The effectiveness of aligned developmental feedback on the overhand throw in third-grade students

Abstract

Background: To improve student performance, teachers need to evaluate the developmental level of the child and to deliver feedback statements that correspond with the student's ability to process the information delivered. Therefore, feedback aligned with the developmental level of the child (aligned developmental feedback – ADF) is sometimes considered to be the most appropriate type of feedback for improving student learning. It is assumed that the provision of ADF is beneficial in bringing about improvement in the learning of motor skills and subsequently in performance. However, the extent of the influence of ADF on motor performance remains unclear.

Purpose: This study examined the influence of ADF on students' performance of the overhand throw for force in a naturalistic physical education setting.

Participants: Ninety-seven third-grade students (39 girls, 58 boys) with a mean age of 105.4 months (SD = 4.76) participated in this study. All participants were selected from four intact classrooms in a mid-sized Midwestern (US) elementary school. Two of the four intact classes were randomly assigned to an ADF group (the experimental condition; N = 48, 21 girls, 27 boys), and the other two intact classes were assigned to a general feedback (GF) group (the control condition; N = 49, 18 girls, 31 boys).

Research design and phases of the study: An experimental non-equivalent group design composed of pre-, post-, and retention phases assessed the influence of ADF on throwing performance. The study used a three-phase approach: Phase 1 involved the implementation of the control GF condition with the participants: a seven-day throwing unit using general feedback. After Phase 1 was concluded, the first part of the experimental condition was initiated (Phase 2): to train the physical education teacher (male, with seven years of teaching experience, who had no prior knowledge of developmental throwing sequences) to deliver the experimental condition (i.e. the ADF condition). Phase 2 concluded when the teacher was considered trained in the ADF condition. The final phase of the study (Phase 3) was the actual experimental condition, consisting of a seven-day ADF instructional throwing unit.

Data analysis: A chi-square analysis was used to examine the influence of ADF on the distribution of body component scores between the ADF and GF groups from the pre- to post- to retention phases as the body component data is ordinal in nature. An ANOVA with repeated measures on the highest ball velocity score was used to assess the influence of ADF on ball velocity scores.

Findings: An ANOVA revealed that the ADF group had faster ball velocity than the GF group from pre- to post-intervention. Chi-square analyses revealed that the ADF group improved from pretest to posttest in the humerus and forearm components. The effects found at the end of the intervention program were maintained throughout the retention phase.

Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the value of ADF in the learning process, and show how such feedback can enhance students' performance.

Keywords:

• motor development
• skill acquisition
• ball velocity
• body components