Kinematic analyses of seated throwing activities with and without an assistive pole

In Paralympic seated throwing events, the athlete can throw with and without an assistive pole. This study aimed to identify and compare performance-related kinematic variables associated with both seated throwing techniques. Twenty-nine non-disabled males (21.9 ± 2.6 years) performed 12 maximal throws using a 1-kg ball in two conditions (no-pole and pole). Automatic 3D-kinematic tracking (150 Hz) and temporal data were acquired. There was no significant difference between ball speeds at the point of release between conditions (no-pole = 12.8 ± 1.6 m/s vs. pole = 12.9 ± 1.5 m/s). There were four kinematic variables that were strongly correlated with ball speed when throwing with or without an assistive pole. These variables were elbow flexion at the start phase (pole r = .39 and no-pole r = .41), maximum shoulder external rotation angular velocity during the arm cocking phase (pole r = .42), maximum shoulder internal rotation angular velocity during the arm acceleration phase (pole r = .47), and should internal rotation angular velocity at the instant of ball release (pole r = .40). The pole clearly influenced the throwing technique with all four strongly correlated variables identified in this condition, compared to only one during the no-pole condition. When using the pole, participants produced significantly higher shoulder internal rotation angular velocities during the arm acceleration phase (pole = 367 ± 183°/s vs. no-pole = 275 ± 178°/s, p < .05) and at the instant of ball release (pole = 355 ± 115°/s vs. no-pole = 264 ± 120°/s, p < .05), compared to throwing without the pole. These findings have implications for the development of evidence-based classification systems in Paralympic seated throwing, and facilitate research that investigates the impact of impairment on seated throwing performance.     

Towards a critical sport heritage: implications for sport tourism

ABSTRACT

This paper reflects upon the development and increased acceptance for heritage becoming a key component of sport tourism research. The original sport heritage typology, as posited by Ramshaw and Gammon [2005, More than just Nostalgia? Exploring the heritage/sport tourism nexus. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 10(4), 229–241], is re-examined through a more critical lens, revealing additional dimensions that help augment its key components. More specifically, it is argued that future studies should consider the more intangible features of sport heritage, as well as acknowledging the expanding global nature of sport and its impact upon fandom. Also, the case is made for research to explore the dissonance inherent in much of sports heritage, as well as determining where the power lies in allocating and championing current sport heritages. Lastly, the more general implications to the field of sport tourism are offered with particular regard to motivation, place, and consumption.     

Professionalism in medical education

Medical professionalism in today's society requires the exhibition of a range of qualities deployed in the service of patients, rather than more traditionally defined aspects such as mastery, autonomy and self-regulation. These qualities incorporate demonstrated clinical competence; aspiring to excellence in practice while demonstrating humility and recognition of personal limitations; exercising professional judgement; and maintaining a fiduciary relationship with patients by the earning and maintenance of trust.     

Estimating Causal Effects of Education Interventions Using a Two-Rating Regression Discontinuity Design: Lessons From a Simulation Study and an Application

A valuable extension of the single-rating regression discontinuity design (RDD) is a multiple-rating RDD (MRRDD). To date, four main methods have been used to estimate average treatment effects at the multiple treatment frontiers of an MRRDD: the “surface” method, the “frontier” method, the “binding-score” method, and the “fuzzy instrumental variables” method. This article uses a series of simulations to evaluate the relative performance of each of these four methods under a variety of different data-generating models. Focusing on a two-rating RDD (2RRDD), we compare the methods in terms of their bias, precision, and mean squared error when implemented as they most likely would be in practice—using optimal bandwidth selection. We also apply the lessons learned from the simulations to a real-world example that uses data from a study of an English learner reclassification policy. Overall, this article makes valuable contributions to the literature on MRRDDs in that it makes concrete recommendations for choosing among MRRDD estimation methods, for implementing any chosen method using local linear regression, and for providing accurate statistical inferences.     

Sex and Risk: Parental Messages and Associated Safety/Risk Behavior of Adult Children

The importance of both parent–child conversations about sex and general family communication climates has been emphasized in numerous studies. This study compared general family communication via family communication patterns (FCP) to specific parental communication about sex in understanding young adults’ sexual communication/risk (avoidance, threat, and risk behavior). Results suggest that FCP were stronger predictors of adult children’s perceptions of sexual communication as threatening and overall avoidance of sexual communication with their partners compared to the frequency of and overall quality of parent–child conversations about sex. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.     

‘Crossing’ the equals sign: insights into pre-service teachers’ understanding of linear equations

This paper reports on an exploratory study designed to determine and enhance the conceptual understanding of a group of pre-service mathematics teachers at one Irish university utilizing an established framework for understanding mathematics. 23 students on a one year Professional Diploma in Mathematics Education participated in the study, which involved the distribution of a pre- and post-test and engagement in a ten week intervention designed to enhance their subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The findings highlight that although there was an improvement in overall conceptual understanding across the entire cohort at the end of the intervention, within certain mathematical topics there was a statistically insignificant improvement and many deep-rooted issues remain. In this paper we focus on the pre-service teachers’ understanding of elementary algebra, in particular, how to solve a linear equation.     

Quantifying the long-term impact of zoological education: a study of learning in a zoo and an aquarium

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that zoos and aquariums do, as intended, educate their visitors. However, even though most zoos offer a wide array of educational experiences, few studies have considered if the duration of an educational experience affects learning or whether learning lasts beyond the immediate visit. The current study used matched-pairs surveys to investigate children’s knowledge, attitude and knowledge of positive behavior during both a five-day zoo camp and six months after an aquarium visit. The participants of the study included children aged 9–12?years some of whom had participated in a purposefully designed educational intervention. First, the impact of a five-day zoo camp experience on children’s learning was investigated. Second, learning retention was investigated six months after a school tour at an aquarium. Results showed that during the camp learning was positively affected by participation in the educational intervention and by previous zoo experience. Girls were more likely than boys to have an increase in learning six months after an aquarium visit. The study demonstrates that learning persists, but that education can be enhanced with longer programs. Thus, zoos can play an increasingly important role in igniting pro-environmental behavior.     

Metasearch accuracy for letters and symbols: do our intuitions match empirical reality?

The “familiarity effect” (Shen and Reingold, Perception & Psychophysics 63(3):464–475, 2001) is a phenomenon in which unfamiliar symbols perceptually “pop-out” when placed among familiar symbols (e.g., letters). In contrast, searching for familiar symbols among unfamiliar symbols is more challenging. Failure to account for effects such as these when predicting search performance could lead to overconfidence and error. This study investigated metacognitive awareness of the familiarity effect by asking participants to rate the speed and accuracy of search before they searched for either letter or symbol targets among letter or symbol distractors. Feature overlap between target and distractor and target presence or absence were also manipulated to provide concurrent cues to task difficulty. This study examined metacognitive awareness of the “familiarity effect,” and extended the findings from an earlier metasearch study (Redford et al., Memory and Cognition 39:1534–1545, 2011). Metacognition was accurate with respect to the familiarity effect. However, participants incorrectly predicted that they would detect a target’s absence faster than its presence. These findings suggest that people have metacognitive awareness for some aspects of visual search, even when patterns of search performance are complex and potentially counterintuitive. However, limitations exist in our metacognitive awareness of visual search. The results are discussed in relation to Koriat’s cue utilization framework and heuristic-based metacognition.