Effect of Active Lessons on Physical Activity,Academic, and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of classroom-based physical activity interventions that integrate academic content and assess the effectiveness of the interventions on physical activity, learning, facilitators of learning, and health outcomes. Method: Six electronic databases (ERIC, PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE) and reference lists were searched for English-language articles, published January 1990 through March 2015, reporting classroom-based interventions that deliberately taught academic content using physically active teaching methods for at least 1 week duration, with physical activity, health, learning, or facilitators-of-learning outcomes. Two authors reviewed full-text articles. Data were extracted onto an Excel spreadsheet, and authors were contacted to confirm accuracy of the information presented. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Six studies reporting on physical activity levels were found to have medium-to-large effect sizes. All 4 studies reporting learning outcomes showed positive effects of intervention lessons. Teachers and students were pleased with the programs, and enhanced on-task behavior was identified (n = 3). Positive effects were also reported on students’ body mass index levels (n = 3). Conclusions: Physically active academic lessons increase physical activity levels and may benefit learning and health outcomes. Both students and teachers positively received and enjoyed these teaching methods. These findings emphasize the need for such interventions to contribute toward public health policy.     

The origins of association football in Ireland, 1875–1880: a reappraisal

According to its foundation myth, association football was introduced to Ireland when one man, John McAlery, personally organised an exhibition match between two Scottish teams in Belfast in 1878 and went on to form the first Irish association club in 1879 and the Irish Football Association in 1880. Based on new research, this article seeks to revise this traditional account, by presenting evidence of earlier association matches, including one in 1875: the earliest recorded association match thus far discovered. It also uses primary sources and a critical re-examination of secondary sources to re-evaluate the role of McAlery, and suggests that others ought also to be credited for the efforts that were made to establish association football in Ireland from the mid-1870s. The article also considers, but dismisses, other extant claims of early association football in Ireland, and, taking stock of recent scholarship, points to the existence of other more informal, less organised and less successful processes of diffusion in Ireland, prior to and contemporaneous to, but independent of, that which was ultimately successful in Ulster.     

Thermoneutral immersion exercise accelerates heart rate recovery: A potential novel training modality

This study compared heart rate recovery (HRR) after incremental maximal exercise performed at the same external power output (P_ext) on dry land ergocycle (DE) vs. immersible ergocycle (IE). Fifteen young healthy participants (30?±?7 years, 13 men and 2 women) performed incremental maximal exercise tests on DE and on IE. The initial P_ext on DE was 25?W and was increased by 25?W/min at a pedalling cadence between 60 and 80?rpm, while during IE immersion at chest level in thermoneutral water (30°C), the initial P_ext deployment was at a cadence of 40?rpm which was increased by 10?rpm until 70?rpm and thereafter by 5?rpm until exhaustion. Gas exchange and heart rate (HR) were measured continuously during exercise and recovery for 5?min. Maximal HR (DE: 176?±?15 vs. IE 169?±?12?bpm) reached by the subjects in the two conditions did not differ (P?>?.05). Parasympathetic reactivation parameters (ΔHR from 10 to 300?s) were compared during the DE and IE HR recovery recordings. During the IE recovery, parasympathetic reactivation in the early phase was more predominant (HRR at Δ10–Δ60?s, P?<?.05), but similar in the late phase (HRR at Δ120–Δ300?s, P?>?.05) when compared to the DE condition. In conclusion, incremental maximal IE exercise at chest level immersion in thermoneutral water accelerates the early phase parasympathetic reactivation compared to DE in healthy young participants.     

Evaluating quality of implementation in physical activity interventions based on theories of motivation: current challenges and future directions

The evidence base pointing towards the maladaptive health consequences of an inactive lifestyle highlights the need for interventions that are effective in changing and maintaining physical activity behaviours. Theories of motivation are frequently applied to inform the content and delivery of such interventions. Systematic monitoring and evaluation of the quality of intervention implementation is therefore an important step in understanding if and how theories of motivation can be adopted and effectively applied to promote and/or sustain physical activity behaviours. However, intervention implementation quality in studies that aim to apply motivation theory to promote physical activity is often under-reported. The purpose of this article is, first, to review contemporary approaches used to monitor and evaluate intervention implementation; we outline the degree to which these methods have been used effectively in research concerned with applying theories of motivation to impact physical activity behaviours. Second, we identify and discuss specific challenges in effectively measuring quality of implementation faced by researchers who adopt a motivation theory basis to their work. Finally, recommendations for methods to monitor and evaluate intervention implementation in future trials aiming to promote physical activity based on theories of motivation are also proposed.     

A grounded theory of positive youth development through sport based on results from a qualitative meta-study

The overall purpose of this study was to create a model of positive youth development (PYD) through sport grounded in the extant qualitative literature. More specifically, the first objective was to review and evaluate qualitative studies of PYD in sport. The second objective was to analyze and synthesize findings from these studies. Following record identification and screening, 63 articles were retained for analysis. Meta-method analysis revealed strengths of studies were the use of multiple data collection and validity techniques, which produced high-quality data. Weaknesses were limited use of ‘named’ methodologies and inadequate reporting of sampling procedures. Philosophical perspectives were rarely reported, and theory was used sparingly. Results of an inductive meta-data analysis produced three categories: PYD climate (adult relationships, peer relationships, and parental involvement), life skills program focus (life skill building activities and transfer activities), and PYD outcomes (in personal, social, and physical domains). A model that distinguishes between implicit and explicit processes to PYD is presented.     

The Jews of Venetian Candia: The Challenges of External Influences and Internal Diversity as Reflected in Takkanot Kandiyah

Takkanot Kandiyah is a collection of Hebrew-written legislative texts regarding the leadership of the Jewish community of Candia, the capital of the Venetian colony of Crete, which were issued by successive generations of communal leaders between the early thirteenth and late sixteenth centuries. The detailed information it provides on many areas of the communal life makes Takkanot Kandiyah a valuable source for historical research into Jewish life in the medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean. Through a study of the texts contained in Takkanot Kandiyah, this article attempts to identify and analyse the ways in which the leadership of the Candiot community responded to the challenges of coexistence with the Greek inhabitants of Crete and the Venetian rulers of the island, as well as with the Jewish immigrants whom the currents of history brought to Crete from various corners of the Mediterranean, and thus to examine the importance of the “Mediterranean dimension” of the life of Cretan Jewry.     

A true original

Abstract

This study analyzes Japanese and Korean ethno-national (minzoku-kokumin) education in postwar Japan. During a period of political unrest in Japan (1945–1955), some of the Korean residents and Japanese worked together to overcome the culture of Imperial Japan and its assimilative education. They also regarded themselves as people colonized by the United States, and pursued a political-cultural movement for their liberation and independence from American imperialism. The Koreans in Japan rejected compulsory education in the Japanese language. As a result, since 1956, Korean schools (Chōsengakkō), funded and supported by North Korea, were founded all across Japan. Their ethno-national education was in fact incorporated into North Korean politics, and has been considered in many studies as having overcome Japanese assimilation and ethnic inequalities. Such a view was a result of many academic Zainichi Korean studies that come from an “insider's perspective” to criticize Japanese colonialism and discrimination. In order to go beyond this insider's view, I focus on the political alliance between Zainichi Koreans and the Japanese people in their pursuit of ethno-national education. Since 2010, the Japanese state funding for Korean schools has become a major controversy in Japan. By tracing the historical background, this article intends to explain why this political issue has arisen. The ultimate purpose of this article is to suggest an ethical perspective to resolve the current political conflict regarding Korean schools in Japan.