Differences in technique between sprinters and distance runners at equal and maximal speeds

In the finishing kick of a distance race, maximizing speed becomes the focus even if economy may be sacrificed. If distance runners knew how to alter their technique to become more sprint-like, this process could be more successful. In this study, we compared the differences in technique between sprinters and distance runners while running at equal and maximal speeds. Athletes consisted of 10 Division I distance runners, 10 Division I sprinters, and 10 healthy non-runners. They performed two tests, each consisting of a 60-m run on the track: Test 1 at a set pace of 5.81 m/s, while Test 2 was maximal speed. Video was collected at 180 Hz. Significant differences (P < 0.05) between the sprint and distance groups at maximal speeds were found in the following areas: speed, minimum hip angle, knee extension at toe-off, stride length, contact time, and recovery knee at touchdown. In Test 1, sprinters and distance runners displayed many of the same significant differences. The control group was similar to the distance group in both trials. As distance runners attempt to sprint, the desired adjustments do not necessarily occur. Distance runners may benefit from biomechanical interventions to improve running speed near the end of a race.     

Analysis of strengths and weaknesses in current research in science education

Research in science education has promise when it is relevant, is adequately conceptualized, and has sound methodology.     

Lived Body Knowledge: Disciplinary Knowledge for Preservice Physical Education Teachers

The American Kinesiology Association has constructed an undergraduate core for degree programs that reside in kinesiology-based academic units. Since many Physical Education Teacher Education programs are housed in such units, there is a need to prioritize the areas of the undergraduate core, particularly the place of the scientific dimensions of physical activity and the practice of physical activity, in Physical Education Teacher Education curricula. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of the lived body is employed to (a) challenge the predominant inclusion of the scientific dimensions of physical activity in teacher preparation curricula and (b) suggest that preservice physical education teachers need “lived body knowledge” of the subject matter to teach physical education. Lived body knowledge is skillful and meaningful engagement in dance, exercise, games, play, and/or sport. It is then argued that the practice of physical activity deserves a significant presence in Physical Education Teacher Education curricula.     

Teaching to the Test…or Testing to Teach: Exams Requiring Higher Order Thinking Skills Encourage Greater Conceptual Understanding

In order to test the effect of exam-question level on fostering student conceptual understanding, low-level and high-level quizzes and exams were administered in two sections of an introductory biology course. Each section was taught in a high-level inquiry based style but was assigned either low-level questions (memory oriented) on the quizzes and exams, or high-level questions (application, evaluation, and analysis) on the quizzes and exams for the entirety of the semester. A final exam consisting of 20 low-level and 21 high-level questions was given to both sections. We considered several theoretical perspectives based on testing effect, test expectancy, and transfer-appropriate processing literature as well as the theoretical underpinnings of Bloom’s taxonomy. Reasoning from these theoretical perspectives, we predicted that high-level exams would encourage not only deeper processing of the information by students in preparation for the exam but also better memory for the core information (learned in the service of preparing for high-level questions). Results confirmed this prediction, with students in the high-level exam condition demonstrating higher performance on both the low-level final-exam items and the high-level final exam items. This pattern suggests that students who are tested throughout the semester with high-level questions acquire deep conceptual understanding of the material and better memory for the course information, and lends support to the proposed hierarchical nature of Bloom’s taxonomy.     

A comparison of men's and women's strength to body mass ratio and varus/valgus knee angle during jump landings

The purpose of this investigation was to compare valgus/varus knee angles during various jumps and lower body strength between males and females relative to body mass. Seventeen recreationally active females (age: 21.94 ± 2.59 years; height: 1.67 ± 0.05 m; mass: 64.42 ± 8.39 kg; percent body fat: 26.89 ± 6.26%; squat one-repetition maximum: 66.18 ± 19.47 kg; squat to body mass ratio: 1.03 ± 0.28) and 13 recreationally active males (age: 21.69 ± 1.65 years; height: 1.77 ± 0.07 m; mass: 72.39 ± 9.23 kg; percent body fat: 13.15 ± 5.18%; squat one-repetition maximum: 115.77 ± 30.40 kg; squat to body mass ratio: 1.59 ± 0.31) performed a one-repetition maximum in the squat and three of each of the following jumps: countermovement jump, 30 cm drop jump, 45 cm drop jump, and 60 cm drop jump. Knee angles were analysed using videography and body composition was analysed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to allow for squat to body mass ratio and squat to fat free mass ratio to be calculated. Significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) were found between male and female one-repetition maximum, male and female squat to body mass ratio, and male and female squat to fat free mass ratio. Significant differences were found between male and female varus/valgus knee positions during maximum flexion of the right and left leg in the countermovement jump, drop jump from 30 cm, drop jump from 45 cm, and drop jump from 60 cm. Correlations between varus/valgus knee angles and squat to body mass ratio for all jumps displayed moderate, non-significant relationships (countermovement jump: r = 0.445; drop jump from 30 cm: r = 0.448; drop jump from 45 cm: r = 0.449; drop jump from 60 cm: r = 0.439). In conclusion, males and females have significantly different lower body strength and varus/valgus knee position when landing from jumps.