Altitude training in endurance running: perceptions of elite athletes and support staff

This study sought to establish perceptions of elite endurance athletes on the role and worth of altitude training. Elite British endurance runners were surveyed to identify the altitude and hypoxic training methods utilised, along with reasons for use, and any situational, cultural and behaviour factors influencing these. Prior to the 2012 Olympics Games, 39 athletes and 20 support staff (coaches/practitioners) completed an internet-based survey to establish differences between current practices and the accepted “best-practice”. Almost all of the athletes (98%) and support staff (95%) surveyed had utilised altitude and hypoxic training, or had advised it to athletes. 75% of athletes believed altitude and hypoxia to be a “very important” factor in their training regime, with 50% of support staff believing the same. Athletes and support staff were in agreement of the methods of altitude training utilised (i.e. 'hypoxic dose’ and strategy), with camps lasting 3–4 weeks at 1,500–2,500 m being the most popular. Athletes and support staff are utilising altitude and hypoxic training methods in a manner agreeing with research-based suggestions. The survey identified a number of specific challenges and priorities, which could provide scope to optimise future altitude training methods for endurance performance in these elite groups.     

Training load and schedule are important determinants of sleep behaviours in youth-soccer players

The current study examined how sleep may be influenced by the scheduling of training and match load within 10 youth-soccer players. Sleep was measured over a 14-day in-season period using a commercially available wireless sleep monitor. Each collected sleep variable; lights out, sleep latency, total sleep time wake after sleep onset and final awakening, was compared for the specific day within the training schedule (e.g. match day [MD], day after match [MD?+?1]) and to training/match load (high-speed distance (>5.5 m/s) [HSD] and rating of perceived exertion. The data were analysed using mixed models and effect sizes, to describe the magnitude of effects that training schedule and training load may have on sleep. A reduction of sleep duration was observed on the day after the match (MD?+?1) in relation to the training days preceding the match (MD-2: ?65 min, ES: 0.89?±?0.79; MD-1 ?61 min, ES: 0.82?±?0.64) and reduction on match day (+45 min; ES: 1.91?±?1.69). This may suggest youth-soccer players actively change their sleep scheduling behaviours in relation to the imposed soccer schedule. Increased high-speed running (for every 100 m) showed a small increase to total sleep time (+9 min; ES: 0.48?±?0.31). This may suggest that increases in training load may be associated with small increases in sleep quantity. Such observations may highlight that the type of day and the associated load within the training microcycle may have important consequences for sleep within youth-soccer players.     

Kinetic changes during a six-week minimal footwear and gait-retraining intervention in runners

An evaluation of a six-week Combined minimal footwear transition and gait-retraining combination vs. gait retraining only on impact characteristics and leg stiffness. Twenty-four trained male runners were randomly assigned to either (1) Minimalist footwear transition Combined with gait-retraining over a six-week period (“Combined” group; n = 12) examined in both footwear, or (2) a gait-retraining group only with no minimalist footwear exposure (“Control”; n = 12). Participants were assessed for loading rate, impact peak, vertical, knee and ankle stiffness, and foot-strike using 3D and kinetic analysis. Loading rate was significantly higher in the Combined group in minimal shoes in pre-tests compared to a Control (P ≤ 0.001), reduced significantly in the Combined group over time (P ≤ 0.001), and was not different to the Control group in post-tests (P = 0.16). The impact peak (P = 0.056) and ankle stiffness reduced in both groups (P = 0.006). Loading rate and vertical stiffness was higher in minimalist footwear than conventional running shoes both pre (P ≤ 0.001) and post (P = 0.046) the intervention. There has a higher tendency to non-rearfoot strike in both interventions, but more acute changes in the minimalist footwear. A Combined intervention can potentially reduce impact variables. However, higher loading rate initially in minimalist footwear may increase the risk of injury in this condition.     

Mechanical Player Load™ using trunk-mounted accelerometry in football: Is it a reliable,task- and player-specific observation?

The aim of the present study was to examine reliability and construct convergent validity of Player Load? (PL) from trunk-mounted accelerometry, expressed as a cumulative measure and an intensity measure (PL · min^–1). Fifteen male participants twice performed an overground football match simulation that included four different multidirectional football actions (jog, side cut, stride and sprint) whilst wearing a trunk-mounted accelerometer inbuilt in a global positioning system unit. Results showed a moderate-to-high reliability as indicated by the intra-class correlation coefficient (0.806–0.949) and limits of agreement. Convergent validity analysis showed considerable between-participant variation (coefficient of variation range 14.5–24.5%), which was not explained from participant demographics despite a negative association with body height for the stride task. Between-task variations generally showed a moderate correlation between ranking of participants for PL (0.593–0.764) and PL · min^–1 (0.282–0.736). It was concluded that monitoring PL^® in football multidirectional actions presents moderate-to-high reliability, that between-participant variability most likely relies on the individual’s locomotive skills and not their anthropometrics, and that the intensity of a task expressed by PL · min^–1 is largely related to the running velocity of the task.     

