Background/Purpose Teachers and coaches regularly seek ways of enhancing their teaching methods. Practitioners have frequently used visual feedback (the use of visual aids such as videos) to facilitate motor skill acquisition.The effect of visual feedback on motor skill acquisition has been examined in many kinesiology domains and in many types of sports (Brown, 1948; Clark, 2007; Gasson, 1969; Lynch, 2009; Zetou, 2002). For example, Magill (2007, p. 117) stated "of all sensory systems, vision is the one we trust and use the most”. However, there are numerous discrepancies in the research findings for the efficacy of visual feedback as a learning tool.
Method In order to examine this subject, a thorough literature search was conducted throughout main electronic databases.
Analysis/Results Focusing on effect sizes of such studies, this meta-analysis compiled every available article studying the use of visual feedback compared to verbal feedback for learning motor skills. The weighted mean effect was .28 with a variance of .14 using a random-effects model.
Conclusions In conclusion, this study demonstrates that visual feedback can offer improvements in learning beyond traditional instructional methods. Although an effect size of .28 is considered a medium effect (Cohen, 1992), it is viewed as a significant difference since visual feedback was compared to traditional verbal feedback. This study brings to light many factors that warrant further study when learning with visual feedback including immediacy of feedback, number of learning sessions, type of motor skill, and skill level and gender of the learner.
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