Optimising Motor Coordination in Physical Education, an Observational Study

Abstract

One of the challenges of Physical Education during compulsory education in primary and secondary school is guaranteeing students' motor development, and coordination is a fundamental element. The aim of the research was to identify the improvement of motor coordination patterns in a selection of students finishing primary education, following a programme of stimulation and progressive intervention based on pedagogical strategies over 41 sessions of Physical Education. This intervention was implemented during three terms of the school year with 25 participants aged 12 (± 1) from one school. The systematic observational study with a Mixed Methods convergent design approach integrated: the exhaustive observations of the motor behaviours of the whole group-class from the 41 sessions, and the timely administration of the 3JS test to assess the coordinative development of each of the participants. A motor coordination observation system (COS) was constructed and validated to detect the temporal patterns (T-patterns) of coordinative behaviours recorded using the free LINCE PLUS software and analysed with Theme software. The 3JS test was administered at the beginning and at the end of the didactic intervention. The results reveal differences between the T-patterns before and after the pedagogical intervention, the latter being richer and more diverse, as the coordinative motor elements appeared more frequently and at a higher coordinative level, coinciding with the results of the 3JS test.