1. Learning Motor Skills Online: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Online and In-Person Motor Skill Acquisition
- Author
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Taewoo Kim
- Abstract
This dissertation aimed to answer whether motor skills can be taught online and if the learning outcomes are similar to in-person learning. Considering the popularity of online learning, increasing our understanding of its outcomes is well warranted. Furthermore, evidence of the effectiveness of online instruction is very much in discussion. Therefore, the dissertation's first study was a systematic review of studies using online deliveries to improve participants' motor skills. The dissertation's second study was a cluster randomized controlled study testing the efficacy of synchronous and asynchronous online instructions on motor skill performance and affective outcomes compared to in-person. The first study, a systematic review, identified and summarized the 15 existing studies using online deliveries to improve motor or specialized skills for various populations and fields (e.g., medical education) and made conclusions about the effectiveness of online modalities. Fifty-nine skills were categorized into gross motor, fine motor, upper/lower limb movement, task-specific, oscular motor, or uncategorized skills. Among 36 total comparisons with effects, small (n = 15), medium (n = 7), and high (n = 14) were identified. Although this review could not determine whether online delivery is better or worse than in-person, it concluded that online modalities could teach diverse learners motor or specialized skills. Nonetheless, skills taught online were simple, and the teaching process was geared toward improving skill performance rather than teaching new skills. Therefore, these findings led to the second study examining the learning modalities of in-person, synchronous, and asynchronous learning using novel motor skill performance. The second study of the dissertation, a cluster randomized controlled trial, aimed to compare the effectiveness of in-person motor skill acquisition to synchronous and asynchronous online motor skill acquisition and compare participants' motivation and enjoyment across these learning modalities. A sample of 83 college students (M[subscript age] = 20.51±1.78; male = 26, female = 57) were allocated to the in-person, synchronous, or asynchronous groups. The analyses showed statistically significant differences in skill performance (F[2,68] = 3.63, p = 0.032, [eta-squared] = 0.096), enjoyment (F[2,67] = 5.69, p = 0.005, [eta-squared] = 0.15), and motivation (F[2,67] = 3.92, p = 0.025, [eta-squared] = 0.11), favoring in-person over the online. In conclusion, although teaching motor skills synchronously and asynchronously (online) was practical and feasible, in-person training was superior for skill acquisition with higher enjoyment and motivation levels toward the training session. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
- Published
- 2024