The effects of three styles of instruction on the improvement of fundamental volleyball skills.

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the effects of three instructional approaches on improvement of selected skills in beginning volleyball at the college level. The instructional approaches utilized were: (1) traditional instruction, (2) reciprocal instruction, and (3) contingency management instruction. The subjects were 54 male and female students enrolled in three volleyball service classes at Middle Tennessee State University. These classes met for 50 minutes twice a week for 16 weeks and were taught by the investigator. Improvement in performance of the fundamental volleyball skills was determined by pretest and posttest scores on three skills tests: (1) American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) Passing Test, (2) the AAHPERD Set-Up Test, and (3) the AAHPERD Serving Test. The.05 level was used to determine significance for all statistical analyses. Preliminary analysis for homogeneity among the three groups was performed through the use of a series of three one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) comparing pretreatment scores. The groups were found to be homogeneous. The posttest ANOVAs on the skills of serving and setting revealed that a significant difference existed among the three groups. Scheffe's test revealed a significant difference on the skill of serving between the traditional and contingency management group, and a significant difference between the reciprocal and contingency management group. The traditional and reciprocal instruction groups yielded significantly higher scores than the contingency management style instruction. Scheffe's test also revealed a significant difference between the traditional and reciprocal instruction groups for the skill of setting. The reciprocal instruction yielded significantly higher scores than the traditional group.