Teachers’ utilization of instructional cues: types, targets and rate per minute in physical education setting

Abstract

Instructional cue (IC) plays an important role in directing student's attention toward the most critical information about a movement task. Notably, an incorrect performance of a skill practiced for a long period is difficult to correct later. For this reason, physical education (PE) teachers need to constantly develop and implement good strategies that enhance students' acquisition of critical features of movement skills. Teachers must use a variety of ICs targeted fairly at individual students and whole class. For effectiveness, different types of teachers' ICs must be provided in an instructional setting. However, little is known about the effectiveness of teachers' ICs in practical PE setting. The purpose of this pedagogical research in PE setting was to investigate targets, types and rate per minute of teachers' ICs in netball shooting skill. The study was situated in three selected colleges of education (CoE) where descriptive processes were used to conduct the investigation. Digital video was utilized to record naturally occurring classroom events of pre-service teachers (n=77) and PE teachers (n=4). The videorecorded lesson lasted 1 hour (60 minutes). Two independent recorders used event recording instrument to document classroom events relating to types and targets of teachers' ICs. Inter-observer agreement procedures revealed a good reliability of data collected for the study. Descriptive analyses were conducted using mainly percentages, frequencies and means. Major findings of the study showed that verbal, visual and kinesthetic ICs were the main types of Teachers' ICs used during the instructional period. However, verbal ICs dominated the observed practical lesson. Findings also revealed that more verbal ICs were provided to the group than individual students. Non-verbal ICs which involved demonstrations and signals were mostly used to facilitate individual students' acquisition of the shooting skill in netball. In each minute, students received teachers' IC relating to the proper technique of performing assigned task.

Inter-observer evaluation of practical lesson delivery in physical education setting: Nature and demonstration of teachers’ instructional cues

“…Findings from the study revealed the ability of teachers to utilize a variety of instructional cues (i.e., short, descriptive and integrated) in teaching and learning situations. Earlier study suggests that "different types of teachers' ICs must be provided in an instructional setting" (Donkor, Avornyo et al 2021, p.135) [4] . Cues enhance the attention or focus of learners by restricting what they need to think about.…”

“…As Wuest and Bucher (2003) state: "An individual must locate, select, and focus on relevant cues to be successful in performing the task (skill or game)" (p.392). Literature suggests that instructional cue "plays an important role in directing students' attention toward the most critical information about a movement task" (Donkor, Avornyo et al, 2021, p.235) [4] . Cues improve attention, (Becker & Fairbrother, 2019) [2] , result in smooth and coordinated movement (Klein et al, 2019) [10] and are generally necessary for understanding and solving movement tasks in teaching and learning environment (Hurzlmeier, 2021) [8] .…”

“…Several categories of teacher behavior can be observed via event recording instrument for an entire teaching session. Data collected via event recording can be converted to rate per minute (Donkor, Avornyo, et al, 2021; Siedentop & Tannehill, 2000) [4,17] . Traditionally, the calculation of inter-Observer Agreement (IOA) has been:…”

“…Pedagogical research in the field of physical education (PE) suggests that "researchers and practitioners have long been interested in the types of instructional cues that facilitate the performance and learning of motor skill" (Becker & Fairbrother, 2019, p.651) [2] . Several educational researchers have also espoused the importance of instructional cues in teaching and learning environment (Alpizar et al 2020 [1,4,8,11,14,15,16] . From his work on motor learning and development, Pufaa (2006) indicates that any task convolving a motor activity or a motor skill is known as motor task.…”