PDFE #13

For this field experience, I watched one of the Berry College Women's basketball practices. There are about 12 girls on the team and 3 coaching staff.

Some examples of feedback:
-Watching the ball go through the hoop in a layup or a free throw.
-Watching the ball being dribbled down the court.
-having the coach explain what went wrong in a play or scolding them for making bad errors.
-coach says "good job" at the end of a play
-Watching the play clock count down
-coach and assistant coaches counting the number of layups they make and the number they miss.
-coach tells a player to block/ trap an opposing player.
-coach tells the player to move down the court faster
-Assistant coaches helping teach a player where to move in a certain play

Categorization:

Intrinsic: Players watch the play clock to see how much time they have left to shoot
Players watch the play clock to see the time they have left for a certain sprint
Players watch the ball go into the basket as they shoot

Extrinsic: Players tell each other "good job" after making a good shot.
Players tell each other “good job” for making a good pass or catching a good pass
KR: Coaches count the number of layups missed and made.
Coaches count the number of turn overs/steals the team has during a scrimmage.
KP: Coach tells player she needs to slow down the play.
Coach tells player she needs to square up to the basket when shooting.
Descriptive: Coach explains to the players what went wrong on a play where the ball was stolen.
Coach explains to the players how to set up the play correctly.
Prescriptive: Coach tells players that they need to move the ball faster down the court.
Coach tells players that they need to box out better to retrieve rebounds.

Discussion:
Motivation: The coach tells the players they do not have to sprint if everyone makes the free throw on the first try. This motivates the players to do better, because they do not want to run sprints and they do not want the team to run sprints because they missed the ball. While a player is shooting their teammates cheer them on, which gives them more incentive and motivation to make the shot.
Reinforcement: The coaches tell them good job if they make a shot or do really well on a play. This is good reinforcement because it is letting the players know that the coaches are paying attention and appreciate their hard work. The coaches do not do this every play because they want the team to know that they have to work hard to earn the compliment. This in turn makes the team work hard to prove to the coaches that they want to win and want to be complimented.
Information: The coaches explained different break away plays. This taught the players to move the ball faster and more accurate down the court with competition. They were able to move the ball without errors and get the ball to the basket faster than their opponents.
Dependence: I did not see an example of Dependence however; an example would be a player being told the proper form for a jump shot every time they shot. The player would become dependent on the coach being there and it would hinder her in a game situation because she would have become dependent on the coach being there.

Minutes for Eighth Meeting: Meredith, Lindsay, and Caitlin

On Sunday November 28, 2010 group awesome met at 9:00PM in the Library Lobby. All members were present.
Agenda:
Introduction: We started the meeting by asking how each member was doing and going over old and new business.
Old Business:
Caitlin presented minutes from the seventh meeting and Meredith and Lindsay approved the minute.

New Business:
*The group discussed everyone’s individual progress with the presentation.
*The group combined everyone’s information onto the slides.
*The group went over presentation and made sure it met all requirements.

Meeting Adjourned at 10:30PM
Minutes Submitted by Caitlin Cockerham

Minutes for Seventh Meeting: Meredith, Lindsay, and Caitlin

On Monday November 22, 2010 group awesome met at 6:30PM in the Cage Classroom. All members were present.
Agenda:
Introduction: We started the meeting by asking how each member was doing and going over old and new business.
Old Business:
Caitlin presented minutes from the sixth meeting and Meredith and Lindsay approved the minute.

New Business:
*The group discussed everyone’s individual progress with the presentation.
*The group combined everyone’s information onto the slides.
*The group assigned themselves to 4 to 5 slides to find research on.
*The task is to email Meredith sentences from Lindsay’s and Caitlin’s slides so that she may insert them into the summary.
*The task is perform experiment and email Lindsay the results.
*The group discussed everyone’s roles and when and where the next meeting will take place.

