Background: Given the demands posed by excessive practice quantities in modern dance, physical and mental health can be compromised. Therefore, there is a need to consider how quality of practice may be improved and possibly even reduce training times. Sports literature has shown that instructions and feedback given by coaches can have an effect on the quality of training and influence self-regulation and the performance of athletes. However, currently little is known about the use of instructions and feedback by dance teachers. The aim of the current study was, therefore, to examine the type of instructions and feedback given by dance teachers during various dance classes. Methods: A total of six dance teachers participated in this study. Video and audio recordings were made of six dance classes and two rehearsals at a contemporary dance university. The dance teacher’s coaching behavior was analyzed using the modified Coach Analysis and Intervention System (CAIS). Additionally, feedback and instructions were also examined in terms of their corresponding focus of attention. Absolute numbers, as well as times per minute (TPM) rates were calculated for each behavior before, during, and after an exercise. Absolute numbers were also used to calculate ratios of positive-negative feedback and open-closed questions. Results: Most feedback comments were given after an exercise (472 out of 986 total observed behaviors). Improvisation had the highest positive-negative feedback ratio (29) and open-closed questions ratio (1.56). Out of the focus of attention comments, internal focus of attention comments were used most frequently (572 out of 900). Discussion/conclusion: The results make clear that there is a large variability in instructions and feedback over teachers and classes. Overall, there is room for improvement toward a higher positive-negative feedback ratio, a higher open-closed question ratio and producing more comments eliciting an external focus of attention.
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AIMS: The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) can be used to support children to clarify their needs themselves. However, for pediatric occupational therapists it is not sufficiently clear how to effectively use the COPM with children from 8 years of age.This study aimed to formulate specific instructions for using the COPM with children themselves, based on the experience of children, parents, and occupational therapists. In addition, professional consensus on the instructions was reached.METHODS: A multi-stage approach was used to develop the instructions. Triangulation of methods was used to gather knowledge of how the COPM with children themselves is performed in daily practice: interviews with 23 children, questionnaires completed by 30 parents, interviews with 13 therapists, and 10 video recordings of COPM administration. Specific instructions were derived from this knowledge and consensus for these instructions was reached by Delphi method.RESULTS: The data were analyzed and resulted in 40 specific instructions. Consensus of at least 80% amongst 10 occupational therapists, who regularly use the COPM with children, was achieved on each instruction.CONCLUSION: There is consensus on 40 specific instructions for administering the COPM with children. Following these instructions might help children to formulate their own goals for intervention.
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Observational learning is considered powerful to promote (implicit) motor learning. While it is a common tool in practice, little is known about the effects of video instructions on movement execution. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of watching biomechanically optimal (OPT) and suboptimal (SUBOPT) sidestep cutting (SSC) video instructions on movement execution. Ten male basketball players (age 15.5 ± 1.2 years, height 189.9 ± 3.1 cm, mass 75.4 ± 7.1 kg) from a Regional Talent Center performed anticipated 45° SSC tasks in baseline (BASE) followed by two counterbalanced experimental conditions. Subjects watched expert videos (matched by sex and height) of OPT and SUBOPT movement executions and were asked to imitate this to the best of their ability. Kine(ma)tic data was captured with 21 reflective markers and 2 force plates. After watching the videos, subjects displayed smaller ankle dorsiflexion angles (p
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In light of increasing calls for transparent reporting of research and prevention of detrimental research practices, we conducted a cross-sectional machine-assisted analysis of a representative sample of scientific journals' instructions to authors (ItAs) across all disciplines. We investigated addressing of 19 topics related to transparency in reporting and research integrity. Only three topics were addressed in more than one third of ItAs: conflicts of interest, plagiarism, and the type of peer review the journal employs. Health and Life Sciences journals, journals published by medium or large publishers, and journals registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) were more likely to address many of the analysed topics, while Arts & Humanities journals were least likely to do so. Despite the recent calls for transparency and integrity in research, our analysis shows that most scientific journals need to update their ItAs to align them with practices which prevent detrimental research practices and ensure transparent reporting of research.
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To gain insight into changes of scholarly journals’ recommendations, we conducted a systematic review of studies that analysed journals’ Instructions to Authors (ItAs). We summarised results of 153 studies, and meta-analysed how often ItAs addressed: 1) authorship, 2) conflicts of interest, 3) data sharing, 4) ethics approval, 5) funding disclosure, and 6) International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts. For each topic we found large between-study heterogeneity. Here, we show six factors that explained most of that heterogeneity: 1) time (addressing of topics generally increased over time), 2) country (large differences found between countries), 3) database indexation (large differences found between databases), 4) impact factor (topics were more often addressed in highest than in lowest impact factor journals), 5) discipline (topics were more often addressed in Health Sciences than in other disciplines), and 6) sub-discipline (topics were more often addressed in general than in sub-disciplinary journals).
