Development of individual instructions based on pupils' mental representations of a gymnastics skill.

Problem Statement - In physical education, teachers use instructions to support the learning of motor skills (Wulf, Höß, & Prinz, 1998). Expertise in performing motor skills is characterized by forming and adapting relevant mental representations that are stored hierarchically structured in long-term memory (Land, Volchenkov, Bläsing, & Schack, 2013; Schack & Mechsner, 2006). Scientific findings reveal differences between experts' and novices' mental representation structures in the comparison of different skill levels (Bläsing, Tenenbaum, & Schack, 2009), as a consequence a close relationship between mental representation structure and skill performance is presumed, and a development of mental representation structures over the course of learning could be highlighted (Frank, Land, & Schack, 2016). Purpose- Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in the effects of two types of instructions (specific vs. general) on pupils' development of mental representation structures and their performance of a cartwheel. Approach- Sixteen pupils were assigned to one of two conditions: specific or general instructions on the performance of a gymnastics skill (cartwheel). Participants in the intervention group received specific instructions, based on their mental representation structure of the cartwheel, whereas participants in the control group received general instructions. Results- Results revealed that specific instructions based on pupils' mental representation of a gymnastics skill have a positive impact on their mental representation structure as well as on their motor performance. Conclusions- It can be concluded that the knowledge about learners' structure of mental representations could constitute an effective means of developing specific instructions for enhancing motor performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]