Next Meeting:
*Location: Library Lobby
*Time: 9:00PM
*Date: Sunday, November 28, 2010
*Expectations: Complete presentation and make sure it meets all requirements.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:30PM
Minutes Submitted by Caitlin Cockerham

Minutes for Sixth Meeting: Meredith, Lindsay and Caitlin

On Monday November 15, 2010 group awesome met at 7:30PM in the Cage Classroom. All members were present.
Agenda:
Introduction: We started the meeting by asking how each member was doing and going over old and new business.
Old Business:
Caitlin presented minutes from the fifth meeting and Meredith and Lindsay approved the minute.

New Business:
*The group discussed everyone’s individual progress with the presentation.
*The group discussed when the next meeting would be and where.

Next Meeting:
*Location: Cage Classroom
*Time: 6:30PM
*Date: Monday, November 22, 2010
*Expectations: Combine everyone’s individual work and discuss what needs to be completed by next meeting.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:00PM
Minutes Submitted by Caitlin Cockerham

Minutes for Fifth Meeting: Meredith, Lindsay and Caitlin

On Monday November 8, 2010 group awesome met at 7:30PM in the Cage Classroom. All members were present.
Agenda:
Introduction: We started the meeting by asking how each member was doing and going over old and new business.
Old Business:
Caitlin presented minutes from the fourth meeting and Meredith and Lindsay approved the minute.

New Business:
*The group discussed the slides that had previously been completed on everyone’s own time.
*The group discussed everyone’s individual progress with the presentation.
*The task to accomplish before next meeting is for each member to come up with ideas for two more slides for the presentation.

Next Meeting:
*Location: Cage Lobby
*Time: 8:30PM
*Date: Monday, November 15, 2010
*Expectations: Discuss individual progress on project.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:00PM
Minutes Submitted by Caitlin Cockerham

Minutes for Fourth Meeting: Meredith, Lindsay, and Caitlin

On Saturday November 6, 2010 group awesome met at 9:00AM in the Krannert Lobby. All members were present.
Agenda:
Introduction: We started the meeting by asking how each member was doing and going over old and new business.
Old Business:
Caitlin presented minutes from the third meeting and Meredith and Lindsay approved the minute.

New Business:
*The group discussed the slides that had previously been completed on everyone’s own time.
*The group added slides and came up with topics that need to be presented in the slides.
*The task to accomplish before next meeting is for each member to come up with ideas for two more slides for the presentation.

Next Meeting:
*Location: Cage Lobby
*Time: 8:30PM
*Date: Monday, November 8, 2010
*Expectations: Discuss individual progress on project.
Meeting Adjourned at 11:30PM
Minutes Submitted by Caitlin Cockerham

PDFE #11

For this Field Experience, I observed the Berry College Women’s Basketball team (12 teammates) practice coached by Coach Dunn and assistant Coach Katie Kulavic. Before practice began, the team stretched and did agilities for ten minutes then they would get in a team circle and discuss their journals or whatever happened to them that day for about five minutes. After the team circle the team would do drills to warm up for practice and to enhance their shooting, defensive and offensive skills. Periodically Coach Dunn would stop them to give the constructive criticism and instruction. Once the team warmed up with drills they would practice plays. The coaches would periodically stop them and give them instruction, but if they didn’t stop them then everyone was moving.

The specific breakdowns for the team’s activities during the practice time were:

2520 seconds spent observing
A=1905/2520=75.59%
I= 615/2520= 24.40%
M=615/2520= 24.40%
W=0/2520=0%

Whenever Coach Dunn or Coach Katie gave instruction they were also managing the team. The majority of practice was activity. I feel like they had an adequate amount of down time for their amount of activity. They do not have any amount of waiting, because everyone is participating at all times.

PDFE #14

This lab was conducted to allow us to understand the pros, cons and differences of part practice and whole practice. Part practice is the practice of a complex skill in a more simplified form with three parts: fractionization, segmentation, and simplification. Whole practice is when a task is practiced as one entire form. We used part and whole practice with juggling in the lab that we performed. Bethani performed the part practice first, and then I performed the whole practice.

