
Tan, C., Chow, J.Y. and Davids, K. (2012). 'How does TGfU work?': examining the relationship between learning design in TGfU and a nonlinear pedagogy. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 17(4), 331-348
Williams, A. M. and Hodges, N. J.(2005). Practice, instruction and skill acquisition in soccer: Challenging tradition, Journal of Sports Sciences, 23:6, 637-650, DOI: 10.1080/02640410400021328 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Graduate Attributes: Research and Enquiry
1) search for, access, critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise relevant literature and information in order to develop their knowledge and understanding relating to education, physical education, physical activity, sport and well-being
3) identify and define problems relating to education, physical education, physical activity, sport and well-being research methods to address these
6) recognise the importance of reflecting on the learning experience.
Graduate Attributes: Personal and intellectual autonomy
1) be independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning, and are committed to continuous reflections, self- evaluation and self-improvement
3) be open to new perspectives, methods and creative ideas in understanding education, physical education, physical activity, sport and well-being
Graduate Attributes: Skills and abilities in communication
1) be able to communicate using oral and written methods to specialist (e.g., staff, fellow students) and non-specialist audiences (e.g., schools, research participants)
3) be able to engage in critical discussion demonstrating listening skills, effective use of evidence and own experience to support assertions, and clear articulation of points.
Graduate Attributes: Personal effectiveness
2) have the confidence to make informed decisions relating to problems and issues in physical education.
4) be able to transfer knowledge, skills and abilities to a professional context (e.g., schools, health promotion organisations)
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| Keywords | learning,motor learning,skill acquisition,information processing,contstraint theory |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Murray Craig
Tel: (0131 6)51 6043
Email: Murray.Craig@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lisa Jones
Tel:
Email: Lisa.Jones@ed.ac.uk |
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