Methods of performance analysis in team invasion sports: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

The objective of this review was to systematically describe the traditional and contemporary data capture and analytic methods employed in performance analysis research in team invasion sports, evaluate the practicality of these methods, and formulate practical recommendations on methods for analysing tactics and strategies in team invasion sports. A systematic search of the databases SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE and PubMed was performed. Keywords addressed performance analysis methods and team invasion sports, with all other disciplines of sports science excluded. A total of 537 articles were included in the review and six main themes of research identified. Themes included game actions, dynamic game actions, movement patterns, collective team behaviours, social network analysis and game styles. Performance analysis research has predominantly focused on identifying key performance indicators related to success by analysing differences in game actions between successful and less successful teams. However, these measures are outcome-focused and only provide limited insight into winning team’s strategy. Team invasion sports are now viewed as dynamic, complex systems with opposing teams as interacting parts. Strategies and tactics should be analysed using a holistic process-orientated approach by recording dynamic actions, collective team behaviours and passing networks, and viewing them in game styles.     

A Review of: “Harrison's Manual of Medicine. 17th ed. Fauci,Anthony S.; Braunwald,Eugene; Kasper,Dennis L. et al., eds.”

No abstract available for this article.     

Competence-based teacher education: Illusion or reality? An assessment of the implementation status in Flanders from teachers’ and students’ points of view

Since 1998, the Flanders’ educational government in Belgium has been urging teacher education institutions by decree to implement competences in teacher training programs. Since then, years have gone by, and institutions have acted in order to achieve the competence-based goals. However, have they succeeded in implementing them? This is the research question that is central to the current study. An online survey inquiry was set up in eight elementary teacher education institutions using two questionnaires; one for final year elementary institution pre-service teachers, who were about to graduate at the time of completing the questionnaire (N = 218), the other for teacher trainers throughout the elementary teacher training program (N = 51). Ten years after the decree was issued, results show that competence-based education has become a reality in terms of its implementation. However, the process has not yet come to an end. Whereas some competences are clearly present in the institutions’ policies and practices (e.g. teacher as guide to learning and development, teacher as subject expert), others are poorly represented (e.g. teacher as partner of parents, external parties and as a member of the educational community). Moreover, teacher trainers tend to take four different approaches to the implementation of competences (1) during internship, (2) through the institution’s policy and program planning, (3) by means of their integration in both theoretical and practical components of the curriculum and finally, (4) a lack of implementation because the competences are considered insufficiently applicable by the teacher trainers. In particular, more experienced and subject expert teacher trainers tend to adopt the final approach more often than do younger colleagues and pedagogues. Student teachers’ results, on the other hand, suggest important differences between institutions concerning their understanding of competences and the integration of these competences in the curriculum; suggesting different paces of adaptation between teacher education institutions. Moreover, even within schools, the trajectory towards implementation is not always clear for all members of the teaching team, nor for the students of most teacher education institutions. Consequently, there is still important work to be done in order for successful competence-based change to occur.     

Challenging evaluation to the cross-cultural test: Program evaluation in cross-cultural settings

The author cites the recent emergence of two new fields in education: evaluation and international education. Each has developed unique methodologies in its area of most concern. Evaluators judge the process and output of national programs; international educators plan for programs overseas. Although the author believes such developments should be complementary, the professions have remained relatively isolated from one another in two distinct regards: as practitioners in a single field, and in the manner in which they train students. Drawing upon personal experience, the author illustrates how current evaluation methods fail to provide adequate guidance in cross-cultural settings. The author further identifies issues, poses questions, and calls for increased cooperation between fields of evaluation and international education as well as across the social science disciplines.     

Young children's interpretation of the task demands in a simple experimental situation: an example from drawings

This paper presents a very simple experiment on children's drawings to explore the reasons underlying children's contextual sensitivity. Five‐ and six‐year old children were asked to draw from a model on two consecutive tasks. The only difference between the two tasks was the model's orientation. A model cup was presented on one task with its handle visible (at the side) and on the other task with its handle hidden at the back. Previous research would predict that children of this age should show a tendency towards drawing a familiar model such as a cup in a stereotyped orientation (i.e. handle at the side), irrespective of whether or not the handle was visible. However, the results from the present study showed that the children's preparedness to draw the model as it appeared was influenced by the order of task presentation. The findings are discussed in terms of children's interpretation of the task demands which alters as a result of the contrast between the two tasks.     

Creating a departmental culture for communication grants

Extramural funding to support communication research influences and is influenced by the culture of our discipline, universities, and departments. Both the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association have established closer ties to funding agencies and encouraged members' grant writing pursuits through mentorship and convention programs, newsletter columns, and publicity. Universities vary in how much support they have available as infrastructure to assist in the submission and administration of grants. Some institutions facilitate extramural funding endeavors through mentoring programs, university-wide research centers, sharing of indirect costs, and space. Department cultures, too, vary in the resources available to support grants. Departments in many ways have the most direct effects on grant-supporting cultures. In addition to activities indicated for the discipline and university, departments can build a grant culture by recognizing grant writing in their personnel practices, creating systems for rewarding and supporting grant activities, and having policies in place for the many related issues (e.g., release time, indirect cost sharing, research assistants). Finally, the interpersonal culture, whether colleagues recognize and support grants, plays a major role in individual pursuit of, and satisfaction with, seeking extramural funding to support communication research.