Classroom Learning Environments and Students' Approaches to Learning

Four hundred and eighty-four students from two metropolitan secondary schools completed the Learning Process Questionnaire, the Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire and the Learner Self Concept scale. Relationships between perceptions of the classroom learning environment, approaches to learning and self concept as a learner were investigated. Gender and level of schooling (junior high versus senior high) differences were examined. Results showed Deep Approaches to learning were significantly related to classroom learning environments which were perceived to be highly personalised and to be encouraging active participation in the learning process and the use of investigative skills in learning activities. High learner self concept was positively associated with Deep Approaches to learning and with classrooms perceived as high in Personalisation. It was negatively associated with Surface Approaches to learning. Differences in perceptions of learning environments and approaches to learning in relation to gender and level of schooling were small. The implications of these findings are discussed and strategies for facilitating Deep Approaches to learning are referred to. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

经济合作与发展组织视野中的韩国教育

韩国举世瞩目的教育成就 韩国对教育非常重视.这可以从个人和社会的选择看出来.其中一个颇具代表性的例子是韩国人对接受正规教育的偏好.     

Interpersonal Behavior,Laboratory Learning Environments,and Student Outcomes in Senior Biology Classes

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between students' perceptions of their biology teachers' interpersonal behavior and their laboratory learning environments and their attitudinal, achievement, and performance outcomes. A sample of 489 students from 28 senior biology classes in eight schools in Tasmania, Australia completed the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory (SLEI). Responses to two attitude questionnaires, achievement on an external written examination, and performance in laboratory practical tests were used as student outcome measures. Statistical analyses supported the reliability and validity of the QTI and the SLEI when used with senior secondary biology students. We investigated associations between students' perceptions of teacher behavior and their laboratory learning environment with student outcomes, including the unique and common contributions of the QTI and SLEI to variance in student outcomes. Associations with students' perceptions of the learning environment were stronger for the attitudinal outcomes than for the cognitive or practical skills outcomes. Some commonality between the QTI and SLEI scales was found in their contributions to the variance in attitudinal outcomes, but not in their contributions to variance in cognitive and practical skill outcomes. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 26–43, 2000     

Explaining long-term exercise adherence in women who complete a structured exercise program

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine factors related to physical activity adherence to understand why women continue to participate in long-term exercise after completing a structured exercise program. Data were collected from focus groups, interviews, and e-mails, and analysis used grounded theory. The central category related to physical activity adherence was self-worth. Motivation, activity enjoyment, priorities, body image, ability to access support, and self-regulation skills had an impact on the self-worth of nonadherers and adherers. Women must value themselves enough to continue to participate in physical activity once they start. Exercise and fitness professionals are encouraged to use strategies to increase self-worth and long-term adherence to physical activity. Some recommended strategies include (a) increasing motivation and enjoyment relative to activity, (b) making activity a high priority in a woman's life, (c) improving or deemphasizing body image, (d) increasing a woman's ability to access support, and (e) facilitating the use of self-regulation strategies. This study is the first to examine qualitative perspectives of exercise adherence among women who completed a structured exercise program. Several concepts related to adherence presented in the quantitative literature are confirmed and enhanced in this study.     

Early childhood intervention: possibilities and prospects for professionals, families and children

In March 2005, Barry Carpenter, OBE, Chief Executive and Director of Research at Sunfield, an education and residential care centre for children with severe and complex learning needs, gave his inaugural professional lecture at University College Worcester. This article is based on that lecture. In it, Barry Carpenter reviews international trends in early childhood intervention and relates these to changing patterns of childhood disability, family needs, practitioner-led service development and Government policy initiatives. He describes a political climate in the UK which is ripe for the development of a nationally cohesive programme of early childhood intervention and proposes a number of key factors hat are crucial to the consolidation of the plethora of initiatives that have taken place in the UK in recent years. These include: early interventions that are delivered from the point of diagnosis; practice that is transdisciplinary; and high quality training for professionals. At the heart of this process, however, must be the voice of the family - guiding, informing, sharing, engaging. The key to successful early childhood intervention, Barry Carpenter argues, is responsivity - to society, to its families, but most of all to its children.     

Measuring and Monitoring Educational Achievement

Societies continue to have high expectations of education. There may be disappointment with the current achievements of education systems but commitments to change and reform bear testimony to an underlying faith that education has much to offer - to individuals and to societies as a whole.