A randomised controlled trial of movement quality-focused exercise versus traditional resistance exercise for improving movement quality and physical performance in trained adults

ABSTRACT

The aim of this trial was to compare an eight-week individual movement quality versus traditional resistance training intervention on movement quality and physical performance. Forty-six trained adults were randomised to a movement quality-focused training (MQ) or a traditional resistance training (TRAD) group, and performed two individualised training sessions per week, for 8 weeks. Session-RPE (sRPE) was obtained from each session. Measures of movement quality (MovementSCREEN and Functional Movement Screen (FMS)) and physical performance were performed pre- and post-intervention. All measures improved significantly in both groups (3–14.5%, p = <0.005). The between-group difference in MovementSCREEN composite score was not statistically significant (0.3, 95% CI ?3.4, 4.1, p = 0.852). However, change in FMS composite was significantly greater in MQ (1.3, 95% CI 0.8, 1.8, p < 0.001). There were no significant between-group differences in physical performance (p = 0.060–0.960). The mean sRPE was significantly lower in MQ (5.25, SD 1.2) compared to TRAD (6.6 SD 1.0, p = <0.001). Thus, although movement quality scores were not distinctly greater in the MQ group, a movement quality specific intervention caused comparable improvements in physical performance compared to traditional resistance training but at lower perceived training intensity.     

Time in the arts and physical education and school achievement

With the increase in state‐mandated high‐stakes testing across the USA, schools and school districts are considering ways of increasing instructional time for core curricular subjects such as mathematics, science, English, and social studies. One seemingly logical approach to improving test scores is to reduce the time spent in subjects that are not tested, most notably art, music, and physical education, thus increasing time for the tested subjects. In this study, data was collected from 547 Virginia elementary school principals who completed a survey indicating the time specialists taught art, music, and physical education in their schools. After controlling for socio‐cultural opportunities associated with the school community, partial correlations between time allocation and school‐level passing rates on the Virginia Standards of Learning tests indicated no meaningful relationship between time allocation to art, music, and physical education and school achievement. The findings from the study do not support the notion that a reduced time allocation to art, music, and physical education is related to higher test scores.     

Selection bias in college admissions test scores

Data from college admissions tests can provide a valuable measure of student achievement, but the non-representativeness of test-takers is an important concern. We examine selectivity bias in both state-level and school-level SAT and ACT averages. The degree of selectivity may differ importantly across and within schools, and across and within states. To identify within-state selectivity, we use a control function approach that conditions on scores from a representative test. Estimates indicate strong selectivity of test-takers in “ACT states,” where most college-bound students take the ACT, and much less selectivity in SAT states. To identify within- and between-school selectivity, we take advantage of a policy reform in Illinois that made taking the ACT a graduation requirement. Estimates based on this policy change indicate substantial positive selection into test participation both across and within schools. Despite this, school-level averages of observed scores are extremely highly correlated with average latent scores, as across-school variation in sample selectivity is small relative to the underlying signal. As a result, in most contexts the use of observed school mean test scores in place of latent means understates the degree of between-school variation in achievement but is otherwise unlikely to lead to misleading conclusions.     

A survey of K-12 teachers’ utilization of social networks as a professional resource

Teachers are increasingly using social networks, including social media and other Internet applications, to look for educational resources. This study shares results from a survey examining patterns of social network application use among K-12 teachers in the United States. A sample of 154 teachers (18 males, 136 females) in the United States answered questions about their use of social network applications, their comfort with Web 2.0, and their use of empirically-based resources from social networks. Results provide a user update on factors that predict overall engagement with social networks, which included comfort and trust in using social networks, as well as higher age. We also explored the most popular applications used by teachers and the most popular reasons for their use. Finally, we implemented a new survey methodology to gauge responses about empirically-based posts on social networks and discuss results in the context of balancing free resources with high-quality pedagogical information.     

Traversing the Challenges of Conducting Research with Young, Immigrant Children: The Case of Korean Children

Based on a qualitative study on young Korean immigrant children’s interpretation of American popular culture, this paper reflects on the researchers’ role by examining the research challenges faced. Prior to discussing the research obstacles in conducting the study, we begin with briefly describing its methodology and design. Next, we discuss the various obstacles we encountered when conducting our study and howwe attempted to overcome these dilemmas by discussing two major struggles during the research process: a) the relationships between the researchers and our young participants, and b) the cultural sensitivity that was needed in initially gaining permission from and working with the parents of our informants. It then illuminates how the researchers attempted to cope with such difficulties by rethinking a researchers’s role emphasizing the importance of cultural context in research. Finally, the paper provides some discussions and implications based on our research experiences.     

Pacem Portantes Advenerint: Ambivalent Images of Muslims in the Chronicles of Norman Italy

The goal of this essay is to call attention to some of the more positive and ambivalent depictions of Muslims in a set of historical texts associated with the Norman takeover of Sicily in the fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries. To achieve that aim, it considers social vocabulary applied to Muslims in five sources written by Amatus of Montecassino, Geoffrey Malaterra, William of Apulia, Alexander of Telese, and Hugo Falcandus. Although recent scholarship has posited that medieval identity was often felt through a “self versus other” or “Christian versus non-Christian” dichotomy, this essay questions the notion that the actual language contained in these sources ever devolved into such simplistic, binary terms. On the contrary, though the perceptions and definitions applied to this group of people were, admittedly, sometimes based on uninformed stereotypes, they were more often deliberately constructed images that were highly dependent on the cultural milieu in which they were created.