The effects of acute carbohydrate and caffeine feeding strategies on cycling efficiency

To assess the effect of carbohydrate and caffeine on gross efficiency (GE), 14 cyclists (V?O_2max 57.6 ± 6.3 ml.kg^?1.min^?1) completed 4 × 2-hour tests at a submaximal exercise intensity (60% Maximal Minute Power). Using a randomized, counter-balanced crossover design, participants consumed a standardised diet in the 3-days preceding each test and subsequently ingested either caffeine (CAF), carbohydrate (CHO), caffeine+carbohydrate (CAF+CHO) or water (W) during exercise whilst GE and plasma glucose were assessed at regular intervals (~30 mins). GE progressively decreased in the W condition but, whilst caffeine had no effect, this was significantly attenuated in both trials that involved carbohydrate feedings (W = ?1.78 ± 0.31%; CHO = ?0.70 ± 0.25%, p = 0.008; CAF+CHO = ?0.63 ± 0.27%, p = 0.023; CAF = ?1.12 ± 0.24%, p = 0.077). Blood glucose levels were significantly higher in carbohydrate ingestion conditions (CHO = 4.79 ± 0.67 mmol·L^?1, p < 0.001; CAF+CHO = 5.05 ± 0.81 mmol·L^?1, p < 0.001; CAF = 4.46 ± 0.75 mmol·L^?1; W = 4.20 ± 0.53 mmol·L^?1). Carbohydrate ingestion has a small but significant effect on exercise-induced reductions in GE, indicating that cyclists’ feeding strategy should be carefully monitored prior to and during assessment.     

Helping coaches apply the principles of representative learning design: validation of a tennis specific practice assessment tool

Representative Learning Design (RLD) is a framework for assessing the degree to which experimental or practice tasks simulate key aspects of specific performance environments (i.e. competition). The key premise being that when practice replicates the performance environment, skills are more likely to transfer. In applied situations, however, there is currently no simple or quick method for coaches to assess the key concepts of RLD (e.g. during on-court tasks). The aim of this study was to develop a tool for coaches to efficiently assess practice task design in tennis. A consensus-based tool was developed using a 4-round Delphi process with 10 academic and 13 tennis-coaching experts. Expert consensus was reached for the inclusion of seven items, each consisting of two sub-questions related to (i) the task goal and (ii) the relevance of the task to competition performance. The Representative Practice Assessment Tool (RPAT) is proposed for use in assessing and enhancing practice task designs in tennis to increase the functional coupling between information and movement, and to maximise the potential for skill transfer to competition contexts.     

The effects of caffeine ingestion on performance time,speed and power during a laboratory-based 1 km cycling time-trial

Abstract

There is little published data in relation to the effects of caffeine upon cycling performance, speed and power in trained cyclists, especially during cycling of ～60 s duration. To address this, eight trained cyclists performed a 1 km time-trial on an electronically braked cycle ergometer under three conditions: after ingestion of 5 mg · kg^?1 caffeine, after ingestion of a placebo, or a control condition. The three time-trials were performed in a randomized order and performance time, mean speed, mean power and peak power were determined. Caffeine ingestion resulted in improved performance time (caffeine vs. placebo vs. control: 71.1 ± 2.0 vs. 73.4 ± 2.3 vs. 73.3 ± 2.7 s; P = 0.02; mean ± s). This change represented a 3.1% (95% confidence interval: 0.7–5.6) improvement compared with the placebo condition. Mean speed was also higher in the caffeine than placebo and control conditions (caffeine vs. placebo vs. control: 50.7 ± 1.4 vs. 49.1 ± 1.5 vs. 49.2 ± 1.7 km · h^?1; P = 0.0005). Mean power increased after caffeine ingestion (caffeine vs. placebo vs. control: 523 ± 43 vs. 505 ± 46 vs. 504 ± 38 W; P = 0.007). Peak power also increased from 864 ± 107 W (placebo) and 830 ± 87 W (control) to 940 ± 83 W after caffeine ingestion (P = 0.027). These results provide support for previous research that found improved performance after caffeine ingestion during short-duration high-intensity exercise. The magnitude of the improvements observed in our study could be due to our use of sport-specific ergometry, a tablet form and trained participants.     

How can novel task constraints be used to induce acute changes in gaze behaviour?

Abstract

Quiet eye (QE) is a robust phenomenon in golf putting and expert players frequently demonstrate longer QE periods (i.e., the final fixation prior to the onset of the putting motion) relative to their less-skilled counterparts. In this experiment we used a pre-test/post-test design to determine whether we could use novel training aids and instructions to elicit acute changes in QE behaviour after a brief intervention. Three techniques were used: a marker under the ball, a hole-focus instruction, and a novel putting device – the putting box of science (PBoS). We compared gaze behaviour before and after 30 practice putts and found significant changes in QE duration in the absence of concomitant changes in putting performance. The control (?18 ms) and PBoS (+198 ms) groups did not change, the hole-focus group (?287 ms) had a decrease in QE duration, and the marker group (+366 ms) increased in QE duration. These finding are discussed relative to current QE training programs and the implications for development of evidence-based training aids with coach consultation.     

