An investigation into teaching games for understanding: effects on skill, knowledge, and game play.

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the games for understanding model by comparing it to a technique approach to instruction and a control group. The technique method focused primarily on skill instruction where the skill taught initially was incorporated into a game at the end of each lesson. The games for understanding approach emphasized developing tactical awareness and decision making in small game situations. Two physical education specialists taught field hockey using these approaches for 15 lessons (45 min each). The control group did not receive any field hockey instruction. Data were collected from 71 middle school children. Pretests and posttests were administered for hockey knowledge, skill, and game performance. Separate analyses of variance or analyses of covariance were conducted to examine group differences for cognitive and skill outcomes. The games for understanding group scored significantly higher on passing decision making than the technique and control groups during posttest game play and significantly higher than the control group for declarative and procedural knowledge. The games for understanding group scored significantly higher on control and passing execution than the other groups during posttest game play. For hockey skill, there were no significant differences among the treatment groups for accuracy, but the technique group recorded faster times than the control group on the posttest.     

The effect of submaximal exercise on recovery hemodynamics and thermoregulation in men and women

Five women and 5 men were studied to examine the effects of submaximal exercise on thermoregulatory and hemodynamic variables during recovery in two environments: (a) control (C), 22 degrees C, 33% rh; and (b) hot humid (H), 32 degrees C. The participants exercised on a cycle ergometer at 60% of peak oxygen consumption for 35 min prior to 90 min of seated recovery. Sessions were identical, except for environment. Variables evaluated (p < .05) were: core temperature (TR), mean skin temperature (Ts), sweat rate (SR), heart rate (HR), stroke index (SI), cardiac index (CI), forearm blood flow (FBF), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Men and women exhibited similar patterns of TR, Ts, and SR in both environments. Ts and SR (collapsed means for gender) were higher in the H than in the C. DBP was higher in men than in women throughout recovery in both environments. With combined means for gender, HR was higher in the H than in the C. CI, SI, FBF, and SBP were similar in both environments and returned to baseline within 15 min into recovery. These data suggest that heat dissipation during extended recovery was accomplished with similar contributions of cutaneous vasodilation and sweating in M and F. Furthermore, the moderate exercise level did not influence hemodynamics beyond 15 min of recovery in either environment.     

Effects of Proximity on the Choice to Be Physically Active or Sedentary

The link between physical activity and weight loss has precipitated interest in interventions to foster adherence to exercise. It has been suggested that treatment effects, when significant, should be analyzed to determine theory-based mediators. This research assessed possible mediation of changes in Physical Self-Concept, Exercise Self-Efficacy, Total Mood Disturbance, and Body Areas Satisfaction scores on the relationship between exercise session attendance and participation by obese women in a 6-month treatment based on tenets of social cognitive theory (n = 73) or a control condition (n = 64). Participation in the treatment was associated with significantly greater exercise session attendance and significantly greater improvements in Physical Self-Concept, Exercise Barriers Self-Efficacy, and Body Areas Satisfaction. Overall, changes in the assessed psychological factors demonstrated significant mediation of the association between group membership and exercise session attendance, R² = .23, with only change in Physical Self-Concept scores providing a significant unique contribution. Extensions of this research across different sample types, and with longer durations, were suggested to refine theory and, ultimately, improve exercise adherence treatments.     

Waist Circumference,Pedometer Placement,and Step-Counting Accuracy in Youth

This study examined whether differences in waist circumference (WC) and pedometer placement (anterior vs. midaxillary vs. posterior) affect the agreement between pedometer and observed steps during treadmill and self-paced walking. Participants included 19 pairs of youth (9–15 years old) who were matched for sex, race, and height and stratified by WC (high WC: HWC; low WC: LWC). Participants performed 3-min treadmill-walking trials at speeds of 59, 72, and 86 m·min-1 and a 400-m self-paced walking trial on level ground. Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the agreement between pedometer and observed steps of spring-levered pedometers by WC, pedometer placement, and walking speed. In the HWC group, the posterior pedometer placement consistently agreed most closely with observed steps at all treadmill speeds and during self-paced walking. In the LWC group, no single pedometer placement consistently agreed most closely with observed steps at all treadmill speeds and during self-paced walking. We conclude that a posterior pedometer placement improves step-count accuracy in most youth with an HWC at a range of walking speeds on level ground.     

