Anticipatory strategies of team-handball goalkeepers

Abstract

This study seeks to discover whether handball goalkeepers employ a general anticipatory strategy when facing long distance throws and the effect of uncertainty on these strategies. Seven goalkeepers and four throwers took part. We used a force platform to analyse the goalkeeper's movements on the basis of reaction forces and two video cameras synchronised at 500 Hz to film the throw using 3D video techniques. The goalkeepers initiated their movement towards the side of the throw 193 ± 67 ms before the release of the ball and when the uncertainty was reduced the time increased to 349 ± 71 ms. The kinematics analysis of their centre of mass indicated that there was an anticipatory strategy of movement with certain modifications when there was greater uncertainty. All the average scores referring to velocity and lateral movement of the goalkeeper's centre of mass are significantly greater than those recorded for the experimental situation with bigger uncertainty. The methodology used has enabled us to tackle the study of anticipation from an analysis of the movement used by goalkeepers to save the ball.     

The return of the prodigal son: the experience of support agents on their return from Teachers’ Centers to school

This paper presents the results of a two‐year qualitative inquiry, carried out in Spain, on a rather neglected side of external support to schools: the personal and professional experience of external support agents when they go back to teaching. These ex‐advisers are career teachers who return ‘home’ to school after having left it to serve for some years in Teachers’ Centers, which in Spain are the institutions in charge of school support and in‐service teacher training. During their stay there, the ex‐advisers have developed a new discourse on teaching, on school organization and on teacher training that, on their return, they have to contrast with their everyday life in schools. To explore this process, the conceptions, perceptions and visions of these professionals, has a high potential to throw some light on school support, in‐service teacher training and the construction and reconstruction of different professional identities within our educational systems.     

Leadership and performance in higher education: a comparative analysis in Portugal and Spain

In the last decade, many changes have taken place in the field of university education. Professional practice demands that future graduates design and market products, preserve the interests of their clients, take responsibilities in public administration or participate in politics. Universities must educate professionals so that they become social leaders, consultants, advisers, entrepreneurs; in short, people with the capacity to solve problems. Professors recognise this situation; however, they do not always apply participatory teaching styles to develop these capacities in the students. This paper offers a tool to evaluate the implementation of a transformational teaching style in the classroom, developing joint work between professors and students. Its main contribution is that it assessed several teaching techniques based on this transformational style. This research was carried out in Portugal and Spain.     

Growth and maturity status of elite British junior tennis players

Growth and maturation impact the selection, development and progression of youth athletes. Individual differences in the growth and maturity may afford a performance advantage, clouding coaches and practitioners’ perceptions regarding current ability and future potential. This may result in the exclusion of talented, yet less physically gifted athletes. Participants were 91 male (n = 47) and female (n = 44) elite British Junior tennis players, 8–17 years of age (12.5 ± 1.9 years). Height and body mass were measured and compared to growth charts; hand-wrist radiographs were taken. Skeletal age (SA) was estimated with the Fels method and contrasted to chronological age (CA). Mean height and body mass of individual players ranged between the 50th and 90th centiles for age and sex. Females were advanced in SA relative to CA (0.3–0.89 years.) from 8 years. Males were average to delayed in maturation from 8 to 12 years, but advanced in SA from 14 to 16 years (0.75–1.23 years). Individual differences in growth and maturation appear to contribute towards the selection of elite junior tennis players, with a bias towards males and females who are advanced in maturation and comparatively tall and heavy for their age. This has important implications for talent identification and development.     

Caffeine improves muscular performance in elite Brazilian Jiu-jitsu athletes

Scientific information about the effects of caffeine intake on combat sport performance is scarce and controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of caffeine to improve Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ)-specific muscular performance. Fourteen male and elite BJJ athletes (29.2?±?3.3?years; 71.3?±?9.1?kg) participated in a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover experiment. In two different sessions, BJJ athletes ingested 3?mg?kg^?1 of caffeine or a placebo. After 60?min, they performed a handgrip maximal force test, a countermovement jump, a maximal static lift test and bench-press tests consisting of one-repetition maximum, power-load, and repetitions to failure. In comparison to the placebo, the ingestion of the caffeine increased: hand grip force in both hands (50.9?±?2.9 vs. 53.3?±?3.1?kg; respectively p?p?=?.02), and time recorded in the maximal static lift test (54.4?±?13.4 vs. 59.2?±?11.9?s; p?p?=?.02), maximal power obtained during the power-load test (750.5?±?154.7 vs. 826.9?±?163.7?W; p?p?=?.04). In conclusion, the pre-exercise ingestion of 3?mg?kg^?1 of caffeine increased dynamic and isometric muscular force, power, and endurance strength in elite BJJ athletes. Thus, caffeine might be an effective ergogenic aid to improve physical performance in BJJ.     

