The Assessment of Preschool Children's Motor Skills After Familiarization with Motor Tests

Abstract

This research study was conducted to establish the influence of familiarization on the information component of movement in a motor task for the assessment of preschool children's motor skills. The sample included 50 children whose mean age was 5.9 years (71.5 months). The experimental group consisted of 27 children who were 5.9 years (71.5 months) old, and the control group consisted of 23 children who were 5.9 years (71.5 months) old. The examinees performed 2 motor tasks, standing long jump (SJ, explosive strength) and standing on 1 leg on a beam "flamingo test" (FT, balance). The experimental group underwent a period of familiarization with the motor task in 3 sessions with 5 trials every 3 days. The results indicate statistically significant differences in the final testing between both groups of examinees; the experimental group mean was 112.73 cm, and the control group mean was 100.62 in the SJ test (p = 0.00), and the experimental group mean was 27.10 seconds and the control group mean was 15.01 seconds in the FT (for balance) (p = 0.00). The results obtained in this research indicate that children significantly improved the results in the motor test of strength and balance, being influenced by familiarization. It was confirmed that it was necessary for preschool children to be familiar with the test and it is not justified to use testing and assessment protocols and standards for adults. Physical educators and coaches, when testing preschool children, should introduce children to tests to obtain the best result.

Influence of familiarization on preschool children's motor tests results

“…In such circumstances, it is very important to provide children with additional instructions on the movement itself (Bala, 1999;Sullivan et al, 2008;Tomac et al, 2012). Tsigilis and Theodosiou (2008) attempt to establish whether the testing results remain stable across several attempts, or if they will change due to the influence of movement repetition.…”

“…It has been agreed (Bala, 1999;Sullivan et al, 2008) that it is not appropriate to apply adult protocols for children, and it is important to provide them with preparation and additional instructions. Tomac et al (2012) have attempted to establish the impact of familiarization on standing long jump test results in 6-year-old children. Their results indicate that a period of familiarization with the motor task significantly improved their scores after the experimental treatment.…”

Measurement of physical activity and physical fitness in preschool children

“…Pored procene karaktera fizičke aktivnosti ili fizičke forme dece, poželjno je da merioci sa- pripreme (familijarizacije) za testiranje, i učenja pokreta koje se izvodi u toku testiranja, pokazuju značajno poboljšanje rezultata testiranja nakon upoznavanja za testovnim procedurama. Dalje, autori ističu da povratne informacije o načinu izvođenja kretnje kao i informacije o rezultatima testa predstavljaju ključnu stvar (Tomac et al, 2012). U istom istraživanju, eksperimentalni protokoli su sadržali značajnu količinu povratnih informacija, a same kretnje nisu dovele do značajne potrošnje energije, pa autori zaključuju da motorno znanje, odnosno informacije o komponenti kretanja, imaju značajnu ulogu u poboljšanju rezultata u toku testiranja.…”

“…Zato je važno obezbediti pripremu i dodatne instrukcije u toku merenja. Rezultati pokazuju (Tomac et al, 2012) da usled familijarizacije i sticanja motornog znanja, deca značajno poboljšavaju rezultate testova snage i ravnoteže. Dalje, autori ukazuju da je potrebno upoznati predškolce sa testovnim procedurama najmanje tri puta kako bi ostvarili najbolje rezultate.…”

The Influence of Familiarization on Physical Fitness Test Results in Primary School-Aged Children

“…In addition, a recent systematic review noted that assessing physical fitness in the youth has become highly relevant for clinical and public health (23). However, testing children's physical fitness and monitoring their development is complex, requiring a high level of precision, reliability and objectivity (28).…”