EDUCATIONAL BROKERAGE: A MECHANISM FOR ESTABLISHING ELDERS AS EDUCATORS

Although frequently underutilized as educators, older adults can be valuable resources to universities, colleges, and communities. This paper examines some reasons for underutilization of elders and suggests an educational brokerage system as a means of maximizing their educational contributions and rewards. A case study of an emerging brokerage system is presented.     

General Mass Communications

Ben H. Bagdikian's The Information Machines: Their Impact on Men and the Media.

R. Buckminster Fuller, I Seem To Be A Verb (Bantam D5235, $1.65).     

The Role of Postural Support in Young Adults’ Control of Stationary Kicking

Purpose: The requirement for postural stability during the performance of motor skills has been clearly demonstrated in infants, but the necessity for such a postural substrate is not well documented in adults. The present study investigated the role of postural stability during a ballistic ball-kicking task in adults by providing varying degrees of external postural support. Method: In the 1st experiment, 30 participants performed 20 maximal-velocity kicks under each of 3 conditions: grasping a rigid stable handle, light fingertip touch, and grasping a suspended elastic tube. A 2nd experiment with 16 participants varied the position of the stable handle to examine if the handle position in Experiment 1 might simply act as a fulcrum to enhance torque generation. Results: In Experiment 1, ball velocity was significantly higher in the stable-grasp condition in both men and women with the men showing greater improvement relative to the other conditions. Experiment 2 showed that the position of the stable handle did not significantly affect kicking velocity, indicating that the handle was not simply acting as a fulcrum during the kick. Conclusion: Together, the findings suggest that postural stability may be a rate limiter in the performance of dynamic motor tasks in adults.     

‘This is the country of premature old men’ Ageing and Aged Miners in the South Wales Coalfield,c.1880–1947*

Abstract

This article considers the effects of work in the south Wales coal industry either side of the turn of the twentieth century and, specifically, the ways in which work aged workers prematurely. It examines the consequences of working practices for miners’ bodies, the expedients utilized by miners to try and cope with the effects of premature ageing, and the consequences for their living standards, experiences and status. It situates these phenomena in the contexts of industrial relations and welfare provision. In so doing, the article engages with historiographies of the life-cycle, the aged, and pensions provision in modern Britain.     

难题与破解:新疆少数民族传统体育发展中的文化困境和对策

以新时代党和国家领导人关于民族工作的重要论述以及《新疆的文化保护与发展》《新疆的若干历史问题》白皮书为指导,研究认为,对中华母体体育文化的认识有待提高、文化属性的缺位相对明显、不良宗教文化的附着存在较大可能以及游牧文化的离散成为常态,是新疆少数民族传统体育发展过程中面临的特殊性文化困境。上述文化困境产生的主要原因在于：在新疆少数民族传统体育发展中,存在着机械性"华夷之辩"观念的浸入、对文化属性认知的不足、文化差异的过度强调、现代化进程中的文化迷失等四方面问题。破解新疆少数民族传统体育发展中的文化困境,需要从转变思想观念,给予新疆少数民族传统体育准确定位;加强多方引导,深化对新疆少数民族传统体育文化属性的认识;树立明确观念,客观认识新疆少数民族传统体育中的文化差异;推进体育文旅,促进新疆少数民族传统体育文化和产业的融合发展等四方面展开。     

Is sports science answering the call for interdisciplinary research? A systematic review

Sports science research is traditionally monodisciplinary despite calls for an interdisciplinary focus. The primary purpose of this systematic review was to identify studies on talent identification, talent selection and competition performance to determine whether interdisciplinary research is being conducted. Thirty-six studies met the selection criteria. These studies were critiqued relative to sport, skill level, sport science sub-disciplines included, and whether the research was multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary. The secondary purpose of the review was to critique the level of analysis and level of representative task design in performance tests used in the studies. Twenty-five studies were categorised as interdisciplinary, with 11 categorised as multidisciplinary. Thirteen sports were represented with soccer the most frequent followed by field hockey, Australian Rules football, handball and rugby league. Thirty-two studies completed their analysis at a group level and four at an individual level. A total of 337 performance tests were rated for representative task design with 64 categorised as low, 123 as medium and 150 as high. The results pertaining to interdisciplinary studies and individual analyses are discussed in relation to constraints theory, which predicts that interacting variables can explain sport performance. Sports science research is beginning to fulfil the call for interdisciplinary research. Future research, however, needs to consider individual analyses and representative task design of tests to progress sports science knowledge.     

Pacing during a cross-country mountain bike mass-participation event according to race performance,experience, age and sex

This study describes pacing strategies adopted in an 86-km mass-participation cross-country marathon mountain bike race (the ‘Birkebeinerrittet’). Absolute (km·h^?1) and relative speed (% average race speed) and speed coefficient of variation (%CV) in five race sections (15.1, 31.4, 52.3, 74.4 and 100% of total distance) were calculated for 8182 participants. Data were grouped and analysed according to race performance, age, sex and race experience. The highest average speed was observed in males (21.8?±?3.7?km/h), 16–24?yr olds (23.0?±?4.8?km/h) and those that had previously completed >4 Birkebeinerrittet races (22.5?±?3.4?km/h). Independent of these factors, the fastest performers exhibited faster speeds across all race sections, whilst their relative speed was higher in early and late climbing sections (Cohen's d?=?0.45–1.15) and slower in the final descending race section (d?=?0.64–0.98). Similar trends were observed in the quicker age, sex and race experience groups, who tended to have a higher average speed in earlier race sections and a lower average speed during the final race section compared to slower groups. In all comparisons, faster groups also had a lower %CV for speed than slower groups (fastest %CV?=?24.02%, slowest %CV?=?32.03%), indicating a lower variation in speed across the race. Pacing in a cross-country mountain bike marathon is related to performance, age, sex and race experience. Better performance appears to be associated with higher relative speed during climbing sections, resulting in a more consistent overall race speed.     

Perspectives of applied collaborative sport science research within professional team sports

The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives of both academics and practitioners in relation to forming applied collaborative sport science research within team sports. Ninety-three participants who had previously engaged in collaborative research partnerships within team sports completed an online survey which focused on motivations and barriers for forming collaborations using blinded sliding scale (0–100) and rank order list. Research collaborations were mainly formed to improve the team performance (Academic: 73.6?±?23.3; Practitioner: 84.3?±?16.0; effect size (ES?=?0.54), small). Academics ranked journal articles’ importance significantly higher than practitioners did (Academic: M_rank?=?53.9; Practitioner: 36.0; z?=??3.18, p?=?.001, p?q). However, practitioners rated one-to-one communication as more preferential (Academic: M_rank?=?41.3; Practitioner 56.1; z?=??2.62, p?=?.009, p?q). Some potential barriers were found in terms of staff buy in (Academic: 70.0?±?25.5; Practitioner: 56.8?±?27.3; ES?=?0.50, small) and funding (Academic: 68.0?±?24.9; Practitioner: 67.5?±?28.0; ES?=?0.02, trivial). Both groups revealed low motivation for invasive mechanistic research (Academic: 36.3?±?24.2; Practitioner: 36.4?±?27.5; ES?=?0.01, trivial), with practitioners have a preference towards ‘fast’ type research. There was a general agreement between academics and practitioners for forming research collaborations. Some potential barriers still exist (e.g. staff buy in and funding), with practitioners preferring ‘fast’ informal research dissemination compared to the ‘slow’ quality control approach of academics.