Effect of tennis racket parameters on a simulated groundstroke

Composite materials have given manufacturers the freedom to develop a broad range of tennis rackets, allowing them to change key parameters such as the structural stiffness, mass, and position of the balance point. The aim of this research was to determine how changing these parameters could affect ball resultant rebound velocity and spin for a simulated groundstroke. A finite element model of a freely suspended racket and strings was used to determine the effect of racket parameters for oblique spinning impacts at a range of locations on the stringbed. The finite element simulations were conducted in the laboratory frame of reference, where the ball is projected onto an initially stationary racket. The mean rebound velocity of the ball was 9% higher for a structurally stiff racket, 37% higher for a heavy racket, and 32% higher for a head-heavy racket. In addition, the mean rebound topspin of the ball was 23% higher for a heavy racket and 21% higher for a head-heavy racket. Therefore, in relation to a groundstroke with an impact location away from the node, the rebound velocity of the ball is likely to increase with the structural stiffness of a racket. The effect of changing the mass and position of the balance point is more complex, as it is dependent on the relationship between the transverse moment of inertia and maximum pre-impact swing velocity.     

Who do you want me to be? An exploration of female and male perceptions of ‘imposed’ gender roles in the early years

This paper provides an exploratory discussion surrounding the views and experiences of women and men who work/train in the early years (0–8 years) by bringing together select findings from two independent doctoral research projects. In an effort to weave together the voices of females and males working/training in the early years sector, this paper focuses its attention on the different ways in which their working roles are constructed and the possible ways in which this leads to the imposition of gender roles upon professionals in the 0–8 workforce in England.     

Struggling for visibility in higher education: caught between neoliberalism ‘out there’ and ‘in here’ – an autoethnographic account

What happens when neoliberalism as a structural and structuring force is taken up within institutions of higher education, and works upon academics in higher education individually? Employing a critical authoethnographic approach, this paper explores the way technologies of research performance management, specifically, work to produce academics (and academic managers) as particular kinds of neoliberal subject. The struggle to make oneself visible is seen to occur under the gaze of academic normativity – the norms of academic practice that include both locally negotiated practices and the performative demands of auditing and metrics that characterise the neoliberal university. The paper indicates how the dual process of being worked upon and working upon ourselves can produce personally harmful effects. The result is a process of systemic violence. This paper invites higher education workers and policy-makers to think higher education otherwise and to reconsider our personal and collective complicity in the processes shaping higher education.     

Investigating self‐perceptions and resilience in Looked After Children

The perceptions of Looked After Children (LAC; n = 51), their Designated Teachers (DTs), and a sample of non‐LAC (n = 99) were elicited. LAC held more positive self‐perceptions than the non‐LAC, and similarly positive ratings were given for the LAC by their DTs; but LAC held lower career aspirations than the non‐LAC. LAC differed in their levels of resilience, in terms of the number of risk and protective factors identified for each child. Girls had more protective and fewer risk factors than boys. Moreover, a high incidence of protective factors in LAC was associated with positive self‐perceptions, and a high incidence of risk factors was associated with negative self‐perceptions. The implications of these findings for educational psychology practice are discussed.     

The effect of time‐on‐task on student grades and grade expectations

The effects of students’ attitudes on time devoted to a course (i.e. time‐on‐task), and the subsequent effects of this time‐on‐task on their performance in the course and their overall grade point average (GPA) were studied. Over a three‐year period, engineering students (N = 231) were surveyed in weeks one, three, seven (after midterms) and 10 (before finals) of a 10‐week quarter in six sophomore and junior engineering classes (eight different sections). Results of this study show that most students are optimistic about their future performance in a new course, regardless of their previous overall GPA. All students appear to devote a relatively high and equal amount of time‐on‐task during the first week of the term. The students who earned grades between ‘B+’ and ‘A’ appear to optimise this time by the third week. Students who earned a final grade of ‘B’ study similar to ‘A’ students before midterms but significantly increase their efforts after midterms while the ‘C’ students decrease their time devoted to the course. This study finds that ‘A’ students know they will earn an ‘A’ as long as they do the work. In contrast, ‘C’ students are resigned to the fact that they will earn a ‘C’ and, thus, devote far less time to a course. The ‘B’ students want better grades and will devote the most effort towards achieving these grades.