Bethani began by taking one ball and throwing it into the other hand. The second part she did was holding one ball in each hand and throwing the ball in the right hand in an arc towards the left hand and when it reaches its peak she threw the ball in the left hand towards the right hand, then she would catch both balls. In the third part of her practice she held two balls in her right hand and on ball in her left. She threw the first ball in the right hand into the air and as it reached its peak she threw the ball in the left hand and as it reached its peak she threw the second ball in her right hand towards her left hand and instead of catching them she would allow them to drop. In the fourth part she repeated part three except for this time she caught the balls. When I did the whole practice I would just do part four.

The results of Bethani’s retention test were an average of 2.14, and the average from my retention test was 1.71. Our results show that the part practice was better. The lab reading states that the part practice is not always effective, when one part is dependent on another part or for rapid, discrete actions. Many factors could have influenced our results such as one person having better hand eye coordination, or could have developed juggling skills previous of the lab. This lab was very helpful with part and whole practice and fun to perform.

PDFE #12

In class we did a lab experience on the effect of feedback on performance. The two types of feedback are the knowledge of results (KR) and the knowledge of performance (KP). The knowledge of results is the “extrinsic information that tells learners something about the success of their actions with respect to the intended environmental goal” (286). An example of knowledge of results would be providing someone with feedback on their performance after the action has taken place, such as after a golf swing explain what the person could do better or did wrong. The knowledge of performance is information given to a person that provides information about the quality of the movement. An example of knowledge of performance would be whether a golf swing was smooth and what the person could do to improve it. The textbook states that when receiving feedback only when asked result in a better mastering of a skill/task the person is trying to perform.
On November 8, 2010 during class we performed a lab on the effect of feedback performance. We used a pencil, blindfold, calculator, masking tape, and a test sheet. We were paired with a partner, my partner was Bethani. We taped our test sheets in front of us to the desk. One partner performed test with 100% KR and the other performed with requested KR. Each person was blindfolded and asked to mark from one line to the other with a pencil or pen. The partner that received 100% KR was given feedback after every try, while the other partner only received feedback when requested. During the time that the requested KR partner went, the KR was requested fourteen times out of the thirty trials. During the constant feedback trial, the retention test showed that I had 1mm average and Bethani, who requested KR, had a 0.33mm average. Our test results agreed with the textbook that requested KR was more effective.
The results could have been influenced by many factors. The measurements could have been recorded incorrectly. One person could have practiced while the other partner was performing the experiment. One partner could have a better muscle/movement memory than the other partner. The lab was overall fun to perform and was valuable to give us a clear understanding of “knowledge of results” and the way feedback effects us.

PDFE #10

On November 1, 2010, we performed a lab that dealt with constant and varied practice schedules and which one was more effective. A varied practice is a practice where the participants complete more than one variation of a task. By doing this type of practice a person learns the relationship between parameter settings and resulting environmental outcomes for example, a person throwing a bean bag from a line 4 meters, 5 meters and 6 meters away from the hoola hoop. Another example would be a basketball player practicing a jump shot on the post position, the free throw line, and the three point line. A constant practice schedule is a practice in which the parameters and/or settings do not change in practice for example, throwing a bean bag at the hoola-hoop from 5 meters away without out moving to another distance like in the varied practice. Another example of this would be a basketball player that just practiced shooting from the post position and nowhere else.
In the lab there were three pieces of tape on the floor one 4 meters away from the target, one 5 meters away from the target and the last one 6 meters away from the target. The target was a hoola hoop with a mat acting as the bulls eye in the hoop. If the bean bag landed inside the hoop when thrown then we received one point for that throw. If the bean bag landed on the mat inside the hoop when thrown then we received two points for that throw. One person performed the constant practice and the other performed the varied practice. Bethani performed the constant practice which meant that she would throw the bean bag from the 5 meter line each time to the hoop. I performed the varied practice which meant that I would throw the bean bag from the 4 meter line, the 5 meter line and the 6 meter line to the hoop, every time I would throw I would move to a different line. When we performed the skills test at the end of the lab I scored two points and Bethani scored three points. This would indicate that the constant practice would be the more preferred practice because of the results, but as we understand through the readings varied practice is the actual preferred practice. The reading states that varied practice is the best at developing skills that allow for us to succeed, however our lab results were skewed due to distractions, other groups being very close, injury, fatigue, and talking. The lab was a fun lab to perform and we can apply this knowledge to coaching, physical therapy or teaching physical education classes.