Antecedents of Incidental News Exposure: The Role of Media Preference,Use and Trust

ABSTRACT

The online environment has radically changed the way in which users consume, discover and manipulate news. The growing relevance of social media platforms and digital intermediaries for news sharing and consumption increase the likelihood of citizens to be exposed to online news even when they are not seeking it. This digital transformation fundamentally challenges the way online news use and exposure have been conceptualized and measured, affecting also to citizens’ knowledge about public affairs and politics. This article examines the factors that predict the probability to be an “incidentally exposed news user” online. Specifically, based on a representative US sample from the Pew Research Centre, this study analyses the role of media preference, use and trust. Findings indicate that beyond users’ demographics and loyalty, readers’ news preferences, uses and trust, specially of social media platforms, affect their probability to be incidentally exposed to news online. These results have important empirical and theoretical implications for understanding the connection between readers’ news consumption patterns and online exposure, intentional or incidental.     

Fruitful student interactions and perceived learning improvement in DSLab: A dynamic assessment tool for distributed programming

This work presents an automated assessment tool for online distributed programming, called DSLab. It is a web-based environment that provides a transparent deployment and execution of assignments in remote computers, a transparent initialization and the possibility to add new logs by the students. DSLab has been evaluated in a real distributed learning environment by analysing students' own perceptions on their learning improvement and exploring whether students' interactions with the tool yielded a fruitful learning experience. Current research provides no evidence that the effects of such a tool have been investigated in the field of online distributed programming. Two types of analysis were performed: a quantitative analysis of data coming from students answering a questionnaire and an analysis of the log files of students' interactions with the tool. Our results showed that students perceived substantial learning improvement from the use of the automated assessment tool. Moreover, students produced fruitful interaction with the tool as soon as they achieved high familiarization and constant activity with it, which ultimately helped them improve their academic performance. Finally, the limitations of the current study and directions for future research are presented.     

A narrative review of Greek myths as interpretative metaphors in educational research and evaluation

This paper reviews a series of Greek myths put forward as cultural narratives that could be used as metaphors or interpretative similes for explanatory and evaluative purposes in educational research and evaluation. These myths have been used in educational research literature, and most of them were found by carrying out an exhaustive search of that literature. In particular, the paper discusses Procrustes, referring to the use of arbitrary evaluative standards; the myth of Mentor, the embodiment of the researcher as facilitator/improver for new, inexperienced researchers; Prometheus, or the archetype of the self-sacrificing researcher; Periphetes, representing the evaluator who is cruel through incompetence; Sisyphus, symbolising the researcher’s anxiousness to achieve his goals; and Ulysses, an archetype for qualitative research.These myths are still absolutely relevant today, after more than 20 centuries, and can be used as powerful explicative frameworks of phenomena in the field of educational research and evaluation. By using myths to interpret educational phenomena, one reconnects contemporary qualitative educational enquiry with its ancient predecessor forms of meaning making.     

Parenting a Child with a Learning Disability: A Qualitative Approach

The present study describes experiences associated with parenting children diagnosed with learning disabilities. Parents whose children were diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, dyslexia/language problems, and Asperger syndrome, related to poor performance at school, took part in the study. A qualitative study design was implemented, using three focus groups. The data obtained were analysed following an inductive thematic approach. Five major themes were identified: parenting emotions, diagnosis and cause, daily experiences, social relationships and concerns about the future. The parents in this study experienced a range of emotions, and assigned different explanations to the learning disability, depending on the diagnosis (attention, verbal or non-verbal). Daily experience, both at home and at school, was influenced by the child’s specific impairment. All parents, independently of the diagnosis, believe a central role is played by social relationships and expressed concerns about their child’s future development. Emotional interventions targeting these parents should take these considerations into account and address the specific type of learning disability.