The effects of fatigue on decision making and shooting skill performance in water polo players

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of fatigue on decision making and goal shooting skill in water polo. Fourteen junior elite male players (age 17.2 +/- 0.5 years; mass 84.2 +/- 7.6 kg; height 1.85 +/- 0.05 m) completed four sets of eight repetitions of an approximately 18 s maximal water polo specific drill. Progressively declining rest ratios for each successive set of the drill were employed to induce increasing fatigue and reflect the demands of match-play. A video-based temporally occluded decision-making task (verbalized response to various tactical situations) or goal shooting skill test (qualitative and quantitative analysis of goal shooting) was performed after each set. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and blood lactate concentration were recorded. Heart rate (159 +/- 12, 168 +/- 13, 176 +/- 12, 181 +/- 12 Deats min-1; P < 0.001) and RPE (13.1 +/- 2.2, 15.5 +/- 1.7, 17.3 +/- 1.6, 19.1 +/- 1.1; P < 0.001) increased with declining rest ratios. At very high fatigue, decision-making accuracy was 18.0 +/- 21.8% better than at low fatigue (P = 0.008). Shooting accuracy and velocity were unaffected by incremental fatigue; however, skill proficiency (technique) decreased by 43 +/- 24% between the pre-test and high-fatigue conditions (P < 0.001). In conclusion, incremental increases in fatigue differentially influenced decision making (improved) relative to the technical performance (declined), accuracy and speed of the ball (unchanged) of a water polo goal shot.     

Testing the application of corrective adjustment procedures for removal of relative age effects in female youth swimming

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was (1) accurately estimate longitudinal relationships between decimal age (i.e., chronological and relative) and performance in Australian female 100 m (N = 765) and 200 m (N = 428) Breaststroke swimmers (10–18 years); and (2) determine whether corrective adjustment procedures could remove Relative Age Effects (RAEs) in an independent sample of age-matched 100 m (N = 2,491) and 200 m (N = 1,698) state/national level Breaststroke swimmers. In Part 1, growth curve modelling quantified longitudinal relationships between decimal age and swimming performance. In Part 2, relative age distributions (Quartile 1–4) for “All”, “Top 25%” and “10%” of swimming times were examined based on raw and correctively adjusted swim times for age-groups. Based on raw swim times, finding identified RAE effect sizes increased in magnitude (small-medium) with selection level (“All”-“Top 25%”) in 12–14 years age-groups for both events. However, when correctively adjusted swim performances were examined, RAEs were primarily absent across all age-groups and selection levels. Using longitudinal reference data, corrective adjustment procedures removed relative age advantages in female youth Breaststroke performance. Removing the influence of relative age-related differences is predicted to improve the accuracy of identifying genuinely skilled youth swimmers.     

Listening for Creative Voices amid the Cacophony of Fiscal Complaint about Art and Design Education

The current tertiary education climate in Australia and other Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries is one where class numbers are increasing and contact hours between students and teachers are reducing to keep them financially viable. In this context increasing pressure is being placed on teachers to essentially ‘do more with less’ and to perform well, despite the changing conditions. Students, too, are challenged to learn in an environment where they have less time with their teachers. What seems surprising is that all of this is occurring whilst the rhetoric of tertiary institutions is being more closely aligned with contemporary constructivist theories of learning with a focus on producing creative graduates. This pressure is now being keenly felt in creative disciplines where studio models of teaching, which require small classes and substantial contact hours, are seriously under threat. If tertiary institutions genuinely want to produce creative graduates there needs to be more widespread understanding of how creative processes are nurtured and creative minds are fostered. Many experienced teachers in creative disciplines have developed such understanding. Their voices need to be encouraged and supported so that the artistry of their creative pedagogies may be articulated and heard above the cacophony of fiscal complaint. We do not naively suggest that financial issues should be disregarded. We do, however, call for a middle way where sophisticated conversations, about both the quality and viability of creative educational practice, amongst all stakeholders can allow for an authentically creative future to emerge.     

