Are teaching principles associated with improved motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder? A pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
Physical therapists' teaching skills often are disregarded in research studies. We examined whether the use of different teaching principles during neuromotor task training was associated with treatment effects.


METHODS
Nineteen children (mean age=7 years 5 months, range=5-10 years) who had developmental coordination disorder and who performed below the 15th percentile on the age-related Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) and 11 physical therapists participated in the study.


METHODS
One intervention session for each child was videotaped. The frequency of the use of principles included in the motor teaching principles taxonomy (Niemeijer et al, 2003) was correlated with changes in motor performance on the M-ABC and the second edition of the Test of Gross Motor Development.


RESULTS
Providing clues on how to perform a task, asking children about a task, and explaining why a movement should be executed in a certain way were related to better movement performance.


CONCLUSIONS
Teaching principles may be associated with success in therapeutic situations.
Niemeijer
Anuschka S
AS
Northern Centre for Healthcare Research, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Schoemaker
Marina M
MM
Smits-Engelsman
Bouwien C M
BC
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000628:therapy*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*