Making training more cognitively effective: Making videos interactive

The cost of health and safety (H&S) failures to the UK industry is currently estimated at up to £6.5 billion per annum, with the construction sector suffering unacceptably high levels of work-related incidents. Better H&S education across all skill levels in the industry is seen as an integral part of any solution. Traditional lecture-based courses often fail to recreate the dynamic realities of managing H&S on site and therefore do not sufficiently create deeper cognitive learning (which results in remembering and using what was learned). The use of videos is a move forward, but passively observing a video is not cognitively engaging and challenging, and therefore learning is not as effective as it can be. This paper describes the development of an interactive video in which learners take an active role. While observing the video, they are required to engage, participate, respond and be actively involved. The potential for this approach to be used in conjunction with more traditional approaches to H&S was explored using a group of 2nd-year undergraduate civil engineering students. The formative results suggested that the learning experience could be enhanced using interactive videos. Nevertheless, most of the learners believed that a blended approach would be most effective.     

Why Roger Federer is a GOAT: an account of sporting genius

Why is Roger Federer a GOAT (‘Greatest of All Time’) of tennis? I argue that the correct response goes beyond statistics and style of play; instead, it is due to the fact that Federer embodies the qualities that typify sporting genius. More than merely being a developed or refined form of expertise, sporting genius relies on the notion of performative fit; that is, the capacity to express viable ways of succeeding within a given sport in virtue of one’s cultivated history of biological and socio-cultural existence. In other words, a genius such as Federer perfectly fits the requirements of his sport and, moreover, is able to safeguard and shape this fit through his unique disposition to perform in certain ways. Performative fit provides the foundations for received traits of genius such as creativity, self-belief and risk-taking.     

提高账单和报表可持续性

想必大家都有收到银行账单或者电信局电话清单的经历。这些信件,有些我们会打开,有些很有可能未被拆开就被直接丢弃。这件事看起来很小,但是实际上对环境造成了巨大的影响。为避免纸质邮件所带来的环境问题,有人转向电子邮件,认为通过电子邮件不会有这样的环境问题。但是,事实真是如此吗？     

Kinetic changes during a six-week minimal footwear and gait-retraining intervention in runners

An evaluation of a six-week Combined minimal footwear transition and gait-retraining combination vs. gait retraining only on impact characteristics and leg stiffness. Twenty-four trained male runners were randomly assigned to either (1) Minimalist footwear transition Combined with gait-retraining over a six-week period (“Combined” group; n = 12) examined in both footwear, or (2) a gait-retraining group only with no minimalist footwear exposure (“Control”; n = 12). Participants were assessed for loading rate, impact peak, vertical, knee and ankle stiffness, and foot-strike using 3D and kinetic analysis. Loading rate was significantly higher in the Combined group in minimal shoes in pre-tests compared to a Control (P ≤ 0.001), reduced significantly in the Combined group over time (P ≤ 0.001), and was not different to the Control group in post-tests (P = 0.16). The impact peak (P = 0.056) and ankle stiffness reduced in both groups (P = 0.006). Loading rate and vertical stiffness was higher in minimalist footwear than conventional running shoes both pre (P ≤ 0.001) and post (P = 0.046) the intervention. There has a higher tendency to non-rearfoot strike in both interventions, but more acute changes in the minimalist footwear. A Combined intervention can potentially reduce impact variables. However, higher loading rate initially in minimalist footwear may increase the risk of injury in this condition.     

Asymptotic Stability of a Class of Non-linear Singularly Perturbed Systems2

Sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the asymptotic stability of a class of non-linear singularly perturbed systems. A procedure for constructing a Lyapunov function for such a class of systems is given, and a clearly defined domain of attraction of the equilibrium is obtained. A stabilizing feedback control for such systems is also proposed.     

The Wisconsin Idea: Extending the Boundaries of a University

In 1862, through the Morrill (Land-Grant) Act, the United States provided 30,000 acres of land within each congressional district so each state could use the proceeds to establish a state college of agriculture and mechanical arts. These so-called 'land-grant universities' have now expanded (academically and physically) to such a degree that many have 'spawned' large multicampus state university systems. This paper tells how a pioneer land-grant institution, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, developed a world renowned outreach program and how the spirit and resources of that campus extension movement then spread to other campuses of the UW System.