Purpose: The Optimizing Performance Through Motivation and Attention for Learning (OPTIMAL) theory predicts that providing learners with choices during skill acquisition will enhance their acquisition performance, motor learning, and expectancies. Based on this theory, it is recommended that instructors ask learners to choose which tasks to…

In physical education (PE), the use of instruction and feedback is central to children's motor skill learning. Recently, it has been identified that instruction, and feedback, which promote OPTIMAL theory motor learning factors (e.g., an external focus of attention, enhanced expectancies, and autonomy support) can enhance children's motor…

Pitching velocity is a crucial factor in effective baseball pitching performance. Upper-body-focused training is prevalent in baseball training to increase pitching velocity. However, significant pitchers, including youth league baseball players, suffer from upper body injuries due to the heavy training load of the throwing arm. This article…

Introduction: Self-care skills are integral to how children manage their daily lives without help. Without good motor skills, the children have difficulty achieving independence in self-care. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the understanding on teaching of motor skills related to self-care skills, factors inhibit teaching self-care and…

This theoretical article examines the crucial role of play-based learning (PBL) in enhancing the mathematical skills of children in the Early Childhood Phase, referred to as Foundation Phase (Grade R-3) learners, within a South African context. The article argues that the traditional approach to teaching early childhood mathematics, where teachers…

The teaching of fundamental movement skills (FMS) such as catching, throwing, running, jumping and rolling is widely accepted as the cornerstone of physical education in the primary school. However, there is limited debate about the use of different pedagogical approaches when teaching FMS. In this article, advice is offered for teachers vis-à-vis…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of explicit and analogy learning on preschool children's running, long jump, gallop and balance. The participants were 43 preschool children randomly assigned to the analogy learning group (22 children) or the explicit (21 children). In the explicit learning group explicit instructions were…

The traditional linear skill and drill approach prominent in secondary physical education programs may be leaving some students behind. Critics have argued that this approach fails to meet students' basic psychological needs, while separating the requisite skills from the game itself. Nonlinear pedagogy is an alternative model to teaching motor…

Effectiveness of motor interventions depends not only on learning content but also on the used teaching strategies. However, little is known regarding the application of teaching strategies in clinical practice. This study aimed to develop and assess psychometric properties of a new Dutch observational instrument to document teaching strategies:…

Aligning instructional modality with students' perceptual preference (PP) or learning style is trending in educational research. However, there is little data to support this claim when instruction is geared toward a recreational activity, such as fly casting. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of implementing matched or…

Purpose: To establish a consensus on the complexity of 16 fundamental movement skills (FMS). Initially, complexity was defined as how difficult it would be to teach FMS to children and for the children to learn them. Method: The study was conducted using a modified Delphi method and a mobile application called Move Improve® to showcase video…

Mirror visual feedback increases neural activity, enhances performance, and induces neuroplasticity; however, mixed results have been observed during the learning of motor skills. While mirrors are commonplace in Western dance education, further research is needed to determine how mirrors are used when learning dance phrases. This study measured…

Introduction: Recently Baggs and Chemero (2018. "Radical Embodiment in Two Directions." "Synthese," 1-16. doi:10.1007/s11229-018-02020-9) advocated for the possible 'productive synthesis' between the enactive and the ecological approaches in order to understand and to explain how an agent behaves and interacts with the…

Applying the fundamentals of motor skill development for children in the classroom setting can prove beneficial for both student and teacher. Herein, the authors will focus on what motor development is, how this manifests itself in young learners, the concept of the nonlinear pedagogy design principles, and the importance of the movement as it…

Learning to descend stairs requires motor and cognitive capacities on the part of infants and opportunities for practice and assurance of safety offered by caregivers. The American Academy of Pediatrics prescribes the age strategy to teach toddlers to safely descend stairs but without much consideration for individual differences in infants'…