Acute effects of exercise and active video games on adults’ reaction time and perceived exertion

The purpose of the present study was to examine the acute effects of resting, aerobic exercise practised alone, and aerobic exercise with active video games (AVG), on complex reaction time (CRT) and the post-exercise acute rate of perceived exertion (RPE) in young healthy adults. The experimental group was composed of 92 healthy young adults, 78 males and 13 females (age M?=?21.9?±?2.7 years) who completed two sessions, A and B. In session A, participants rode 30?min on an ergometer, while in session B they exercised for 30?min on an ergometer while playing an AVG on a Wii. The control group was composed of 30 young adults, 26 males and 4 females (age M?=?21.4?±?2.9 years) who rested for 30?min. In each session, a CRT task was performed before and after exercising or resting, and post-exercise global RPE was noted. Repeated measures general linear model (GLM) and Wilcoxon tests were performed. (1) Both aerobic exercise alone and aerobic exercise combined with AVG improved CRT, while resting did not; (2) aerobic exercise combined with AVG did not improve CRT more than aerobic exercise only; and (3) RPE was lower after aerobic exercise combined with AVG compared with aerobic exercise only. In young adults, exercise produces acute benefits on CRT, and practising exercise with AVG helps to decrease RPE.     

Effects of 10-week eccentric overload training on kinetic parameters during change of direction in football players

ABSTRACT

The aim of the current study was to analyse the effect of 10-week eccentric overload training on kinetic parameters during change of direction (COD) in U-19 football players. The outcome measured included relative peak braking (rPB) and propulsive force (rPF), contact time (CT), time spent during braking (BT) and propulsive phase (PT), relative total (rTOT_IMP), braking (rB_IMP) and propulsive (rP_IMP) impulses. Between-group results showed a substantial better improvement (likely) in CT (ES: 0.72) and BT (ES: 0.74) during side-step cutting, and in rPB (ES: 0.84) and rB_IMP (ES: 0.72) during crossover cutting, in the experimental group (EXP) in comparison to control group (CON). Within-group analysis showed a substantially better performance (likely to almost certain) in CT (ES: 1.19), BT (ES: 1.24), PT (ES: 0.70), rPB (ES: 0.75), rPF (ES: 0.68), rTOT_IMP (ES: 0.48) and rB_IMP (ES: 0.50) in EXP during side-step cutting. Regarding crossover cutting, within-group analysis showed a substantial better performance (likely to almost certain) in CT (ES: 0.75), rPB (ES: 0.75), rPF (ES: 1.34), rTOT_IMP (ES: 0.61), rB_IMP (ES: 0.76) and rP_IMP (ES: 0.46) in EXP. In conclusion, the eccentric overload-based programme led to an improvement in kinetic parameters during COD football tasks.     

Effects of an intervention programme with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in Spanish physical education classes

Background: The physical education (PE) context has been emphasised as an ideal environment for developing positive behaviours among students. Under the Positive Youth Development paradigm, various initiatives have been conducted with the aim of promoting personal and social responsibility among adolescents. Self-Determination Theory has been widely used to analyse students’ motivational processes during PE classes.

Purpose: This study aimed to measure the effects of a multidisciplinary intervention with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in PE classes.

Participants: Twenty PE teachers participated in the study (M_age?=?35 years; SD?=?2.32) along with 777 of their students (M_age?=?12.81 years; SD?=?.93). The teachers (male?=?16; female?=?4) were between the ages of 29 and 48 years (M?=?35.2 years; SD?=?2.32). The students who participated in this study (male?=?377; female?=?400) were divided into 52 classes and were between the ages of 12 and 16 years (M?=?12.81; SD?=?.93).

Research design: A quasi-experimental design was used that consisted of a control group and three groups in which an intervention was developed. In the control group, the teachers did not receive any type of intervention; in the second group, the teachers received a training programme to develop strategies for supporting basic psychological needs and promoting positive behaviours; in the third group, the teachers received a didactic unit to promote positive behaviours; and in the last group the teachers received a combination of the two previous interventions.

Data analysis: A repeated-measures ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) was used for every dependent variable included in the study to analyse the effect of Group?×?Time interaction, including Gender and Grade Level as covariates. The fixed effects caused by Intercept, Group, Time, and the Group?×?Time interaction were calculated using compound symmetry as the type of covariance and restricted maximum likelihood as the estimation method.

Findings: By examining the differences between pre-test and post-test, it was determined that in comparison with the students in the control group, the students from the three experimental groups had generally improved scores on the variables related to positive behaviours, such as perceptions of the teacher's support, as well as the development of the targeted behaviours.

Conclusions: These results provide information about the efficacy of an intervention programme with teachers that consists of strategies for developing positive behaviour and support for basic psychological needs to promote the development of positive student behaviour.     

Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test-Level 1 to monitor changes in aerobic fitness in pre-pubertal boys

The present study aimed to examine the performance and heart rate responses during the Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test-Level 1 (Yo-Yo IE1) in children under the age of 10. One hundred and seven male children (7–9 years) performed the Yo-Yo IE1 at the beginning (M₁), middle (M₂) and end (M₃) of the school year. Data from individual heart rate curves of the Yo-Yo IE1 were analysed in order to detect the inflection point between an initial phase of fast rise in heart rate values and a second phase in which the rise of the heart rate values is much smaller. The distance covered in the Yo-Yo IE1 improved from M₁ to M₃ (884 ± 496 vs. 1032 ± 596 m; p < 0.05; d = 0.27), with intermediate values for M₂ (962 ± 528 m). Peak heart rate (HR_peak) decreased from M₁ to M₂ and M₃ (204 ± 9, 202 ± 9 and 200 ± 9 bpm, respectively; p < 0.05; d = 0.25–0.42). The 7th shuttle of the test (280 m), corresponding to 2.5 min, was identified as the inflection point between the two phases. Also, absolute heart rate at the 7th shuttle decreased progressively throughout the year (185 ± 9, 183 ± 10, and 179 ± 10 bpm; p < 0.05; d = 0.31–0.61). The present study provides evidence of the usefulness of a maximal as well as a submaximal version of Yo-Yo IE1 as a tool to monitor changes in aerobic fitness in pre-pubertal children.     

Abuse and deliberate self-poisoning in women: a matched case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Controlled studies have shown deliberate self-harm to be more common in abused populations, but no controlled studies have shown abuse to be more common in self-harming populations. This is the first controlled study to determine whether abuse experiences (sexual, physical, and psychological) occurred more commonly in women who take overdoses than in controls. METHOD: The design was a matched (1:1) case-control study set in a district general hospital in England. The subjects were 36 women admitted following deliberate self-poisoning. They were matched with the next non-overdose admission to the same hospital on six variables (sex, age, ethnicity, social class, marital status, and geographical locality). The main outcome measures used were modified versions of standardized self-report questionnaires of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, together with measures of parenting style and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Women who had taken an overdose were more likely (odds ratio 15.0, 95% confidence interval 2.0 to 113.6) to have been sexually abused, and somewhat more likely to have been psychologically (1.02, 1.00 to 1.05) but not physically abused. They also had higher measures of psychopathology (GHQ-30: 1.19, 1.07 to 1.31), were more likely to have been abused at a younger age, exposed to the "affectionless control" style of parenting by their mothers, and to have harmed themselves in other ways. CONCLUSIONS: The management of women presenting to hospital after self-poisoning should include assessment of abuse experiences, and instigation of appropriate treatment in those with significant sequelae of abuse.     

C2STEM: a System for Synergistic Learning of Physics and Computational Thinking

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Synergistic learning combining computational thinking (CT) and STEM has proven to be an effective method for advancing learning and understanding in a...     

Teachers’ professional growth through engagement with lesson study

Lesson study is highly regarded as a model for professional learning, yet remains under-theorised. This article examines the professional learning experiences of teachers and numeracy coaches from three schools in a local network of schools, participating in a lesson study project over two research cycles in 2012. It maps the interconnections between their experiences and their beliefs and practices, using Clarke and Hollingsworth’s (Teach Educ 18(8):947–967, 2002) Interconnected Model of Professional Growth. Analysis of interview data and video-recordings of planning meetings, research lessons, and post-lesson discussions reveals the development of teachers’ collaborative planning skills, increased attention to students’ mathematical thinking, use of orchestrated whole-class discussion based on anticipated student solutions and focused questioning, and the enhancement of collaborative practices for teacher inquiry. Our findings illuminate the interplay between the External Domain, the Personal Domain, the Domain of Practice, and the Domain of Consequence, in the teaching and learning change environment, and the mediating processes of enactment and reflection. Changes in the domains across the period of the lesson study provide evidence of teachers’ professional growth, with the iterative processes of enactment and reflection being critical in mediating this professional growth.     

Indigenous higher education in Mexico and Brazil: between redistribution and recognition

Abstract

Indigenous groups in Latin America face a double exclusion from higher education, with low levels of access to institutions and little acknowledgement of their distinctive cultural and epistemological traditions within the curriculum. This article assesses current policies in Mexico and Brazil towards indigenous populations in higher education, considering the various responses to the challenge, including affirmative action programmes in mainstream universities, intercultural courses and autonomous institutions. These policies and initiatives are analysed using the theoretical frames of redistribution and recognition, focusing on demands for formal equality and material wellbeing on the one hand, and a distinctive cultural and educational space on the other. While state-sponsored policies focus primarily on the redistributive element, initiatives based on recognition come largely from autonomous organisations, raising a series of dilemmas and tensions around educational justice for indigenous populations in the region.