Effects of a short-term pre-season training programme on the body composition and anaerobic performance of professional rugby union players

Abstract

Pre-season rugby training develops the physical requisites for competition and consists of a high volume of resistance training and anaerobic and aerobic conditioning. However, the effects of a rugby union pre-season in professional athletes are currently unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of a 4-week pre-season on 33 professional rugby union players. Bench press and box squat increased moderately (13.6 kg, 90% confidence limits ±2.9 kg and 17.6 ± 8.0 kg, respectively) over the training phase. Small decreases in bench throw (70.6 ± 53.5 W), jump squat (280.1 ± 232.4 W), and fat mass (1.4 ± 0.4 kg) were observed. In addition, small increases were seen in fat-free mass (2.0 ± 0.6 kg) and flexed upper-arm girth (0.6 ± 0.2 cm), while moderate increases were observed in mid-thigh girth (1.9 ± 0.5 cm) and perception of fatigue (0.6 ± 0.4 units). Increases in strength and body composition were observed in elite rugby union players after 4 weeks of intensive pre-season training, but this may have been the result of a return to fitness levels prior to the off-season. Decreases in power may reflect high training volumes and increases in perceived of fatigue.     

Making space for democracy through assessment and feedback in higher education: thoughts from an action research project in education studies

This paper reports on an action research project into the development of a ‘democratic feedback model’ with students on an education studies programme at a post-1992 university in the UK. Building on work that has explored the dialogic dimensions of assessment and feedback, the research explored the potential for more democratic practice in this area. Although much learning and teaching on the programme in question took a collaborative and dialogic approach, assessment and feedback were modelled entirely differently, around the concept of an ‘expert’ marker and ‘novice’ marked. The findings of the research indicate the elements necessary for ‘democratic feedback’, and illustrate the emotional impact of moving from more transmission-based models, grounded in notions of expertise, towards democratic practice. They also highlight the ways in which such work can alert students to the imperfect, messy and human nature of the assessment process. Although the model has limited applicability in its extant form, its constitutive elements might be usefully incorporated within existing practice to promote democratic learning.     

Basic communication fidelity: An extension

The concept of Basic Communication Fidelity represents the degree of congruity between cognitions of two or more individuals following a communication event. Measurement of the concept is expanded beyond source/receiver comparison of cognitions implanted in a communication source in the form of geometric forms to include self‐oriented cognitions generated by an individual communicator in an environment reflecting stability of self‐oriented cognitions over the duration of the interaction. Results increase potential application, precision and explanatory value of the construct.     

Book reviews and notices

The Comparative Abilities of White and Negro Children. By Joseph Peterson (Comparative Psychology Monograph, No. 5, George Peabody College for Teachers). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Co., 1923. Price, $2.25.

Statistical Method. By Trumak L. Kelly (Stanford University). New York: The Macmillan Co., 1923. Pp. 3d + 390.

Psychology for Students of Education. By Arthur I. Gates (Teachers College). New York: The Macmillan Co., 1923. Pp. xvi + 489.

Elements of Retailing. By Ruth Leigh (Mrs. Sclater). New York: D. Apple‐ton & Co., 1923. Pp. ix + 385.

Social Science for Teachers. By C. E. Martz (Cleveland School of Education) and J. A. Kinneman (State Normal School, West Chester, Pa.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1923. Pp. xii + 340. Price, $1.90.

Economics of the Household. By Benjamin E. Andrews. New York: Macmillan Co., 1923. Pp. 609.

The Boy's Own Book of Great Inventions. By Floyd H. Darrow. New York: Macmillan Co., 1923. Pp. ix + 385. Price, $1.75.

The Boy's Own Book of Science. By Floyd H. Darrow. New York: Macmillan Co., 1923. Pp. ix + 331. Price, $2.50.

Human Geography, by Grades. By James Faiegrieve and Ernest Young. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1923.     

Enhancing Intercultural Communication among Business Communication Students

The issue of international students in the tertiary classroom is of broad significance across disciplines as evidenced, for example, in the work of Ladyshewsky (1996), Pe‐Pua (1995), and Romm, Paterson and Hill (1994). The need for university instructors to employ teaching strategies that are student‐centred and interactive has also been gaining attention in recent literature, for example, in the work of Biggs (1992, 1997), Chalmers and Volet (1997), and McKay and Kember (1997). This article presents some practical teaching strategies employed in an undergraduate Business Communication class that, in our experience, provide a context that encourages student interaction and participation to the mutual benefit of both local and international students. Data collection procedures included an open‐ended questionnaire, observation of students, informal and unstructured discussions and reflective journals of students and tutor. The conclusions drawn here suggest that these strategies not only enhance classroom participation by international students but also allow international and local students to interact more productively with each other.     

Place,matters of concern,and pedagogy: Making impactful connections with our planet

Neoliberalism, capitalist ideas, and the disastrous human-induced state of the environment are evidence of the lack of connection between humans and the earth, calling for a rethinking of the relationships between humans and the planet. As early childhood educators, we wonder about our role in rethinking these relationships and in particular, the relationship between children and planet. In this article, we articulate the actions and positioning of teachers in three different research studies and various contexts (Victoria, AUS; Oregon, USA; California, USA) utilizing Latour’s (2004) ‘matters of concern’ as a framework to rethink engagement and relationality. Each project considers how place can be a provocation that makes visible the entanglement of children, families, teachers, and the more-than-human as a way to rethink pedagogy. The limitations, tensions, and possibilities that occur within and across these entanglements are explored, highlighting how the enacted practices could disrupt dominant early childhood discourses and practices.     

International Communications

Lawrence W. Lichty's (ed.) World and International droadcasting: A Bibliography (Association for Professional Broadcasting Education, 1771 N St. Washington, D. C.) $15.00 ($10.00 to APBE individual members) paperbound)

William A. Hachten's Muffled Drums: The News Media in Africa (Iowa State University Press, $9.50)

Lynne Svenning's Modernization Among Peasants: Impact of Communications (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, $8.00)

Will A. Boelke's The Secret Conferences of Dr. Goebbels: The Nazi Propaganda War 1939-43.

James W. Markham's (ed.) International Commnication as a Field of Study (University of Iowa Department of Publications, $3.00)     

Allowing learners to choose: self-controlled practice schedules for learning multiple movement patterns

For this study, we investigated the effects of self-controlled practice on learning multiple motor skills. Thirty participants were randomly assigned to self-control or yoked conditions. Participants learned a three-keystroke pattern with three different relative time structures. Those in the self-control group chose one of three relative time structures before each of 90 practice trials; yoked participants were not allowed to choose but were yoked to a self-control participant and followed that individual's sequence of practice trials. Results of the 24-hr serial transfer test revealed the self-control group exhibited significantly lower relative timing error, absolute error, and total error than the yoked group. Findings further support the efficacy of self-controlled learning