Bayesian hierarchical modelling of basketball tracking data - a case study of spatial entropy and spatial effectiveness

ABSTRACT

Spatio-temporal data in sport is increasing rapidly, however suitable statistical methods for analysing this data are underdeveloped. The current study establishes the need for spatial statistical methods, propose a Bayesian hierarchical model as an appropriate method for comparing spatial variables, and test this model across three spatial scales. The need for spatial statistical methods was established through the identification of spatial autocorrelation. This necessitated the use of a Bayesian hierarchical model to test for an association between spatial ball movement entropy and spatial effectiveness. Posterior distribution results showed a generally positive association such that increases in entropy were associated with increases in effectiveness. The strength and confidence of the associations were impacted by the spatial scale, with the 6 × 6 grid showing the most conclusive evidence of a positive relationship; the 4 × 4 grid was mostly positive, however with a large variation; and finally, the basket-centric scale results were less conclusive. The results of the current study demonstrate the suitability of a Bayesian hierarchical model for testing for associations or differences between spatial variables. With the increase in spatial analyses in sport, this study presents an appropriate statistical method for dealing with complex problems associated with spatial analyses.     

Measuring conceptual understanding in randomised controlled trials: Can comparative judgement help?

An impediment to conducting high-quality quantitative research studies in education is the paucity of valid measures of learning gains. Studies often seek to investigate students’ deep, conceptual understanding yet many measures assess only surface, procedural understanding. One reason is that the development of validated measures of conceptual understanding is resource intensive and time consuming, and success is not guaranteed. We evaluated a novel and efficient technique, based on comparative judgement, for assessing conceptual understanding. We applied the technique to a randomised controlled trial in which students were taught simple algebra based on either the Grid Algebra or the MiGen software package. The participants were Year 5 students (N = 188) drawn from four primary schools who had not encountered algebra previously. An instrument from the literature (Concepts in Secondary Mathematics and Science: Algebra Scale) and a novel comparative judgement assessment were administered following the intervention. Students in the Grid Algebra condition outperformed those in the MiGen condition on both post-test measures. The comparative judgement technique performed similarly to the standard instrument but was far more efficient to design and implement. The technique can, in principle, be quickly applied to any target concept of interest. We conclude that comparative judgement is a valid, reliable and practical tool that could help to increase both the quantity and quality of quantitative research in education.     

The Use of Difficulty

The brain likes a challenge-and putting a few obstacles in its way may well boost its reativity. Ian Leslie takes a hard line... Jack White,the former frontman of the White Stripes and an influential figure among fellow musicians,likes to make things difficult for himself.He uses cheap guitars that won’t stay in shape or in tune.When performing,he positions his instruments in a way that is deliberately inconvenient,so that switching from guitar to organ mid-song involves a mad dash across the stage.Why? Because he’s on the run from what he describes as a     

Organized Non-Activity: A Proposed Solution to Some Common Classroom Problems

The authors recommend practical techniques and resources for teaching at-risk secondary students, who are often nontraditional learners. The article describes tactual and kinesthetic instructional resources that research has shown are effective for typically performing and at-risk students who do not learn conventionally.     

The myth of the research‐led teacher

This paper examines the contention that achievement in research is a prerequisite for effective teaching in higher education. It also explores university level teaching more generally with the purpose of examining the links between teaching and research. Concept mapping, in particular, is described as a means of exploring both the knowledge structures of experts (teachers and researchers) and the cognitive changes that are indicative of meaningful learning among students. We use the approach to suggest that rich and complex networks are indicative of expert status, but that these are seldom made explicit to students in the course of teaching. Instead, simple, linear structures comprise most lesson plans or teaching sequences. This linearity is often made transparent through the lecturers’ use of PowerPoint presentations to structure teaching. Thus the transmission mode of teaching predominates in HE and evidence of authentic research‐led teaching remains scant. This is likely to reinforce surface learning outcomes among university students and be an impediment to the emergence of expert status. The linear chains that are commonly espoused in teaching lend themselves to rote learning strategies rather than to individual meaning making. The approach we describe here has the potential to reinstate expert status as the prime qualification for teaching in higher education. Where concept mapping is used to share and explore knowledge structures between students and experts, then learning can be shown to occur in ways that are synonymous with research and discovery. Using this approach, the teacher–student distinction becomes legitimately blurred so that the sharing and advancement of knowledge are concomitant. In conclusion, we suggest that this is a basis for a pedagogy that is appropriate to HE and distinct from the compulsory sector.     

School-Based Programs for Increasing Connectedness and Reducing Risk Behavior: A Systematic Review

School connectedness has a significant impact on adolescent outcomes, including reducing risk-taking behavior. This paper critically examines the literature on school-based programs targeting increased connectedness for reductions in risk taking. Fourteen articles describing seven different school-based programs were reviewed. Programs drew on a range of theories to increase school connectedness, and evaluations conducted for the majority of programs demonstrated positive changes in school connectedness, risk behavior, or a combination of the two. Many of the reviewed programs involved widespread school system change, however, which is frequently a complex and time-consuming task. Future research is needed to examine the extent of intervention complexity required to result in change. This review also showed a lack of consistency in the definitions and measurement of connectedness as well as few mediation analyses testing assumptions of impact on risk-taking behavior through increases in school connectedness. Additionally, this review revealed very limited evaluation of the elements of multicomponent programs that are most effective in increasing school connectedness and reducing adolescent risk taking.     

Special Issue

Teacher education, the process of becoming a teacher and aiding others to become teachers, is in part a journey of imaginative development. Students come to imagine teaching, and themselves as teachers, in new ways. This essay reports on an attempt to use ideas about imagination in teaching and learning as the central theme of the first semester of a one‐year teacher education program in British Columbia, Canada. Following a discussion of the theoretical and practical challenges encountered, several possible means of extending this approach are proposed. It is argued that a program thus infused by imagination may be more likely to lead to authentic professional transformation of the kind often posited as a goal of teacher education.     

Flashcard: Alternating between Visible and Invisible Identities

This article addresses how my experiences as a black deaf female viscerally and simultaneously shape me. I use the metaphor of flashcards. Flipping over flashcards or “flashing” depicts how certain contexts incite and/or promote the visibility or invisibility of identities, particularly between the familial and educational contexts. Also, I utilize moments from my childhood to narrate alternating reflections of lived experiences (visible) and the theoretical constructs (invisible) that inform and shape these experiences.