The Psychomotor Domain

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle Psychomotor learning is described by Gagn as "coordinated muscular movements that are typified by smoothness and precise timing". Psychomotor skill development is very important because it works hand in hand with cognitive thinking. The skills required are physical in nature, and the individual must think about what he/she is doing at least at first. Three Classification of Psychomotor Learning 1. Discrete vs. continuous Discrete has a distinct beginning and ending points. It has single or very few steps to solving the problem. Continuous has a beginning and ending point but are more difficult for the learner. 2. Close vs. open a. Closed - not influenced from the environment. b. Opened - influenced from the environment. 3. Person vs. object motion Type I - person and the object at rest (driving a golf ball) Type II - person is at rest and object is in motion (hitting a baseball) Type III - person in motion and object is at rest (shooting a lay-up) Type IV - person in motion and object is in motion (aiming at an aircraft from a bobbing ship) Three Critical Elements of Psychomotor Skills 1. Massed vs. spaced practice a. Massed all-at-once; very intense practicing with little chance to rest. b. Spaced - shorter practice periods; many of them over time. 2. Whole vs. part practice a. Whole - practicing all skills needed b. Part - break down each skill and master one before going on to the next step. 3. Feedback issues a. Proprioceptive feedback - feedback that is gathered internally (body position). b. External external feedback provided by a teacher or coach.

Teaching in the Psychomotor Domain

Psychomotor learning refers to learning skills that involve physical movement ("motor") as well as a mental ("psycho") component. Motor skills are often divided into two categories: 1. Gross motor: Controlling large muscle groups (walk, run, jump, etc.). 2. Fine motor: Precise control of small muscle groups (paint, thread a needle, etc.). Three main groups of psychomotor learning are: 1. Object-motor: such as typing, riding a bicycle, playing tennis, operating machines 2. Language-motor: such as writing, reading, shorthand, learning a foreign language 3. Feeling-motor: such as playing a musical instrument, painting a picture, acting, dancing. There may be overlap between these groups. Singing (2 and 3), playing a musical instrument (1 and 3), or writing (1 and 2). Some ideas about skill-learning 1. It can be difficult to distinguish the stage to which a skill has been mastered. Very precise analysis of the task and very careful description of the skills can help you evaluate student performance. 2. Once acquired to the point of automaticity, a skill is believed to be a manifestation of subconscious thought processes. Unlearning a skill is very difficult. Therefore it is important to avoid trial and error learning, which often creates bad habits that later have to be unlearned. 3. Practice is an essential element in skill acquisition. The repetition establishes habit. However, it is important that the practice be guided: practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. Incorrect practice can interfere with the learner's progress. Practice also provides feedback, knowledge of results, that can be both reinforcing and motivating. Most of the literature suggests that spaced practice is better than massed practice. 4. Learning plateaus seem to occur in most skill learning, but not predictably or with the same pattern or frequency for every learner. Several factors are involved, e.g. fatigue, need to practice, flagging motivation, complexity of material to be learned. Plateaus may occur as learners progress from one level of the psychomotor domain to the next higher level. Tell your learners about plateaus, so that they don't get discouraged if their progress seems to slow down or stall. 5. Transfer of learning can be positive (helpful) or negative (hindering). Teachers should help students take advantage of positive transfer, and warn them against

negative transfer. Reading music is common to learning different instruments, and provides positive transfer. Different positioning of the controls on two different machines can cause negative transfer, making previously learned responses on one machine inappropriate or even dangerous on another. Stages of skill acquisition Romiszowski suggests that learners be observed for progress through the following stages of skill development: 1. Do the learners have the necessary prerequisites: knowledge of what should be done, why, and how? Have they required perceptual awareness? 2. Are the learners applying what they know, performing all necessary steps, in correct sequence? 3. Is their performance still jumpy and step-by-step, or have they started to transfer control to senses other than the eyes and achieve a smoother, more integrated pattern of work? 4. Do they still have to concentrate on the execution of the skill to the exclusion of all else, or have they started to "automatise" the skill? 5. To what extent are they capable of variety? Can they generalize the newly learned skills to other, similar, situations? To what extent are they being creative in the execution of the skill? How well are they planning the execution of the skill activity? Several attempts have been made to define a hierarchy or "taxonomy" of psychomotor learning. Simpson (1972) describes seven categories. These are described below with examples of the action verbs for stating the learning objectives in italics: 1. Perception The process of becoming aware of objects, qualities, etc by way of senses. Basic in situation-interpretation-action chain leading to motor activity. May include sensory stimulation, cue selection, translation. To recognise, identify, notice, associate, scan, inspect, listen, hear, smell, taste, feel, select, compare, etc. 2. Set Readiness for a particular kind of action or experience. This readiness or preparatory adjustment may be mental, physical or emotional. To identify, recognise, comprehend, organise, arrange, locate, adjust, respond, select, etc. 3. Guided Response Overt behavioural act of an individual under guidance of an instructor, or following model or set criteria. May include imitation of another person, or trial and eror until appropriate response obtained. To imitate, simulate, reproduce, match, adapt, practise, correct, repeat, etc.

4. Mechanism Occurs when a learned response has become habitual, the learner requires no guidance. At this level the learner has achieved certain confidence and proficiency of performance. The skill has become part of his/her repertoire of possible responses to stimulus and demands of situations. To assemble, mould, set-up, manipulate, fasten, shape, mix, etc. 5. Complex Overt Response Performance of a motor act that is considered complex because of the movement pattern required. Often includes a resolution of uncertainty, the action is done without hesitation; is finely coordinated, done with great ease and muscle control. To manipulate, adjust, coordinate, integrate, combine, regulate, etc. 6. Adaptation Altering motor activities or skills to meet demands of specific problematic situations. To adjust, correct, adapt, alter, convert, integrate, order, standardize, etc. 7. Origination Creating new motor acts or ways of manipulating materials out of skills, abilities and understandings developed in the psychomotor area. To create, formulate, design, invent, construct, develop, etc. Romiszowski, A (1999) The Development of Physical Skills: Instruction in the Psychomotor Domain, Chapter 19, Instructional Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, Volume II, C. M. Reigeluth, Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Simpson E. J. (1972). The Classification of Educational Objectives in the Psychomotor Domain. Washington, DC: Gryphon House