Theories_and_Principles_for_Planning_and_Enabling_Learning

Fitts and Posner's Phases of Learning In order to start to learn a new motor skill our body needs to learn how to control its limbs in such a way that will benefit a certain action. Obviously we don't learn this straight away it takes time to learn and to process all this information so that we can improve and progress from being a novice to being proficient. Fitts and Posener were able to identify several different stages in the learning process. Learning is a complex process and the stages, or phases labelled by Fitts and Posner, are not clear-cut. You will be able to create more successful learning processes if these phases are understood. In 1964 Paul Fitts and Michael Posner developed a theory to explain how our body learns to do this. They divided it into three learning stages which have been split up and explained below: - 1) The cognitive phase This is first stage of learning where the performer learns what needs to be done. The performer needs to find out, - What is required - What task is to be performed - The rules are - The correct way in holding specific equipment, e.g. a golf club In this stage the emphasis is on the performer understanding what needs to be achieved, so that initial simple plans of action can be followed and achieved to a certain level of play. This specific stage involves a lot of trial end error, so that the professional teaching can give positive feedback to the performer, in order to improve his/ her game. The successful strategies can be reinforced at this stage and unsuccessful should not be dismissed due to the fact that all experiences can be worthwhile. External feedback is also achieved via observing other performers at higher levels. For example a teacher may show a learning player, trying to get a grip on the basics, the swing of Tiger woods, so that the learner can manipulate it into their own swing. The skill is mainly performed in a closed environment with as little outside variables as possible so the performer can achieve the basics of the game. 2) The associative phase ------------------------ This is the intermediate stage, and can take much longer than the Cognitive stage. During this stage the performer learns through many hours of practising in open and closed conditions as they try to develop their skill. For golf the performer will be most likely to practice in closed conditions, as it is not a team game, however for football it may be different. The cognitive feedback has been learned so that the different parts of the skill can be performed and co-ordinated together, therefore giving an outcome desired by a learner. Significant errors are detected and corrected with and without the help of exterior sources such as coaches and videos of their performance. The performer aims to refine the skill In this stage. This is the stage at which a large majority of performers never overcome, as the next stage is describes as 'Automatic', however most performers find that they excel and improve the largest amount in this stage (phase) as the most feedback is given. 3) The autonomous phase This is the stage that high-level performers participate at. This is only ever achieved after much practice and experience, often taking years, some players never even manage to reach this phase. In this stage the performer is so elite that the skill is like nothing to them they perform it almost automatically or habitually. . A performer doesn't leap from one stage to another it is more of a gradual transitional movement as they develop their control. I find that this can be best illustrated on a continuum, running from the first phase (cognitive) to the final phase, where the performer is highly talented (Autonomous): - 1) Cognitive phase 2) Associative phase 3) Autonomous phase [IMAGE] Beginner Highly Skilled ======================= Shown above is the continuum. However performers at the cognitive stage will have different structured practices to those who fall in the category of the autonomous phase. For instance, a beginner in the game of golf will practice trying to gain and acquire the proper grip and posture to hit the ball. A highly skilled golfer may structure practices to draw, fade, or gain extra spin on the greens. This would not be a suitable ambition for a beginner as he she would not be able to do it until they fell into the later stages. To structure practices for people at a Cognitive phase of learning the performer should observe another performer doing the correct skill. The person learning the skill should then try to imitate the skill. Whist they are doing this the performer should have feedback from an external source like a teacher or a coach, or in my case golf professional, depending on the sport the performer is aiming to acquire a skill in. The emphasis should be on understanding what has to be done and the vital parts of the skill should be achieved. The performer must be praised when good things are achieved to boost their confidence and notify that that part was accomplished well. These sessions should be quite short about 20-30 minutes; this is the average length of a golf lesson. To structure practices for people at Associative stage of learning you would need to have a long training period, which could be years, depending on the amount of time the performer is willing to spend trying to achieve through practice per week or even day. At this stage the performer may also try to create a training programme in order to become the perfect shape for their sport, e.g. for golf I try to increse my flexibility and upper body strength so as to increase my mobility through out my swing path. Structured practices for people at the Autonomous stage of learning. In this stage coaching should Be in small groups in order to gain the most benefit as there will only be small errors in the skill which may otherwise be missed and wont be highlighted and improved upon. Praise is not usually given in this phase of development as it is a tactic used to make the golfer or other sport performer feel better, and that they are being acknowledged.