What do older people learn from young people? Intergenerational learning in ‘day centre’ community settings in Malta

This study analyses what motivates older people to attend ‘day centres’ in Malta and what they believe that they derive from young people who carry out their placements at these day ‘centres’ These young people, who are aged 16–17, attend a vocational college in Malta and are studying health and social care. The study is based on a qualitative approach and employs the usage of focus groups. The main findings are that the elderly see the students as helping them on an emotional level by giving them encouragement, and on a practical level, by offering them insights that help them in modern-day life.     

Religious diversity,inter‐ethnic relations and the Catholic school: introducing the responsive approach to single faith schooling

The article offers a case study of the ways in which a Catholic primary school located in the centre of a large South‐Asian community in Leicester, UK, responded to the religious and ethnic diversity of its surroundings. The school, Our Saviour’s, engaged in shared activities with a neighbouring school which had a majority intake of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh children. Approaches to religious education at Our Saviour’s combined with weekly shared activities with the neighbouring school resulted in improved inter‐ethnic relations in the surrounding community, as children from both schools began socialising after school hours. This article draws on ethnographic research to give a case study of the ways in which Our Saviour’s employed a responsive approach to single faith schooling by engaging with religious and ethnic diversity as a means of promoting dialogue.     

Learning in and beyond small business advisory programmes

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how participants learn in small business advisory programmes and to explore the impact of these learning programmes on the development of reflective learning dispositions in participants. The research involves two case studies of small business advisory programmes in Queensland, a state of Australia. One involves training in the use of GPS/GIS technology amongst rural SMEs and the other seeks to develop improved management and operational capabilities in regional and metropolitan manufacturing SMEs. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Queensland with participants, trainers and senior executives in the administering organisations that ran the programmes. Learning in these programmes occurs through a combination of interaction with others and the adoption of practice-based and learner-centred processes. The impact of the programmes on participants includes the development of reflective learning dispositions, improved confidence in learning and appreciation of the value of new knowledge to their business. The research suggests that small business training programmes have the potential to affect the development of critical reflective learning dispositions in participants which is of fundamental importance to the development of a learning or knowledge economy.     

Making instruction and assessment responsive to diverse students' progress: group-administered dynamic assessment in teaching mathematics

This study entailed a 3 (instructional intervention) × 2 (assessment-type) between-subjects experimental design employing a pretest-intervention-posttest methodology. The instructional interventions were administered between subjects in three conditions: (a) dynamic instruction, (b) triarchic or theory of successful intelligence-control instruction, and (c) standard-control instruction. The assessment-type consisted between subjects of either (a) a group-administered dynamic posttest or (b) the same group-administered posttest interspersed with a control filler activity. Performance in different mathematics content areas taught in fourth grade was investigated. In total, 1,332 students and 63 classroom teachers in 24 schools across six school districts participated in the study. The results indicate the advantages of using dynamic instruction and assessment in regular classrooms while teaching mathematics, especially when the student body is highly ethnically diverse.     

Can anticipatory skills be learned through implicit video-based perceptual training?

The aim of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of two video-based perceptual training approaches designed to improve the anticipatory skills of junior tennis players. Players were assigned equally to an explicit learning group, an implicit learning group, a placebo group or a control group. A progressive temporal occlusion paradigm was used to examine, before and after training, the ability of the players to predict the direction of an opponent's service in an in-vivo on-court setting. The players responded either through hitting a return stroke or making a verbal prediction of stroke direction. Results revealed that the implicit learning group, whose training required them to predict serve speed direction while viewing temporally occluded video footage of the return-of-serve scenario, significantly improved their prediction accuracy after the training intervention. However, this training effect dissipated after a 32 day unfilled retention interval. The explicit learning group, who received instructions about the specific aspects of the pre-contact service kinematics that are informative with respect to service direction, did not demonstrate any significant performance improvements after the intervention. This, together with the absence of any significant improvements for the placebo and control groups, demonstrated that the improvement observed for the implicit learning group was not a consequence of either expectancy or familiarity effects.     

Using the value creation framework to capture knowledge co-creation and pathways to impact in a transnational community of practice in autism education

ABSTRACT

Although theories around Communities of Practice have gained significant ground in recent years and have become an important focus for organizational development, there is a gap in studies that investigate what members gain from participation in these communities. This paper explains how the value creation framework was implemented in a transnational research and development project in autism education by examining cycles of value creation and drawing on two types of data identified by Wenger and colleagues. The value creation framework is a theoretically driven framework to assess social learning in communities. Participants involved in the learning space were co-researchers engaged in a process of investigating, sharing and reflecting on their practice. The paper discusses the methodological challenges and strengths of using the value creation framework, with a particular focus on how insights and interactions led to subsequent changes in the practice of the participants. This work has the potential to make an important contribution to methods and analysis in assessing social learning and pathways to impact in participatory research and development projects more broadly.