Unit Outline

A cornerstone to the profession of human movement is an understanding of how people move. The ability to understand and explain how people learn motor skills is at the core of successful physical activity program design. An understanding of the main themes of skill acquisition provides the human movement professional with the tools to teach and correct movement. Knowing how people learn a motor skill allows the human movement professional to solve movement problems. The knowledge gained in this unit provides foundational understanding needed in units in pedagogy and exercise prescription.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Identify key variables of motor learning and explain their role in motor skill acquisition within professional practice
2	Differentiate between performance improvements and motor learning by evaluating and applying appropriate methods for testing, measuring, and interpreting these concepts in both research and applied settings
3	Critically evaluate key theories and hypotheses proposed by leading researchers to explain motor learning, considering their implications for professional practice
4	Apply digital skills to construct a portfolio that demonstrates evidence-based professional growth and supports lifelong learning within a specified area of interest

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	ESP160 or EDU104

Alterations as a result of student feedback

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Portfolio Part A – Establishing a Baseline for Motor Skill Assessment	Week 4	30 %	LO1, LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Portfolio Part B – Motor Skill Performance Instructional Planning	Week 9	30 %	LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Portfolio Part C – Measuring Motor Learning Within a Professional Context	Week 12	40 %	LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Portfolio Part A – Establishing a Baseline for Motor Skill Assessment

Task Description:

In the first stage of your portfolio you will establish a rigorous foundation for assessing motor behaviour by tailoring this project to your specific career aspirations.

For Part A, you are tasked with identifying and defining three interconnected components: your professional context (including a specific target population of learners), a highly relevant motor skill for that population, and a standardised assessment tool capable of objectively measuring your population’s performance. By clearly establishing who you are working with, what they are doing, and how you will measure it, you will create the essential baseline required to train this population using motor learning principles later in the unit.

You should organise and write this portfolio as if you were presenting it directly to a superior at your dream job to demonstrate your clinical or pedagogical competence. This means your work must be structured cleanly, use professional terminology accurately, and clearly justify why your selected skill and standardised test are the gold standard for your chosen population, using references where appropriate.

By establishing this professional baseline now, demonstrate how you will create the essential foundation required to design a developmentally-appropriate motor learning training program in the next stage of this assessment task.

Task Length:

800 words + MS Excel spreadsheet containing mock data set

Due Date:

Week 4

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Describe the professional context, target learners, and selected motor skill	LO1
2	Explain the chosen test for measure motor skill performance	LO2
3	Justify the choice of outcome variable(s) for measurement in relation to professional practice	LO1
4	Create a MS Excel spreadsheet containing ‘mock’ baseline outcome and demographic data of 10 learners	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Portfolio Part B – Motor Skill Performance Instructional Planning

Task Description:

In this second stage of your portfolio, you will build directly upon the baseline assessment you established in Part A by designing a targeted, evidence-based intervention plan to improve your chosen population's movement mechanics.

Over a five-week iterative process, you will apply weekly learning module content to progressively develop and refine this plan. Your intervention must systematically integrate specific motor learning principles, including practice structures, feedback schedules, and memory enhancement strategies.

Continuing the professional benchmark set in Part A, you must organise and present this intervention plan as if you are delivering it to a workplace supervisor or clinical director.

To demonstrate your professional competence, your plan should clearly articulate not just what tasks, games, or activities your learners will perform, but the theoretical why behind your training design, using peer-reviewed literature to justify your choices.

Your submission must prove to a supervisor that your intervention is a highly effective, strategically engineered program tailored to this specific population.

Task Length:

1000 words + MS Excel spreadsheet containing mock data set

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Develop an intervention plan that builds on the baseline assessment and targets motor skill performance improvements	LO2
2	Apply principles of practice, feedback, and memory strategies to support motor learning	LO2
3	Justify the intervention approach by referencing relevant motor learning concepts and professional practice considerations	LO3
4	Demonstrate digital skills by creating a structured record of the intervention process using an appropriate tool (e.g., MS Excel)	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Portfolio Part C – Measuring Motor Learning Within a Professional Context

Task Description:

In this final stage of your portfolio (Part C), you will tackle one of the most critical challenges in motor behaviour: proving that permanent learning has occurred. You will demonstrate exactly how you plan to delineate temporary performance improvements from actual, permanent motor learning in your target sample.

This will be demonstrated in two ways:
1. In Text: Critically discuss (using peer-reviewed literature) your testing strategy (such as the use of retention or transfer tests) to justify how you know your intervention caused relatively permanent neural and behavioural changes rather than transient, short-term success during practice.

2. In Your Spreadsheet: Ground your discussion by plotting your mock dataset into a clean, professional line graph within Microsoft Excel or similar software, visually mapping out the acquisition phase versus the learning assessment phase.
---------------------------------

Now that you have a complete portfolio ensure your document meets the strict standards expected by a workplace supervisor or clinical director, by carefully reviewing and editing the combined portfolio using the following criteria:

1. View it as a Single, Unified Document: Although maximum word counts were provided for the three progressive parts, you must now revise the complete portfolio as a single, cohesive project. Ensure that the tone, narrative flow, and formatting (such as fonts, headings, and margins) remain perfectly consistent from the first page to the last.

2. Eliminate Unwanted Repetition: Now that the three parts are placed together, read through the entire document to identify and cut any overlapping or redundant information. Streamline your transitions between the baseline assessment (Part A), the intervention plan (Part B), and your learning analysis (Part C).

3. Consolidate Your References: Individual reference lists for separate sections are not permitted. You must compile just one comprehensive reference page at the very end of the complete document and format your referencing within your portfolio appropriately.

Task Length:

Approximately 1,000 words + a supporting Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing your mock dataset and a performance line graph. Students are expected to submit their complete portfolio (Parts A, B, and C) at this time. While the maximum ceiling for the entire combined portfolio is strictly 3000 words (excluding the reference page and data tables), you are highly encouraged to be succinct. It is completely acceptable, and often preferred in a professional setting, to go under the word count, provided all criteria are thoroughly justified. Just ensure you do not exceed the 3000-word limit.

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Create a line graph illustrating baseline measurements, training progress, post-test measurements, and learning measurements	LO4
2	Discuss the impact of different practice, feedback, and memory strategies on motor learning	LO3
3	Evaluate motor learning theories by discussing their application to the intervention and assessment strategy	LO3
4	Justify the effectiveness of selected motor learning strategies based on research and expected outcomes	LO2
5	Reflect on alternative approaches and future applications for optimising motor skill development	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.