PDFE #9

In elementary school, I attended Armuchee Elementary School in Armuchee, Georgia. I had Physical Education about three times a week for about an hour to and hour and a half at a time. The class consisted about twenty to thirty children and they were taught by a Physical Education teacher. We had a gymnasium and trails and courts outside. We played many different sports such as basketball, kickball, dodgeball, softball, flag football and we also did jump roping, tag, parachute games, and many other games to learn skills. We also did a lot of fitness testing, which I did not really like because we had to wait on other students to test and then when I tested everyone was watching me so I felt like I was put on the spot. I did enjoy PE though because we were active and it allowed me to be active during the day instead of sitting in a class all day.
I do not believe that the elementary, middle and high schools in Georgia and receiving adequate physical education. Kindergarten through fifth grade require 60 clock hours per year which is 40min twice a week. Middle school does not require health or physical education and high schools require 1 semester of health class and 1 semester fitness based physical education. In middle school and high school they physical education teachers are coaches that have to teach in order to coach. The children in the schools are not adequately obtaining the motor development skills that they need to learn in their physical education classes. The children spend the majority of their time sitting in a classroom, therefore losing their focus because they are not getting their blood flowing and not keeping their energy up. This lifestyle is what is leading to our nation’s obesity and pregnancy problem because the schools are not teaching the children to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Educated Physical Education teachers need to be the ones to adequately teach a class of no more than 20 students at a time and to teach them motor development skills.
PE and PA are very important for children at the elementary age, because they help teach healthy habits and improve fitness. It will give children a positive outlook towards exercise and the want for a healthy lifestyle. It promotes teamwork and betters social skills. I believe the skill theme is best because it teaches children skills that they can use through life and if they know the skills then they will know the basic skills for sports. Whereas the traditional approach just teaches the children a game without the skills for the basis of the sport and not everyone participates in a game. The children will also play a game to win and not to learn the skills, but when you teach a skills approach then everyone will participate and learn the basic skills.

PDFE #8

How did your performance progress in terms of the stages of learning described in chapter 7? Did your experience match what would be expected based on the information presented in the book? As you progressed, what happened to your performance (in terms of stages of learning) when you tried to tie the knot upside down?
During class on Monday, October 23, I participated in a lab exercise with my partner, Bethani Spraggins that dealt with motor stages of learning for simple skills. We practiced learning how to tie a bowline knot into string. The purpose of this lab was to learn the motor stages of learning for simple skills and to observe the performance characteristics associated with the stages of learning. The first few tries of tying the bowline knot I had to refer often to the instructions and talk myself through the instructions and tying the knot. I was in the verbal-cognitive stage, because I was trying to get the general idea of the skill, I devoted much attention to how to complete my goal at hand, and I had to figure out what to do and what not to do to execute my goal. After being in the Verbal- cognitive stage for a few trails I was able to tie the knot without looking at the directions as often, but my knots still were not completely correct, some left too small of a loop and some left too big of a loop. This stage is the motor stage and I was in this stage for about 3 to 4 trials. My movements became a lot quicker and more accurate at tying the knot. I reached the autonomous stage and was able to automatically do the knot without looking at the directions and doing it by memory. Bethani went through the same stages as I did at about the same rate. When I tried to do the knot upside down, I had to start back at the verbal cognitive stage but it did not take as long to get to the autonomous stage because I had already practiced and knew how to do the motions and tie the knot.