Chapter 11 1

DEFINING AND ASSESSING LEARNING

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 2

THIS CHAPTER’S CONCEPT

PEOPLE WHO ASSESS LEARNING MUST MAKE INFERENCES FROM OBSERVING PERFORMANCE DURING PRACTICE AND TESTS

Chapter 11 3

SESSION OUTLINE •  Performance distinguished from learning •  General performance characteristics •  Assessing learning

– By observing – By retention tests – By transfer tests – From coordination dynamics

•  Assessing performance •  Summary

Chapter 11 4

PERFORMANCE DISTINGUISHED FROM

LEARNING

•  PERFORMANCE – Observable behavior –  refers to execution of skill

•  A specific period of time •  A specific manner

Continued

Chapter 11 5

PERFORMANCE DISGUISHED FROM

LEARNING

•  Learning – Change in one capability to perform a skill – Must be inferred – Relatively permanent – Result of practice

Chapter 11 6

GENERAL PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

•  IMPROVEMENT

•  CONSISTENCY

•  PERSISTENCE

•  ADAPTABILITY

Chapter 11 7

ASSESSING LEARNING BY OBSERVING PRACTICE

PERFORMANCE •  PERFORMANCE CURVES

– Records levels of performance over time – Graph of outcome measures of performance

•  Performance measure plotted on vertical axis •  Time over which performance is plotted on

horizontal axis

Continued

Chapter 11 8

ASSESSING LEARNING BY OBSERVING PRACTICE

PERFORMANCE

•  Two performance characteristics can be observed with performance curves –  Improvement – Consistency

Continued

Chapter 11 9

ASSESSING LEARNING BY OBSERVING PRACTICE

PERFORMANCE •  Acquiring a new skill usually follows four

general trends – Linear curve – Negatively accelerated curve – Positively accelerated curve – S-shaped curve

Chapter 11 10

Performance

Outcome

Time or Trials

Proportional increase in performance over time

Chapter 11 11

Performance

Outcome

Time or Trials

Early improvement but slows during latter practice

Chapter 11 12

Performance

Outcome

Time or Trials

Slight gain early but great improvement later

Chapter 11 13

Performance

Outcome

Time or Trial

Combination of performance curves

Chapter 11 14

Snoddy’s Law

•  Negatively accelerated patterns is more typical of motor skill learning than other patterns. – Early in practice we experience a lot of success but

later in practice amount of improvement rate decreases. (Snoddy’s Power law of practice)

– The rate in improvement is very task specific

Case •  Let say we want to determine if Open or

Closed chain exercise affects in rehab or in the training athletes.

•  How would we design the study?

Chapter 11 15

Design

Chapter 11 16

Open Chain Exercises •  Put simply, your hand or foot is free to move during an open chain

exercise (like a chest press). These types of movements tend to isolate a single muscle group and a single joint. For example, the one joint involved during leg extension is the knee and the muscle group it isolates is the quadriceps.

•  Open chain can be done with or without added weight, but when weight is added it’s usually placed at the distal (far away) portion of the limb (like the ankle.

•  Examples of open chain exercises are chest press, bicep curls, leg curls, and leg extensions (with or without added weight).

Chapter 11 17

Closed Chain Exercises •  During these movements, your hands or feet are in a constant, fixed

position (usually on the ground) during the exercise (such as pushups). Closed chain exercises work multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at once.

•  For example, a squat involves the knee, hip and ankle joints, and multiple muscles groups (quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and glutes). Closed chain exercises can be done with body weight alone or with added weight. When external weight is added, it is usually rested across the back of the shoulders or the front of the chest, which is considered much safer than the “distal” placement of weight during open chain exercises.

•  Examples of closed chain exercises include pushups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges which can be done with or without added weight.

Chapter 11 18

Results

Chapter 11 19

0

5

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W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 Ret Tra

Tim

e to

Com

plet

ion

(sec

)

Open Versus Close Chain Exercise Affect on the PF50 Power Test

OPEN

CLOSED

Result

Chapter 11 20

0

5

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W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 RT Tra

Open versus Closed Chain Effects on PF50 Power Test

Open

Closed

Chapter 11 21

ASSESSING LEARNING BY RETENTION TESTS

•  A common measure to assess the performance characteristic of the persistence characteristic of improved performance

•  Typical Administration of a retention test

Chapter 11 22

ASSESSING LEARING BY TRANSFER TESTS

•  Assess the performance characteristics of adaptability aspect of performance change.

•  Performing a practiced skill in: – Novel context (feedback in practice/no

feedback during retention and physical environment changes between practice and retention)

– Novel skill variations (fast or slow, harder or softer)

Retention & Transfer Test

Chapter 11 23

Chapter 11 24

Assessing Learning from coordination dynamics

•  Stability and consistency of the coordination pattern (movement) is an important criteria. – At the beginning, our limb-segmentation (joints

and muscles) are frozen (move as one unit) – Later in learning, our limb-segmentation

becomes functional or unfrozen (move in a cooperative way)

Chapter 11 25

Altering an old or preferred coordination pattern

•  Initially, we have a preferred way to perform many motor skills. •  When acquiring a new coordinated pattern to an already learned

skill there is a transition period. –  Initially we will resist (continue to perform in the preferred

way - biases) –  There will be period of instability in limb movement (self-

organization). –  Eventually we will adopt the new preferred pattern (attractor

state) •  We need to provide extra…extra motivational reinforcement and

feedback during the transition period.

Chapter 11 26

PRACTICE PERFORMANCE MAY MISREPRESENT

LEARNING •  Practice performance may overestimate or

underestimate learning – Retention & transfer test should always be

given •  Performance Plateaus- period during which

no improvement is observed

Continued

Chapter 11 27

Performance Plateau

Chapter 11 28

Why do performance Plateaus occur?

•  Plateaus are performance rather than learning plateaus. – Plateaus may be a period where the learning is

attempting new strategies – Period of low motivation – Period of fatigue – Period of low attention – Ceiling or floor effect

Chapter 11 29

Summary/Professional Practice •  Look for improvement and consistency when

practicing •  Plot performance curves during practicing •  Practice performance usually under or over

inflate performance. Eliminate this problem by using a retention or transfer test.

•  Performance plateaus can occur but realize learning has not stopped