Evaluating Types of Feedback (AQA GCSE Physical Education (PE))

Evaluating Types of Feedback

• Feedback is information received by a performer that relates to their performance; its purpose is to allow improvement for future performance

• Feedback can be:

  • Positive/negative

  • Knowledge of results/knowledge of performance

  • Extrinsic/intrinsic

Positive/negative feedback

• Positive feedback involves praise; a performer is told when they are doing something right; this is essential because:

  • It means that a performer knows to repeat an action in the same way

  • It can be highly motivating

• Negative feedback involves telling a performer that they have done something incorrectly; this type of feedback should involve:

  • Telling a performer exactly what is incorrect about an action

  • Discussion of how to correct the action for the future

• Positive feedback is generally more effective than negative feedback for beginners, as it is likely to be motivating and to encourage continued participation

• Elite performers tend to have learned how to respond well to negative feedback, and will see it as an essential part of improving performance

Knowledge of results/knowledge of performance feedback

• Knowledge of results (KR) feedback involves knowing the outcome of a performance; this is likely to be a statistic that forms part of a final result, e.g.

  • The score at the end of a tennis match

  • The position of a performer in a swimming race

  • A performer's time in a distance running event

  • The height achieved in a high jump event

• Knowledge of performance (KP) feedback relates to individual performance regardless of any final result, e.g.

  • The timing of a backhand stroke in tennis

  • How clean a landing is after a beam performance in gymnastics

  • How quickly a runner leaves the blocks in a sprint

• An evaluation of the use of KR and KP feedback for beginners and elite performance could include:

Knowledge of results/knowledge of performance table

Extrinsic/intrinsic feedback

• Extrinsic feedback comes from others, e.g. a coach, teammates or the reactions of a crowd

• Intrinsic feedback is a performer's own impressions of their performance, e.g. how the muscles feel during a movement, what can be seen of the results of an action or a performer's emotional response to their performance

• Extrinsic feedback tends to be more valuable to beginners as they may not have enough knowledge or experience to determine the quality of their own performance

• Elite performers have enough experience to interpret intrinsic feedback so they are able to make use of both extrinsic and intrinsic feedback