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Interactive training gives skating judges immediate feedback

Online course screen capture
3:19 p.m., Jan. 30, 2004--The University of Delaware, working in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA), has rolled out a new cutting edge, online course designed to complement training materials already in place for the organization’s volunteer judges.

USFSA officials are interested in improving and modernizing judging training delivery methods, and they say they believe the University’s WebCT course, the first in a possible series, will do just that.

Through the course, judges from all over the country can sit down at a computer, go to the UD WebCT page and log in for training as their schedules permit. The course includes step-by-step instruction on various pair skating movements and lifts, complete with streaming video, audio and feedback provided through built-in tests.

The University is a sound partner in the endeavor because it is home to an internationally recognized figure skating program, has advanced technologies and has many years of experience in the delivery of distance learning courses, according to both Jack O’Neill, co-director of the UD Ice Skating Science Development Center, and Madeline Lambrecht, director of the College of Health and Nursing Sciences (CHNS) Division of Special Programs, who led the project.

The U.S. Figure Skating Association decided to partner with UD in preparing the course because it is interested in providing judges “with additional opportunities to enhance their education,” Larry Mondschein, chairman of the USFSA Judges Committee, said. “Right now training is done at competitions and test sessions and at judges’ schools. E-learning provides our judges with anytime, anywhere training.”

Wendy Enzmann, USFSA national vice chairman for the judges education and training subcommittee, said all judges with the national figure skating sanctioning body are volunteers and most hold down full-time jobs outside the sport. In addition, they are expected to meet yearly continuing education requirements to remain on the active judges list.

“Until now, the only type of training offered has been through seminars or schools and official trial judging, and judges are expected to pay their own expenses associated with all of that training,” Enzmann said. “E-learning will offer a cheaper alternative for judges’ education.”

Enzmann said the U.S. Figure Skating Association decided to put together a pilot module on pair lifts to see if WebCT training is feasible and “something members would like to pursue in the future.”

Pair competition was chosen because there are fewer teams and competitive events in that discipline than any other, Enzmann said, and because of that judges have very limited exposure to the event.

UD was a natural partner in the endeavor in part because it is home to a world-renowned figure skating training center with a reputation for strong pair coaching under the direction of Ron Ludington, former Olympian and a member of the Delaware, U.S. and World Figure Skating Halls of Fame.

The University “has a reputation for excellence in coaching and, as a result, a number of highly talented skaters who can be used to demonstrate specific skating elements that can be captured via e-learning,” Mondschein said. “Also, UD has a longstanding reputation as a pioneer in computer-based learning.”

Mondschein said early feedback from judges about the WebCT course has been heartening.

“Thus far in the pilot testing, an overwhelming majority of the respondents provided positive feedback,” Mondschein said. “I expect the same reception when it is provided to our judging community. I foresee that this education will improve the overall knowledge of our judges, which has a direct effect in helping our sport, which is evaluated by judges.”

Jack O’Neill, co-director of the UD Ice Skating Science Development Center, Madeline Lambrecht, director of the College of Health and Nursing Sciences Division of Special Programs, and Stacy Weile, a campus information technologies associate
Photo by Kathy Atkinson
“The future is very bright for computer-based learning,” Mondschein added. “I am working with my committee to identify and prioritize which areas of figure skating need to be captured via e-learning. We also see this type of education benefiting our coaches and the public.”

Enzmann said plans are in the works to develop WebCT modules in every figure skating discipline: singles, pair skating, dance and synchronized team skating.

“The College of Health and Nursing Sciences, through the Division of Special Programs, has been a campus leader in developing innovative technological approaches for the delivery of both credit and noncredit programs,” Lambrecht said. “Over the last several years, we’ve explored ideas for using technology to deliver education to skating professionals and the current USFSA project is a natural evolution of that experience.”

Several years ago, UD attempted to interest the Professional Skaters Association (PSA), an organization of figure skating coaches, instructors and trainers, in distance learning, according to Lambrecht.

That project never came to fruition but “it made other people in the figure skating world aware that this was something the University of Delaware could do,” she said. Due to the positive reception the judging project has received, PSA has initiated discussions with the University to develop a comprehensive series of instructional distance learning programs for coaches.

“There has been a concerted effort to do something positive in judging,” O’Neill said, adding that the online means of delivery is “somewhat revolutionary for the U.S. Figure Skating Association.”

“Part of the mission of the University’s Ice Skating Science Development Center is to advance knowledge in the field of figure skating,” O’Neill said, and this effort is “consistent with that mission.”

“Educational partnerships are a large part of what the CHNS Division of Special Programs does,” Lambrecht said, and “we have tried to match our expertise with the needs and capabilities of the judges themselves.”

Of the course itself, Lambrecht said the key component is the fact that judges get immediate feedback as they go through the various sections. “The interactivity is absolutely essential,” she said. “It is not as if you are sitting in front of a book. Feedback is provided throughout the lesson. If you get something right, it tells you ‘good job,’ and if you get something wrong, it offers suggestions on where you can go for additional information.”

“This is all very cutting edge and very exciting,” O’Neill said, “and we believe it has a great deal of potential.”

Assisting the UD design and production team were Stacy Weile, a campus information technologies associate who served as video production specialist, and Justin Schakelman, a doctoral student in the School of Education with a specialization in educational technology. Schakelman translated the project’s instructional objectives and framework into a technical product and designed and conducted a three-month study of its effectiveness, finding that judges who used the on-line education system were significantly more accurate when identifying technical aspects of pair skating lifts than those who did not.

Article by Neil Thomas

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