Unlocking the gates to the peasants: are policies of ‘fairness’ or ‘inclusion’ more important for equity in higher education?

Attempts to make higher education more equitable more readily succeed at the aggregate (sector) level than at the institutional, with students from disadvantaged groups being overrepresented in low-status institutions. It is suggested that this is because policies of ‘fairness’ (i.e. proportional representation) dominate the contemporary policy framework and are strongly resisted by elite universities. However, using the Australian higher education sector as an example, this paper argues that equity policy is actually a mix of ‘proportional fairness’ and ‘inclusion’ and elite institutions resist not because the policy is deficient but because it might actually work. An alternative approach to higher education equity policy is proposed; one which requires elite institutions to engage meaningfully with disadvantaged students but allows them to retain their status advantage.     

Using Computing Power to Replace Lawyers: Advances in Licensing and Access

Faculty, librarians, students, and administrators are all faced with questions concerning permitted uses of licensed content. Rather than wrangle with the complexities of copyright, many would prefer a simple automated solution. The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics created such a tool through a research project that evolved into SIPX, a commercial copyright service. The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) created a product concept but faced challenges in converting it into an academic product.     

Repeated high-intensity exercise in professional rugby union

The aim of the present study was to describe the frequency, duration, and nature of repeated high-intensity exercise in Super 14 rugby union. Time-motion analysis was used during seven competition matches over the 2008 and 2009 Super 14 seasons; five players from each of four positional groups (front row forwards, back row forwards, inside backs, and outside backs) were assessed (20 players in total). A repeated high-intensity exercise bout was considered to involve three or more sprints, and/or tackles and/or scrum/ruck/maul activities within 21 s during the same passage of play. The range of repeated high-intensity exercise bouts for each group in a match was as follows: 11-18 for front row forwards, 11-21 for back row forwards, 13-18 for inside backs, and 2-11 for outside backs. The durations of the most intense repeated high-intensity exercise bouts for each position ranged from 53 s to 165 s and the minimum recovery periods between repeated high-intensity exercise bouts ranged from 25 s for the back row forwards to 64 s for the front row forwards. The present results show that repeated high-intensity exercise bouts vary in duration and activities relative to position but all players in a game will average at least 10 changes in activity in the most demanding bouts and complete at least one tackle and two sprints. The most intense periods of activity are likely to last as long as 120 s and as little as 25 s recovery may separate consecutive repeated high-intensity exercise bouts. The present findings can be used by coaches to prepare their players for the most demanding passages of play likely to be experienced in elite rugby union.     

Relationships between physiological, anthropometric, and skill qualities and playing performance in professional rugby league players

In this study, we investigated the relationship between physiological, anthropometric, and skill qualities and playing performance in professional rugby league players. Fifty-eight high-performance rugby league players underwent measurements for anthropometry (height, body mass, sum of seven skinfolds), physiological (speed, change of direction speed, lower body muscular power, repeated-sprint ability, prolonged high-intensity intermittent running ability, and estimated maximal aerobic power), technical skill (tackling proficiency, draw and pass proficiency), and perceptual skill (reactive agility, pattern recall, pattern prediction) qualities. National Rugby League matches were coded for attacking (e.g. line breaks, try assists, etc.) and defensive (e.g. missed tackles, tackling efficiency, etc.) statistics commonly used to assess rugby league playing performance. The number of line break assists was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with greater playing experience (r = 0.36), dual-task draw and pass proficiency (r = 0.54), reactive agility (r = 0.29), and pattern recall (r = 0.32) and prediction (r = 0.28) ability, while faster speed over 40 m (r = -0.42) was associated (P < 0.05) with a higher number of tries scored. Greater age and playing experience, better lower body muscular power, and faster 10 m and 40 m speed were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the number of tackle attempts (positive), tackles completed (positive), and proportion of missed tackles (negative). These findings demonstrate that well-developed physical and skill qualities are associated with effective playing performance in National Rugby League players.     

Predictive validity of a three-dimensional model of performance anxiety in the context of tae-kwon-do

We tested the predictive validity of the recently validated three-dimensional model of performance anxiety (Chang, Hardy, & Markland, 2009) with elite tae-kwon-do competitors (N = 99). This conceptual framework emphasized the adaptive potential of anxiety by including a regulatory dimension (reflected by perceived control) along with the intensity-oriented dimensions of cognitive and physiological anxiety. Anxiety was assessed 30 min before a competitive contest using the Three-Factor Anxiety Inventory. Competitors rated their performance on a tae-kwon-do-specific performance scale within 30 min after completion of their contest. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses revealed initial support for the predictive validity of the three-dimensional performance anxiety model. The regulatory dimension of anxiety (perceived control) revealed significant main and interactive effects on performance. This dimension appeared to be adaptive, as performance was better under high than low perceived control, and best vs. worst performance was associated with highest vs. lowest perceived control, respectively. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of the regulatory dimension of anxiety.     

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.     

Choosing to belong: increasing adolescent male engagement in the ELA classroom

The author conducted an action research study in his ninth grade English classroom in order to help the boys in his class to be more engaged. He decided to enable students to make more choices in the reading and writing activities so that both boys' and girls' literacies could be valued. He used independent reading and literature circles to help boys find books that met their diverse interests, and designed writing assignments which enabled students to choose topics which matched their out‐of‐school interests. Boys and girls benefited from such choice. He observed boys, especially, engaging in more literate behaviours—such as talking about books and sharing each others' writing.