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WalesPhysical Education

A2: Skill Acquisition

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do we classify motor skills, and why does it matter for coaching?

The classification of motor skills on continua, the difference between skill and ability, and how classification informs the choice of practice.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on classifying motor skills, covering the main continua (open-closed, gross-fine, discrete-serial-continuous, self-paced-externally paced), the skill versus ability distinction, and how classification guides practice.
11 min answer →

How do guidance and feedback help a performer learn and refine a skill?

The types of guidance (visual, verbal, manual and mechanical) and feedback (intrinsic, extrinsic, knowledge of results, knowledge of performance, positive and negative), and their appropriate use across the stages of learning.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on guidance and feedback, covering visual, verbal, manual and mechanical guidance and the forms of feedback (intrinsic, extrinsic, knowledge of results and performance), and how each suits the stages of learning.
11 min answer →

How does a performer take in information and decide on a response?

Information-processing models, the stages of input, decision-making and output, the multi-store memory model, and reaction time including the psychological refractory period.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on information processing, covering input, decision-making and output, selective attention, the multi-store memory model, and reaction time including Hick's law and the psychological refractory period.
12 min answer →

How do performers learn movement skills, and what do the main theories say?

Theories of learning (operant conditioning, cognitive, observational and Bandura's model), the stages of learning, and the transfer of learning between skills.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on theories of learning, covering operant conditioning, cognitive and observational learning, Bandura's model, Fitts and Posner's stages of learning, and the types and effects of transfer.
12 min answer →

How should practice be organised and skills presented for the best learning?

The types of practice (massed, distributed, fixed, varied) and methods of presenting a skill (whole, part, whole-part-whole, progressive-part), matched to the skill and the learner.
A focused WJEC A-Level PE answer on practice and presentation, covering massed, distributed, fixed and varied practice, and the whole, part, whole-part-whole and progressive-part methods, matched to the skill classification and the learner.
11 min answer →