A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Online and In-Person Motor Skill Acquisition

Motor skill acquisition is pivotal for human development. Traditionally, teaching motor skills has occurred in person, where teachers are in the exact location as learners. Recently, there has been a substantial shift in education and skill training to transfer to an online environment without robust evidence of online motor skill training’s effectiveness. In the context of exercise, motor skills have primarily been taught in online physical education and medical education, and this trend has been exacerbated by COVID-19. Considering the popularity of online skill learning and a lack of robust evidence of its effectiveness, this study compared the effectiveness of motor skill acquisition, motivation, and enjoyment of synchronous and asynchronous online groups to the in-person group. A sample of 83 college students ( M age = 20.51, SD = 1.780; male = 26, female = 57) were assigned to the in-person, synchronous, or asynchronous groups. The analysis of covariance showed a statistically significant difference in skill performance, F (2, 68) = 3.63, p = .032, η 2 = .096, enjoyment, F (2, 67) = 5.69, p = .005, η 2 = .15, and motivation, F (2, 67) = 3.92, p = .025, η 2 = .11, favoring in-person group over the online groups. In conclusion, although teaching a motor skill online was practical and feasible, in-person training was more effective in learners’ skill acquisition and had higher positive perspectives (enjoyment and motivation) toward the training session.