Professional identity in early childhood care and education: perspectives of pre-school and infant teachers

This paper explores perceptions of professional identity in the early childhood care and educations sector (ECCE) in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). It is concerned with the status, salary and conditions of those working with children aged four to six in pre-school and primary school settings. Using qualitative methodology, the study garnered personal perspectives and insights into professional identity. It presents new empirical evidence on the attitudes of those working in ECCE towards their professional identity and their aspirations for the future. Findings indicate that professional identity is contentious and problematic. At pre-school level, this is predominantly associated with the lack of a mandatory training requirement. There is compelling evidence that highly trained ECCE graduates are being lost to the sector. At primary school level, while teachers per se enjoy a relatively high social status, their professional identity as infant teachers is compromised within individual school settings. Teachers believe that this is related to a perception that the infant class is akin to ‘playschool’. As a result, they do not get the same respect as teachers working in classes higher up the school. These issues gives rise to fundamental questions about the value of early childhood as well as the value placed on those working with four- to six-year-old children in pre-school and primary school.     

The genesis of mentors’ professional and personal knowledge about teaching: perspectives from the Republic of Ireland

This study investigates the sources of mentors’ knowledge about teaching. A mixed-method research design combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was used to examine this area. The findings of the study suggest that: mentors’ knowledge about teaching is practice orientated and emerges from their professional experiences, their teaching skills, their pre-service teacher education and, to a considerable extent, from their own personal experiences. The authors argue that mentors require support to reflect on their early socialisation experiences and their attachment to practice-based experience as a source of professional knowledge, in this way they can better understand and carry out their role as mentors.     

Stitching Circuits: Learning About Circuitry Through E-textile Materials

Central to our understanding of learning is the relationship between various tools and technologies and the structuring of disciplinary subject matter. One of the staples of early science education curriculum is the use of electrical circuit toolkits to engage students in broader discussions of energy. Traditionally, these concepts are introduced to youth using battery packs, insulated wire and light bulbs. However, there are affordances and limitations in the way this toolset highlights certain conceptual aspects while obscuring others, which we argue leads to common misconceptions about electrical circuitry. By contrast, we offer an alternative approach utilizing an e-textiles toolkit for developing understanding of electrical circuitry, testing the efficacy of this approach for learning in elective settings to pave the way for later classroom adoption. This study found that youth who engaged in e-textile design demonstrated significant gains in their ability to diagram a working circuit, as well as significant gains in their understanding of current flow, polarity and connections. The implications for rethinking our current toolkits for teaching conceptual understanding in science are discussed.     

Squishing Circuits: Circuitry Learning with Electronics and Playdough in Early Childhood

While circuitry lessons have traditionally been first introduced in late elementary school, they remain challenging conceptually for undergraduates in physics and engineering courses. Seeking to provide a higher quality and earlier introduction to circuitry learning for young children (ages 3–5), this paper investigates the affordances of utilizing the Squishy Circuits toolkit, a circuitry kit that combines circuit components and playdough, as a first introduction. Our study engaged 45 children across three nursery school classrooms in open-ended play with Squishy Circuits toolkits for seven sessions over a period of 2 weeks. Here, we focus on six children in one focal classroom in order to illustrate the concepts that children are developing during play and open exploration with the kits and a range of crafting materials. Findings indicated that the Squishy Circuits toolkit enabled children to explore concepts important to circuitry learning, including current flow, polarity, and connections. Additionally, analysis of whole class conversations before and after the circuitry explorations indicated significant gains in children’s ability to discuss circuitry concepts over the course of the study. Through individual case studies, we illustrate how children enacted these concepts through their play and how the transparency afforded by the toolkit make the big ideas of circuitry visible. This work serves to illustrate how very young children can successfully begin to engage with science topics commonly introduced in later elementary school when those topics are framed through play and discovery with transparent and malleable materials.

     

The Book Culture Club: Incorporating a Synergistic Approach Among an Academic Library,Authors, Potential Authors,and Publishers

The Book Culture Club at Hong Kong Baptist University goes beyond the traditional book talk format. Its vision is to nurture a culture that values reading, writing, and publishing books through a synergistic approach among the library, authors, potential authors, and publishers. Since its inauguration in early 2009, the club has offered eighteen programs and has attracted more than 1,200 attendees by March 2013. In this article, the author will describe how the Book Culture Club was formed, present a series of activities conducted, describe how events are prepared and implemented, discuss successful outcomes and offer reflections thereon, and demonstrate how good outreach initiatives for connecting many various parties can produce a long-lasting impact in an academic setting.