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There is a wide range of literature suggesting that implicit learning is more effective than explicit learning when acquiring motor skills. However, the acquisition of nursing skills in educational settings continues to rely heavily on detailed protocols and explicit instructions. This study aimed to examine the necessity for comprehensive protocols in the acquisition of nursing skills. In the context of bandaging techniques, three studies were conducted to investigate whether students who practiced with an instruction card containing minimal instructions (implicit group) performed comparably to the students who practiced with a protocol containing step-by-step instructions (explicit group). Study 1 was designed to determine whether both groups performed equally well in applying a bandage during training. Study 2 and 3 were designed to determine if both groups performed equally well during a retention and transfer (multitasking) test, administered after a series of three training sessions. In comparison with the explicit group, the implicit group demonstrated comparable performance with their practice attempts in Study 1 and performed equally well during the retention and transfer test in Study 2. Furthermore, several results from Study 3 indicated better performance of the implicit group. In conclusion, the use of protocols with explicit step-by-step instructions may not be essential for the acquisition of nursing skills. Instead, instructional methods that facilitate implicit learning may be preferable, as students in the implicit group demonstrated at least comparable performance in all studies and tended towards greater consistency when multitasking.
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Objectives: To investigate immediate changes in walking performance associated with three implicit motor learning strategies and to explore patient experiences of each strategy. Design: Participants were randomly allocated to one of three implicit motor learning strategies. Within-group comparisons of spatiotemporal parameters at baseline and post strategy were performed. Setting: Laboratory setting. Subjects: A total of 56 community-dwelling post-stroke individuals. Interventions: Implicit learning strategies were analogy instructions, environmental constraints and action observation. Different analogy instructions and environmental constraints were used to facilitate specific gait parameters. Within action observation, only videotaped gait was shown. Main measures: Spatiotemporal measures (speed, step length, step width, step height) were recorded using Vicon 3D motion analysis. Patient experiences were assessed by questionnaire. Results: At a group level, three of the four analogy instructions (n=19) led to small but significant changes in speed (d=0.088m/s), step height (affected side d=0.006m) and step width (d=–0.019m), and one environmental constraint (n=17) led to significant changes in step width (d=–0.040m). At an individual level, results showed wide variation in the magnitude of changes. Within action observation (n=20), no significant changes were found. Overall, participants found it easy to use the different strategies and experienced some changes in their walking performance. Conclusion: Analogy instructions and environmental constraints can lead to specific, immediate changes in the walking performance and were in general experienced as feasible by the participants. However, the response of an individual patient may vary quite considerably.
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Background A variety of options and techniques for causing implicit and explicit motor learning have been described in the literature. The aim of the current paper was to provide clearer guidance for practitioners on how to apply motor learning in practice by exploring experts’ opinions and experiences, using the distinction between implicit and explicit motor learning as a conceptual departure point. Methods A survey was designed to collect and aggregate informed opinions and experiences from 40 international respondents who had demonstrable expertise related to motor learning in practice and/or research. The survey was administered through an online survey tool and addressed potential options and learning strategies for applying implicit and explicit motor learning. Responses were analysed in terms of consensus ( 70%) and trends ( 50%). A summary figure was developed to illustrate a taxonomy of the different learning strategies and options indicated by the experts in the survey.
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To benefit from the social capabilities of a robot math tutor, instead of being distracted by them, a novel approach is needed where the math task and the robot's social behaviors are better intertwined. We present concrete design specifications of how children can practice math via a personal conversation with a social robot and how the robot can scaffold instructions. We evaluated the designs with a three-session experimental user study (n = 130, 8-11 y.o.). Participants got better at math over time when the robot scaffolded instructions. Furthermore, the robot felt more as a friend when it personalized the conversation.
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This ‘Big Ideas’ paper will explore the relevance of the constraintsled approach (Davids et al., 2008) for nurse education, specifically when teaching nursing skills. The constraints-led approach is an applied theory, based on the ecological-dynamics framework, which explains that skill learning is a process of adjusting to the characteristics of a situation, instead of reproducing isolated, “ideal” movements out of context (Araújo et al., 2017; Seifert et al., 2017, 2019). During nurse education however, students often find themselves in isolated practice drills in which they practice a nursing skill based upon detailed protocols and/or explicit instructions by the lecturer. Following the ecological dynamics framework (Button et al., 2021), we argue that there is no single ideal way of executing a certain task. In clinical practice, there are often more than one appropriate task executions for a certain situation, and on the other hand, a certain task execution might be effective in one situation, but less effective in another. As all patients and contexts contain unique characteristics, students need to practice with representative characteristics from clinical practice, so that they learn attuning to contextual information, instead of simply following step-by-step instructions (Fajen et al., 2009; Pinder et al., 2011; Wulf and Lewthwaite, 2016).
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