Four Weeks of Goal-Directed Learning in Primary Physical Education Classes.

Publisher: SAGE Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0401131 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1558-688X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00315125 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Percept Mot Skills Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2016- : Thousand Oaks, California : SAGE
Original Publication: Louisville, Ky. : Southern Universities Press

Goals* ; Physical Education and Training*; Child Development/*physiology ; Learning/*physiology ; Motor Skills/*physiology; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male

Relatively little is known about how practice relates to children's improvement in gross motor skill performance. The aim of this study is to determine to what extent 6- and 7-year-old children improve their gross motor skill performance in a four-week period, in which goal-directed learning is stimulated and to determine whether differences between boys and girls occur. Groups of 6 year olds (n = 167) and 7 year olds (n = 140) practiced their gross motor skill for four weeks. Physical education teachers stimulated goal-directed learning by their instruction, skill-specific exercises, and individual practice. The week before and after, gross motor skill performance was assessed, using the Körper Koordinations Test für Kinder, and compared with a control group (n = 131). Both 6 and 7 year olds in the intervention group improved their gross motor skill performance significantly more than the control group. The results show the relevance of goal-directed learning for the improvement of gross motor skill performance.
(© The Author(s) 2016.)

Keywords: goal-directed; learning; motor development; skill-specific

Date Created: 20160514 Date Completed: 20170404 Latest Revision: 20181202

20231215

10.1177/0031512516648729

27173663