Essay Writing Guidance

Ideas and guidance for writing an essay for physical education

Please remember that different people look for different styles in an essay, even though they are marked against criteria. The first piece of guidance is to seek a tutorial with the person marking the essay!

• Brain storm the title…write a list or spider diagram from the word “feedback”. Then put the words in a reasonably logical order if you can, to avoid flitting from one thing to another.
•  Essay technique:

1. Keep it concise if you can

2. How to use words:

• Write definite if you have solid evidence to support it.

E.g - Positive Reinforcement is an important part of motor skill development. This is supported by Thorndike’s law of effect which states that if a response is followed by a pleasurable experience, the Stimulus Response bond is strengthened.

• But be careful of……

“Positive Reinforcement should always be used when learning motor skill development.”

This is dangerous because the statement does not allow for the possibility of different students learning in different ways..

• Write in the “suggests” if you have some experience or research to qualify your statement.

E.g – “During a 100m race, I find that I do not hear concurrent feedback due to the fact that I am focused at optimum arousal level which in turn allows for effective selective attention. This suggests that at a good level of experience and technique, terminal feedback and verbal guidance are more effective. This was also the case for several other athletes I interviewed. At a lower level of experience and technique, concurrent feedback seems to be more effective. Support for this comes from the four beginner athletes whom I questioned. This is because the information stored in the LTM is not as advanced in a beginner and they still require guidance and feedback to continually adjust the technique.

• When writing a conclusive statement during the assignment, write something like “I conclude from this……” or “I believe”, “I think……”, “It follows then that…..”. When writing a conclusion, try something like “I conclude”, “My conclusions are”, “My overall conclusion is….” “To summarise and conclude….” Etc.
• Don’t drift too far away from the common thread of feedback. Other things should be mentioned in context (such as guidance) but don’t write whole chunks on guidance and motivation in their own right.
• Draw diagrams to represent or backup what you are describing. Look at how text books do this all the time. Include the diagrams in your text.
• Be analytical. Discuss how feedback is used and what the effects as well as describing what it is too much.
• Use plenty of practical examples.
• Refer back to the question at the end of each paragraph to show the reader you are adressing the question.