Intra-limb coordinative adaptations in cycling

This study aimed to establish the nature of lower extremity intra-limb coordination variability in cycling and to investigate the coordinative adaptations that occur in response to changes in cadence and work rate. Six trained and six untrained males performed nine pedalling bouts on a cycle ergometer at various cadences and work rates (60, 90, and 120 revolutions per minute (rpm) at 120, 210, and 300W). Three-dimensional kinematic data were collected and flexion/extension angles of the ankle, knee, and hip joints were subsequently calculated. These data were used to determine two intra-limb joint couplings [hip flexion/extension-knee flexion/extension (HK) and knee flexion/extension-ankle plantar-flexion/dorsi-flexion (KA)], which were analysed using continuous relative phase analysis. Trained participants displayed significantly (p < 0.05) lower coordination variability (6.6 +/- 4.0 degrees) than untrained participants (9.2 +/- 4.7 degrees). For the trained subjects, the KA coupling displayed significantly more in-phase motion in the 120 rpm (19.2 +/- 12.3 degrees) than the 60 (30 +/- 7.1 degrees) or 90 rpm (33.1 +/- 7.4 degrees) trials and the HK coupling displayed significantly more in-phase motion in the 90 (33.3 +/- 3.4 degrees) and 120 rpm (27.9 +/- 13.6 degrees) than in the 60 rpm trial (36.4 +/- 3.5 degrees). The results of this study suggest that variability may be detrimental to performance and that a higher cadence is beneficial. However, further study of on-road cycling is necessary before any recommendations can be made.     

Appropriate use of information at the secondary school level: Understanding and avoiding plagiarism

This study explores students' understanding of plagiarism and their information use practices. Based on earlier findings regarding students' orientation toward processes and the degree of plagiarism exhibited, it analyses four cases in a new Australian study of Year 11 students. The two students who plagiarized least are compared with the two who plagiarized most in an ancient history assignment. Those who plagiarized most were less engaged with their topics; remembered less about them a month later; demonstrated less interest in processes such as learning, seeking meaning, or understanding; and were less able to recognize plagiarism than did those who plagiarized least. Those who plagiarized least incorporated direct quotations more effectively, used fewer quotations, and synthesized information and ideas better than did the others. Learning experiences that emphasize student engagement and construction of knowledge through appropriate and effective information use should take precedence over attempts to detect plagiarism without providing alternatives.     

Algorithmic skin: health-tracking technologies,personal analytics and the biopedagogies of digitized health and physical education

The emergence of digitized health and physical education, or ‘eHPE’, embeds software algorithms in the organization of health and physical education pedagogies. Particularly with the emergence of wearable and mobile activity trackers, biosensors and personal analytics apps, algorithmic processes have an increasingly powerful part to play in how people learn about their own bodies and health. This article specifically considers the ways in which algorithms are converging with eHPE through the emergence of new health-tracking and biophysical data technologies designed for use in educational settings. The first half of the article provides a conceptual account of how algorithms ‘do things’ in the social world, and considers how algorithms are interwoven with practices of health tracking. In the second half, three key issues are articulated for further exploration: (1) health tracking as a ‘biopedagogy’ of bodily optimization based on data-led and algorithmically mediated understandings of the body; (2) health tracking as a form of pleasurable self-surveillance utilizing data analytics technologies to predict future bodily probabilities and (3) the ways that health-tracking produces a body encased in an ‘algorithmic skin’, connected to a wider ‘networked cognitive system’. These developments and issues suggest the need for greater attention to how algorithmic systems are embedded in emerging eHPE technologies and pedagogies.     

Expanding our view of authentic learning: bridging in and out-of-school experiences

In this review, I explore the affordances of Wolff-Michael Roth and Pei-Ling Hsu’s article, “Space, relations and the learning of science” which brings attention to a largely unexplored area of science education research—the importance of spatial organization within the laboratory. This forum piece examines the four components of authentic learning and how these components relate to the experiences presented in the original article. Then, it highlights the differences for in and out-of-school experiences as they relate to both authentic learning and episodes presented by Roth and Hsu.