Praxis HPE 5857

This section covers the core physical education content in Category III: how fundamental motor skills develop, the components of fitness and how to train and test them, the biomechanical and physiological principles behind movement, the major activity categories, the rules and strategies of the sports the exam emphasizes, and the trends and legal duties that shape the profession. Together with Section 2, it accounts for about 22 of the 130 questions.

Fundamental Motor Skills

Fundamental motor skills are the building blocks of all physical activity. They are grouped into three categories, and each develops through predictable stages from immature to mature patterns.

Move the body from one place to

Performed in place without traveling:

Control an object with the body or an

another: walking, running, hopping,

bending, stretching, twisting, turning,

implement: throwing, catching, kicking,

galloping, skipping, sliding, jumping,

swinging, swaying, pushing, pulling,

striking, dribbling, and volleying. They

and leaping.

and balancing.

require hand-eye or foot-eye coordination.

Skill	Defi ningCharacteristics
Walking	Continuouscontactwiththeground;onefootisalwaysdown
Running	Includesaflightphaseinwhichbothfeetleavetheground
Hopping	Takeoffandlandingonthesamefoot
Jumping	Takeoff from one or two feet with a landing on two feet (a two-foot takeoff and landing in beginning
	instruction)
Leaping	Takeoffononefootandlandingontheother withanextendedflightphase ,
Galloping	Astepandaleapforwardwiththesamefootalwaysleading
Sliding	Agallopperformedsideways withthesamefootleading ,
Skipping	Astepandahop alternatingtheleadfoot;usuallythelastfundamentallocomotorskilltomature ,

Motor Development Stages

Motor development follows a predictable sequence regardless of the age at which skills emerge. Each fundamental skill passes through three stages, and most children can reach mature patterns by about ages 6–7 with appropriate instruction and practice. Maturation alone does not produce mature patterns; many adults never reach them in skills they have not practiced.

➜

➜

Limited or exaggerated movements, poor

Better control and consistency; body parts

Efficient, coordinated, controlled movement

coordination, inconsistent results; only parts of

begin to work together, but timing and

with proper sequencing, timing, and force

the body are used

sequencing errors remain

The specialized movement phase builds on mature fundamental skills to develop sport-specific ability. It has three stages: the transitional stage (combining and applying fundamental skills in more complex settings, such as lead-up games), the application stage (refining skills for specific sports), and the lifelong utilization stage (choosing activities based on interests, abilities, and opportunities).

Motor Learning

Motor learning describes how skill is acquired through practice. Teachers use it to decide how to structure practice and when to give feedback.

Fittsandposner'Sstagesofmotorlearning

Stage	LearnerCharacteristics	TeachingEmphasis
Cognitive	Figuresoutwhattodo;manylarge inconsistenterrors; ,	Cleardemonstrations oneortwosimplecues , ,
	reliesheavilyonexternalfeedbackanddemonstrations	frequentspecificfeedback
Associative	Refinesthemovement;fewer smallererrors;beginsto ,	Morepracticetime variedconditions feedbackon , ,
	detectownerrors	refinements;beginfadingfeedback
Autonomous	Performsautomaticallyandconsistently;attentionis	Game-like open-skill conditions; tactical decisions; ,
	freeforstrategyandtheenvironment	self -analysis

Concept	WhattoKnow
Wholevs partpractice .	Wholepracticesuitssimpleorhighlycontinuousskills;partpractice(breakingaskillintocomponents)
	suits complex skills with separable parts such as a tennis serve or a lay-up ,
Massedvs distributed .	Distributedpractice(shortersessionswithrest)generallyproducesbetterlearningthanmassed
	practice especiallyforbeginnersandfatiguingtasks ,
Blockedvs random .	Blockedpractice(repeatingoneskillbeforemovingon)improvesperformanceduringpractice;random
	practice (mixing skills) produces better long-term retention and transfer a result called the contextual ,
	interferenceeffect
Constantvs variable .	Variablepractice(changingdistance speed ortarget)buildsadaptableskillandtransfertogames , ,
Closedvs openskills .	Closedskillsoccurinastable predictableenvironment(freethrow bowling);openskillsoccurina , ,
	changingenvironment(dribblingpastadefender)
Transfer	Positivetransfer:oneskillhelpsanother(overhandthrowtovolleyballserve) Negativetransfer:oneskill .
	interfereswithanother(afirmtenniswristcarriedintoaflexiblebadmintonwristaction)
Feedback	Intrinsicfeedbackcomesfromthelearner'sownsenses;augmented(extrinsic)feedbackcomesfroman 1 outsidesource Knowledgeofresults(KR)describestheoutcome;knowledgeofperformance(KP) . describesthemovement Beginnersbenefitfromfrequent specificaugmentedfeedbackthatis . , graduallyfaded

Movement Concepts

Movement concepts describe how the body moves. They are grouped into four categories, often taught through the movement education (Laban) framework in elementary PE.

Category	QuestionAnswered	Elements
Bodyawareness	Whatthebodydoes	Bodyparts;bodyshapes(curled stretched twisted wide narrow);body , , , ,
		actions
Spaceawareness	Wherethebodymoves	Personalandgeneralspace;directions(forward backward sideways up , , , ,
		down);levels(low medium high);pathways(straight curved zigzag) , , , ,
Effort	Howthebodymoves	Time(slowtofast);force(lighttostrong);flow(bound whichcanbe ,
		stopped orfree whichiscontinuous) , ,
Relationships	Withwhomorwhatthe	Objects people andtheenvironment:over under around through along , , , , , , ,
	bodymoves	alongside leading following mirroring matching , , , ,