Perspectives of applied collaborative sport science research within professional team sports

The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives of both academics and practitioners in relation to forming applied collaborative sport science research within team sports. Ninety-three participants who had previously engaged in collaborative research partnerships within team sports completed an online survey which focused on motivations and barriers for forming collaborations using blinded sliding scale (0–100) and rank order list. Research collaborations were mainly formed to improve the team performance (Academic: 73.6?±?23.3; Practitioner: 84.3?±?16.0; effect size (ES?=?0.54), small). Academics ranked journal articles’ importance significantly higher than practitioners did (Academic: M_rank?=?53.9; Practitioner: 36.0; z?=??3.18, p?=?.001, p?q). However, practitioners rated one-to-one communication as more preferential (Academic: M_rank?=?41.3; Practitioner 56.1; z?=??2.62, p?=?.009, p?q). Some potential barriers were found in terms of staff buy in (Academic: 70.0?±?25.5; Practitioner: 56.8?±?27.3; ES?=?0.50, small) and funding (Academic: 68.0?±?24.9; Practitioner: 67.5?±?28.0; ES?=?0.02, trivial). Both groups revealed low motivation for invasive mechanistic research (Academic: 36.3?±?24.2; Practitioner: 36.4?±?27.5; ES?=?0.01, trivial), with practitioners have a preference towards ‘fast’ type research. There was a general agreement between academics and practitioners for forming research collaborations. Some potential barriers still exist (e.g. staff buy in and funding), with practitioners preferring ‘fast’ informal research dissemination compared to the ‘slow’ quality control approach of academics.     

Introduction

This special issue focuses on the role of context in scaling up educational change. The featured articles explore interventions from across the globe examining the central question of what facilitates scaling up an intervention, whether adopted externally or homegrown. Each of the articles address a unique set of factors that play a role in scaling up innovations and the mutual influence between local context and new or external interventions. The four articles focus on large-scale interventions and draw attention to the role of context—inclusive of culture, values, beliefs, traditional practices, and educator voice. The issue leaves readers with illustrative case studies, guiding questions, and lessons learned that can inform both practitioners and policymakers.     

The Academy and the Engineering Sciences: An Unwelcome Royal Gift

On 19 March 1900, at the bicentenary celebrations of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Kaiser Wilhelm II established three new fellowships in engineering sciences. This was in many aspects an unwanted gift, and one which tested the Academys relationship between pure and applied science. In the context of contemporary struggles between traditional and modern knowledge, this paper shows how the Academy confronted the newly emerging engineering sciences, and how it resolved a potential challenge in ways that ensured its continuing autonomy.     

Effective force and economy of triathletes and cyclists

The effective force applied on the crank, the index of pedalling effectiveness, and the economy of movement at 60, 75, 90, and 105 rev/min cadences were examined in nine cyclists and eight triathletes. Tests were performed on two days. Maximal oxygen uptake was measured and the second ventilatory threshold was estimated on day 1 using a stationary bicycle. On day 2, the four different cadences were tested at about 5% below the second ventilatory threshold. A strain gauge instrumented clip-less pedal mounted on the bicycle enabled us to measure the normal and tangential forces exerted on the pedal, while the pedal and crank angles were monitored with the aid of a video system. Based on this information, the effective force and the index of pedalling effectiveness were calculated. Cyclists produced significantly more effective force and a higher index of pedalling effectiveness at 60 and 75 rev/min and were significantly more economic at all cadences than triathletes. The significant and positive correlation between effective force and economy at all cadences suggests that improvement of the effective force would reflect on economy.