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An analysis of the diagnostic and perscriptive expertise of Level II and Examiner downhill ski instructors

For coaches to qualitatively analyze the performance of sport skills as executed by their
students, they must possess an internal image of the desired skill against which to make
comparisons (Hoffman, 1983; Pinheiro & Simon, 1992). Leas and Chi (1993) have
indicated that there are differences between novice and expert swimming coaches in the
internal image of the freestyle stroke. They further reported group differences in their
ability to diagnose errors in movement form. Study 1 extended that investigation to
include a beginning and advanced skill in downhill snow skiing. Two groups of downhill
ski instructors (n=8) certified at Level II (n=4) and Examiner status (n=4) were compared
on their knowledge of the prototypical versions of the wedge and open parallel turns.
They were subsequently tested on their ability to diagnose errors in incorrectly performed
videotape versions of those turns. Two Level H instructors internalized the skill similarly
to the level of the Examiners on their knowledge of the prototypical skills, while the other
two instructors did not appear to have constructed the same type of prototypical model.
On the wedge turn diagnostic task, Level II instructors misdiagnosed 50% of the primary
errors in student performance compared to a perfect performance by Examiners. On the
open parallel diagnostic task, performance across groups was similar for the primary
error. It was suggested that the open parallel level of skiing is similar to the skiing ability
of Level II instructors, which may have enhanced their ability to better diagnose the
errors associated with that skill compared to the wedge turn. In Study 2, participants
prescribed exercises for the errors identified in Study 1. Results indicated that exercises
primarily addressed errors in the same order as they were prioritized. The lesson plans of
Level II participants, however, attempted to address 35% more errors than Examiners.
The use of part-task teaching methods, used by seven of eight participants, was
subsequently addressed and theoretical implications were discussed. A possible theory of
expertise explaining group differences was described. / Graduation date: 1999

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33435
Date23 July 1998
CreatorsYoung, Ben (Ben Leonard)
ContributorsRose, Debra J.
Source SetsOregon State University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation

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