The World Confederation for Physical Therapy (2011) state in their educational policy, that learning and mastering of procedural skill is an essential part in the education of future physiotherapists. Procedural skills are defined as “a motor skill involving a series of discrete responses each of which must be performed at the appropriate time in the appropriate sequence” (Kent 2007, p. 437). Some researcher (e.g. Wulf et al. (2010) suggested to apply a specific set of training principles, so called “motor learning principles”, derived from the learning of movement skills to the learning of procedural skills in health professions education. Within the LEArN study we explored the application of mental practice and different attentional foci on the acquisition of complex skills in physiotherpay education. The LEArN trial is one of my doctoral research projects at QMU.
The following educational scripts for a transfer procedure can be downloaded:
External focus of attention script
Internal focus of attention script
The following educational scripts for a set of procedures from vestibular rehabilitation can be downloaded:
External focus of attention script
Internal focus of attention script
The control group used the same script as the mental practice group but practiced only physically.