Interleukin-6 and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Do Not Vary During the Menstrual Cycle

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and delayed onset muscles soreness (DOMS) exists in two different phases of the menstrual cycle. Nine runners performed one 75-min high-intensity interval running session during the early follicular (EF) phase and once during the midluteal (ML) phase of the menstrual cycle. Estrogen and progesterone levels were significantly reduced in the EF phase when compared to the ML phase. IL-6 levels increased from pre- to postexercise in the EF and ML phases (p < .001). There was no relationship between the IL-6 level and DOMS. The results suggest that menstruating female runners need not vary training throughout the month to reduce DOMS.     

Accelerometer and GPS Data to Analyze Built Environments and Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Most built environment studies have quantified characteristics of the areas around participants’ homes. However, the environmental exposures for physical activity (PA) are spatially dynamic rather than static. Thus, merged accelerometer and global positioning system (GPS) data were utilized to estimate associations between the built environment and PA among adults. Methods: Participants (N = 142) were recruited on trails in Massachusetts and wore an accelerometer and GPS unit for 1–4 days. Two binary outcomes were created: moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA vs. light PA-to-sedentary); and light-to-vigorous PA (LVPA vs. sedentary). Five built environment variables were created within 50-meter buffers around GPS points: population density, street density, land use mix (LUM), greenness, and walkability index. Generalized linear mixed models were fit to examine associations between environmental variables and both outcomes, adjusting for demographic covariates. Results: Overall, in the fully adjusted models, greenness was positively associated with MVPA and LVPA (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03, 1.30 and 1.25, 95% CI = 1.12, 1.41, respectively). In contrast, street density and LUM were negatively associated with MVPA (ORs = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.67, 0.71 and 0.87, 95% CI = 0.78, 0.97, respectively) and LVPA (ORs = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.77, 0.81 and 0.81, 95% CI = 0.74, 0.90, respectively). Negative associations of population density and walkability with both outcomes reached statistical significance, yet the effect sizes were small. Conclusions: Concurrent monitoring of activity with accelerometers and GPS units allowed us to investigate relationships between objectively measured built environment around GPS points and minute-by-minute PA. Negative relationships between street density and LUM and PA contrast evidence from most built environment studies in adults. However, direct comparisons should be made with caution since most previous studies have focused on spatially fixed buffers around home locations, rather than the precise locations where PA occurs.     

The Influence of Aging on Power and Endurance in Man

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the strength-decrement fatigue effects in 14 muscle groups of the trunk and lower extremities resulting from a sub-maximal treadmill run at seven miles per hour for a period of ten minutes on a horizontal plane. Only two muscle groups, the hip outward rotators and the trunk flexors, were fatigued sufficiently to cause a significant strength decrement; a third muscle group, the knee flexors, had a loss in mean strength which approached the .05 level of confidence.     

Effect of Strenuous Physical Activity upon Reaction Time

Abstract

This study was concerned with the effect of bench-stepping in the Harvard Step Test upon finger and foot reaction time and, secondarily, with ascertaining the relationship, if any, between these reaction times and scores on the Harvard Step Test. The subjects were university freshman males. Reaction times were taken before, immediately after, and four minutes after the stepping exercise for 80 subjects. Thirty-six subjects served as controls, involving the reaction times and pulse counts at the prescribed intervals but without exercise. The findings failed to divulge any discernible effect of stepping exercise upon reaction time, or any apparent relationship between reaction time and the sum of the recovery pulse counts following the exercise. In view of these findings it is suggested that study be directed to two related aspects — the effect of exercise to exhaustion on reaction time, and the effect of strenuous and exhaustive exercise upon speed of movement.     

Book Reviews

This study examined the teaching of games via a tactical approach (also known as teaching games for understanding) from the theoretical perspective of social constructivism. A pilot study (of student teachers (STs) and pupils) informed the ‘main’ study which included collecting data on 49 STs, 58 cooperating teachers (CTs) and 1177 pupils. ST data were collected through videotaping (lessons), interviews and questionnaires; CT data through interviews and questionnaires; and pupil data through questionnaires. Data analysis techniques included systematic coding of teaching behaviours through computer software, using constant comparison to code open-ended question responses, and computing frequencies of Likert-scale question responses. T-tests were used to compare pre- and post-CT workshop data. Findings suggest that STs’ teaching of the tactical approach was in line with a social constructivist perspective, in part because lessons were student-centred. Overall student activity was 53% of all lessons taught, and STs facilitated pupil learning through several question and answer scenarios. Pupils wrote that they enjoyed playing games in what amounted to ‘authentic’ settings. Their responses also suggest that learning took place through ‘legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice’ and this facilitated pupil movement through the ‘zone of proximal development’. There were indications that pupil experiences were mediated by ST competence. CTs reported that an in-service workshop on the tactical approach and mentoring was beneficial and subsequent pairings with STs elicited positive feelings from both parties.