Problem Solving Academic Workloads Management: A University Response1

Universities are challenged to maintain a work environment where academic staff fulfil traditional academic duties while responding to a diverse student population, a competitive research environment, and an escalation of administrative tasks within an accountability‐based climate. This paper analyses the development and implementation of a workloads policy at a New Zealand university through a joint university management and staff union initiative. The workloads policy was built on the principles of equity, transparency, reasonableness, safety and acceptability to staff. The integrity and effectiveness of adoption is evaluated through analyses of work requirements, workloads models and the findings from case studies of implementation by six diverse units from across the university. Based on our evaluation, we highlight aspects of the policy and procedures that have promise and suggest modifications where particular processes and outcomes fell short of stated goals for institutional change.     

The effect of westward travel across five time zones on sleep and subjective jet-lag ratings in athletes before and during the 2015’s World Rowing Junior Championships

This study examined sleep-wake habits and subjective jet-lag ratings of 55 German junior rowers (n = 30 male, 17.8 ± 0.5 years) before and during the World Rowing Junior Championships 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Athletes answered sleep logs every morning, and Liverpool John Moore’s University Jet-Lag Questionnaires each evening and morning. Following an 11-h westward flight with 5-h time shift, advanced bedtimes (?1 h, P < .001, η_p² = 0.68), reduced sleep onset latency (P = .002, η_p² = 0.53) and increased sleep duration (P < .001, η_p² = 0.60) were reported for the first two nights. Jet-lag symptoms peaked upon arrival but were still present after 6 days. Sleep quality improved (P < .001, η_p² = 0.31) as well as some scales of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes. Participation was successful as indicated by 11 of 13 top 3 placings. Overall, the initial desynchronisation did not indicate negative impacts on competition performance. As travel fatigue probably had a major effect on perceptual decrements, sleep during travel and time to recover upon arrival should be emphasised. Coaches and practitioners should consider higher sleep propensity in the early evening by scheduling training sessions and meetings until the late afternoon.     

Repeated reading to enhance fluency: Old approaches and new directions

As phoneme awareness deficits and resulting decoding weaknesses are increasingly addressed, there is heightened awareness of the role of fluency in reading. This paper reviews the history of fluency training, discusses the theoretical bases of such training, and summarizes the current knowledge about the efficacy of training procedures. We focus on Repeated Reading (RR), the most familiar and researched approach to fluency training. Outcome data on Repeated Reading, presented in the form of questions, is meant to answer practitioners’ questions about implementation and efficacy and to provide a starting point for researchers interested in the topic. Although some answers are straightforward, others indicate the subtleties involved in answering the broad question, “Does Repeated Reading work?” In addition to a list of practical suggestions based on Repeated Readings findings, three new approaches to fluency training are introduced.     

A model study of optimal training reduction during pre-event taper in elite swimmers

The aim of this study was to assess responses to taper in elite athletes using computer simulations. Parameters of a non-linear model were derived from training and performance data over two seasons for eight elite swimmers. The fit between modelled and actual performances was statistically significant for each swimmer (r(2) = 0.56 +/- 0.06; P < 0.01). The simulations were used to estimate characteristics of step and progressive tapers that would maximize performance either (1) after regular training only or (2) after overload training of a 20% step increase in regular training for 28 days. The highest performance with a step taper was greater with than without prior overload training (101.4%, s = 1.6 vs. 101.1%, s = 1.4 of personal record; P < 0.01) but required a longer taper duration (22.4 days, s = 13.4 vs. 16.4 days, s = 10.3; P < 0.05). The optimal progressive taper led to a better performance only after the overload period (101.5%, s = 1.5; P < 0.001). Negative and positive influences of training were estimated as indicators of fatigue and adaptations to training respectively. During the optimal taper, the negative influence was completely removed, independently of the prior training, whereas the positive influence increased only after overload training. Our computer simulations show that the characteristics of an optimal training reduction in elite athletes depend on the training performed in the weeks prior to a taper.