The reliability and validity of the bar-mounted PUSH BandTM 2.0 during bench press with moderate and heavy loads

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the bar-mounted PUSH Band^TM 2.0 to determine peak and mean velocity during the bench press exercise with a moderate (60% one repetition maximum [1RM]) and heavy (90% 1RM) load. We did this by simultaneously recording peak and mean velocity using the PUSH Band^TM 2.0 and three-dimensional motion capture from participants bench pressing with 60% and 90% 1RM. We used ordinary least products regression to assess within-session reliability and whether the PUSH Band^TM 2.0 could accurately predict motion capture velocity. Results showed that PUSH Band^TM 2.0 and motion capture peak and mean velocity reliability was acceptable with both loads. While there was a tendency for the PUSH Band^TM 2.0 to slightly overestimate peak and mean velocity, there was no fixed bias. However, mean velocity with 60 and 90% 1RM demonstrated proportional bias (differences between predicted and motion capture values increase with magnitude). Therefore, PUSH Band^TM 2.0 peak velocity with 60 and 90% 1RM is valid, but mean velocity is not.     

Mobilising the Modern Industrial Landscape for Sports and Leisure in the Early Twentieth Century

By the 1930s, it was common for large corporations to construct recreation parks for employee sports and other outdoor leisure activities. These were designed according to developing theories of sports and recreation and the kinds of recreation space required for modern industrial nations. Some companies provided recreation grounds for their employees of a similar or superior scale and sophistication to those provided by municipal authorities, including state-of the art pavilions and swimming pools, pleasure gardens and picnic areas. In Britain and the USA, from 1890–1940 the park designs of two companies – Cadbury Brothers at Bournville, UK and the National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, USA – became role models for the development of corporate recreation and industrial sports that remained influential through the 1960s. Landscape architects added value to the companies by creating useful and effective recreation parks. These parks were modern in that they served the more leisured societies of modern industrial nations in a rational way. The design, construction and maintenance of these parks also reveals that industrial sports policies in Britain and the USA made a distinctive and significant contribution to the industrial landscape as well as to the sporting ‘revolution’ of the period.     

Social Loafing and Identifiability: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goal Orientations

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if differences in the tendency to exhibit social loafing is a function of achievement-goal orientation and identifiability. Ninety-six males drawn from 10th-grade physical education classes responded to the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Duda, 1992) prior to completing a 30-meter sprint task under three separate conditions: as an individual, in a team with individual performance identified, and in a team with individual performance not identified. Following a median split of the task and ego values reported, subjects were divided into high and low groups for both orientations. Sprint times were compared by means of a 2 × 2 × 3 ANOVA (task x ego x sprint condition) with repeated measures on the third factor. Findings revealed that individuals with a combined low task/high ego orientation were significantly slower in the nonidentifiable team condition than in the other two conditions, whereas high-task/low-ego-oriented individuals demonstrated consistent performance across all three conditions. While confirming that identifiability of performance is an important situational variable, the findings suggest that the dispositional factor of achievement orientation may interact to provide a more detailed explanation of the social loafing phenomenon.     

Comparative career accomplishments of two decades of women and men doctoral graduates in education

Patterns of doctoral study and subsequent career progress were compared for 756 men and women doctoral graduates in education at a research university from two six-year periods, one before and one after a rapid nation-wide increase in the percentage of women doctorates. Despite advantages relative to men in admission, financial support and full-time study, women doctorates of both periods had achieved less career progress than men but held similarly positive perceptions concerning career impact of the degree. Work experience prior to doctoral study strongly predicted career progress for both genders. Thus, affirmative action may have positively affected the careers of recent women doctorates who were younger and who began study with less established careers than women doctorates prior to 1970.     

Happiness as a Goal of Counseling: Cross-cultural Implications

The article examines the construct of happiness within the context of counseling and holistic health (body, mind and spirit). It discusses happiness as a goal of counseling as reflected in selected counseling theories that focus on humanistic principles, holistic health, positive psychology, personal growth and the client’s intentional choice-making in life. Moreover, the article considers within-cultural and cross-cultural implications of happiness, and presents recommendations for counseling professionals who counsel clients or train future counselors.     

How do engineering attitudes vary by gender and motivation? Attractiveness of outreach science exhibitions in four countries

ABSTRACT

Outreach activities, like mobile science exhibitions, give opportunities to hands-on experiences in an attractive learning environment. We analysed attitudes, motivation and learning during a science exhibition visit, their relations to gender and future educational plans in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Belgium (N?=?1210 sixth-graders). Pupils' performance in a knowledge test improved after the visit. Autonomous motivation and attitudes towards science predicted situation motivation awakened in the science exhibition. Interestingly, the scientist attitude and the societal attitude were clearly separate dimensions. The third dimension was manifested in the engineering attitude typical for boys, who were keener on working with appliances, designing computer games and animations. Scientist and societal attitudes correlated positively and engineering attitude correlated negatively with the future educational plans of choosing the academic track in secondary education. The societal perspective on science was connected to above average achievement. In the follow-up test, these attitudes showed to be quite stable.     

Mathematical Reasoning Requirements in Swedish National Physics Tests

This paper focuses on one aspect of mathematical competence, namely mathematical reasoning, and how this competency influences students’ knowing of physics. This influence was studied by analysing the mathematical reasoning requirements upper secondary students meet when solving tasks in national physics tests. National tests are constructed to mirror the goals stated in the curricula, and these goals are similar across national borders. The framework used for characterising the mathematical reasoning required to solve the tasks in the national physics tests distinguishes between imitative and creative mathematical reasoning. The analysis process consisted of structured comparisons between representative student solutions and the students’ educational history. Of the 209 analysed tasks, 3/4 required mathematical reasoning in order to be solved. Creative mathematical reasoning, which, in particular, involves reasoning based on intrinsic properties, was required for 1/3 of the tasks. The results in this paper give strong evidence that creative mathematical reasoning is required to achieve higher grades on the tests. It is also confirmed that mathematical reasoning is an important and integral part of the physics curricula; and, it is suggested that the ability to use creative mathematical reasoning is necessary to fully master the curricula.     

Contributions of Piagetian and post-Piagetian theories to education

The aim of this article was to reflect on the contributions of Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theories to education. Topics analyzed included the evolution of Piaget’s and co-workers’ theory, the reaction by the scientific community to the main theoretical and methodological aspects of each period of his work, the educational potentialities of methodological and theoretical aspects of his theory, the criticisms about the potentialities of Piagetian theory for grounding educational practice. Then the emergence of the neo-Piagetian theories was described, as well as their major aims and their educational potentialities. Finally some considerations concerning the strengths and weaknesses of Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theories were presented.     

Journal Editor Perceptions of Universities: Some empirical evidence

Out of considerations as to the importance of university relationships with their various stakeholders, the primary objective of this research project was to identify the perceptions of academic journal editors regarding universities. Editors were asked to provide their perceptions on: (a) the relevance of universities to academic publications; (b) the mutual influence between universities and academic journals; and (c) the participation of editors in universities. Following initial exploratory research, we applied an online questionnaire and received a total of 276 responses from editors of indexed publications, enabling analysis of their perceptions. Despite editors recognizing the influence of universities on academic and scientific communities, our findings point to universities having failed in proactively reaching out to editors, especially surprising given the vast experience held by such figures. A better relationship might serve to enhance the university image and generate new opportunities for attracting resources.