Comparative Study: Structured Motor Skill Training and Unstructured Motor Skill Training in Improving Children’s Movement Ability

Abstract

This study aims to compare the effectiveness of structured motor skill training and unstructured motor skill training in improving movement skills in children. The movement skills in question include coordination, balance, strength, and agility. This study used an experimental design with a control group and a treatment group. The group of children was divided into two groups: one group did structured motor skill training and the other group did unstructured motor skill training. The population of this study was children aged 6-8 years. The sample was randomly drawn and consisted of 40 children divided into two groups, each group consisting of 20 children. The exercises were conducted for 6 weeks with a frequency of 2 times per week. Each training session lasted for 40 minutes. Based on the results of data analysis, there is a significant difference between structured motor skill training and unstructured motor skill training in improving motor skills. The group that followed structured motor skill training had an average improvement of 19.75, while the group that followed unstructured motor skill training had an average improvement of 12.85. The mean difference between the two groups was 6.90, indicating that structured motor skill training provided better results. A t-value of 7.71 and a significance value of 0.00 indicated that this difference was highly statistically significant. In addition, the percentage difference between the two types of exercises was approximately 53.7%, indicating that structured motor skill trainingprovided greater improvement compared to unstructured motor skill training. A planned and structured exercise program can result in more significant improvements in children’s coordination, balance, strength and agility. These findings support the use of structured motor skill training programs in the development of children’s movement skills in schools or physical education environments.