Table of Contents
Entering the Field of Physical Education: The Journey of Fifteen First-Year Teachers® Programming
– Julene Ensign, Amelia Mays Woods, and Pamela Hodges Kulinna
Purpose: Given the significant challenges facing today’s physical educators, the purpose of this study was to examine the expectations of induction teachers and identify the factors in both their personal and organizational environments enhanced or constrained their assimilation into the field during their 1st year.
Method: Using occupational socialization theory as a guide, data from demographic surveys and a series of formal interviews with participants at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year were inductively analyzed for theme development.
Results: Results revealed positive acculturation experiences and unity regarding the purpose of physical education as preparing students to be fit for a lifetime. Barriers were noted to be family and personal crises, role conflict, isolation, marginalization, issues with classroom management and discipline, and difficulties in developing positive relationships with stakeholders. Enhancers were identified as positive interactions and rapport with students, colleagues, and administrators and favorable individual dispositions.
Conclusion: Implications indicate a need for purposeful physical education teacher education training to proactively address these barriers during professional preparation as well as the creation of additional support systems for beginning teachers.
Articles
Scaling Constraints in Junior Tennis: The Influence of Net Height on Skilled Players’ Match-Play Performance
–Vera Limpens, Tim Buszard, Emma Shoemaker, Geert J. P. Savelsbergh, and Machar Reid
Purpose: The net height in tennis (0.91 m) is approximately 50% of a professional tennis player’s height. Children are also expected to play with this net height, even though it is approximately 70% of the average 10-year-old’s height. This study examined the immediate effect of lowering net height on the performance characteristics of skilled junior tennis players aged 10 years and younger.
Method: Sixteen players were matched in 8 pairs of even tennis ability and same sex. Each pair played 25-min singles matches in 4 conditions that varied in net height (0.91 m, 0.78 m, 0.65 m, and 0.52 m). Match-play characteristics were analyzed via video replay.
Results: Results showed that lowering the net height to 0.65 m and 0.52 m led to players adopting a more attacking style of play, as evidenced by a significant increase in the number of winners without a commensurate increase in errors and more shots struck inside the baseline. Lower nets also led to a greater percentage of successful first serves. The lowest net (0.52 m), however, reduced rally length significantly and therefore decreased hitting opportunities.
Conclusion: These results offer support for equipment scaling to enhance match-play performance for skilled junior tennis players. We propose that current net height recommendations for junior tennis should be revised.
Differential Learning as a Key Training Approach to Improve Creative and Tactical Behavior in Soccer
–Sara Santos, Diogo Coutinho, Bruno Gonçalves, Wolfgang Schöllhorn, Jaime Sampaio, and Nuno Leite
Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the effects of a differential-learning program, embedded in small-sided games, on the creative and tactical behavior of youth soccer players. Forty players from under-13 (U13) and under-15 (U15) were allocated into control and experimental groups and were tested using a randomized pretest to posttest design using small-sided games situations.
Method: The experimental group participated in a 5-month differential-learning program embodied in small-sided games situations, while the control group participated in a typical small-sided games training program. In-game creativity was assessed through notational analyses of the creative components, and the players’ positional data were used to compute tactical-derived variables.
Results: The findings suggested that differential learning facilitated the development of creative components, mainly concerning attempts (U13, small; U15, small), versatility (U13, moderate; U15, small), and originality (U13, unclear; U15, small) of players’ actions. Likewise, the differential-learning approach provided a decrease in fails during the game in both experimental groups (moderate). Moreover, differential learning seemed to favor regularity in pitch-positioning behavior for the distance between players’ dyads (U13, small; U15, small), the distance to the team target (U13, moderate; U15, small), and the distance to the opponent target (U13, moderate; U15, small).
Conclusion: The differential-learning program stressed creative and positional behavior in both age groups with a distinct magnitude of effects, with the U13 players demonstrating higher improvements over the U15 players. Overall, these findings confirmed that the technical variability promoted by differential learning nurtures regularity of positioning behavior.
Baseline Intraocular Pressure Is Associated With Subjective Sensitivity to Physical Exertion in Young Males
–Jesús Vera, Raimundo Jiménez, José Antonio García, José Cesar Perales, and David Cárdenas
Purpose: The purposes of this study were to (a) investigate the effect of physical effort (cycling for 60 min at 60 ± 5% of individually computed reserve heart-rate capacity), combined with 2 different levels of cognitive demand (2-back, oddball), on intraocular pressure (IOP) and subjective judgments of perceived exertion (ratings of perceived exertion [RPE]), affect (Affective Valence subscale of the Self-Assessment Manikin [SAM]), and mental workload (National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index [NASA-TLX]); and (b) ascertain whether baseline IOP, measured beforeexercise, is associated with individual differences in subjective assessments of effort and affective response during exercise.
Method: Seventeen participants (Mage = 23.28 ± 2.37 years) performed 2 physical/cognitive dual tasks, matched in physical demand but with different mental requirements (2-back, oddball). We assessed IOP before exercise, after 2 min of active recovery, and after 15 min of passive recovery, and we also collected RPE and SAM measures during the sessions (28 measurement points). We used NASA-TLX and cognitive performance as checks of the mental manipulation.
Results: (a) Intraocular pressure increased after concomitant physical/mental effort, with the effect reaching statistical significance after the 2-back task (p = .002, d = 0.35) but not after the oddball condition (p = .092, d = 0.29). (b) Baseline IOP was associated with subjective sensitivity to effort and showed statistical significance for the oddball condition (p = .03, ƞp2 = .622) but not for the 2-back task (F < 1).
Conclusion: Results suggest a relationship between IOP and physical/cognitive effort, which could have implications for the management of glaucoma. Additionally, a rapid measure of IOP could be used as a marker of individual effort sensitivity in applied settings.
Recovery Responses to Maximal Exercise in Healthy-Weight Children and Children With Obesity
–Elizabeth A. Easley, W. Scott Black, Alison L. Bailey, Terry A. Lennie, Wilma J. Sims, and Jody L. Clasey
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in heart rate recovery (HRRec) and oxygen consumption recovery (VO2 recovery) between young healthy-weight children and children with obesity following a maximal volitional graded exercise test (GXTmax).
Method: Twenty healthy-weight children and 13 children with obesity completed body composition testing and performed a GXTmax. Immediately after the GXTmax, HRRec and VO2 recovery were measured each minute for 5 consecutive minutes.
Results: There were no statistically significant group differences in HRRec for the 5 min following maximal exercise, Wilks’s Lambda = .885, F(4, 28) = 0.911, p = .471, between the healthy-weight children and children with obesity despite statistically significant differences in body fat percentage (BF%; healthy-weight children, 18.5 ± 6.1%; children with obesity, 41.1 ± 6.9%, p < .001) and aerobic capacity relative to body mass (VO2 peak; healthy-weight children, 46.8 ± 8.2 mL/kg/min; children with obesity, 31.9 ± 4.7 mL/kg/min, p < .001). There were statistically significant differences in VO2 recovery for the 5 min following exercise, Wilks’s Lambda = .676, F(4, 26) = 3.117, p = .032. There were no statistically significant correlations between HRRec and body mass index (BMI), BF%, VO2peak, or physical activity.
Conclusion: In a healthy pediatric population, obesity alone does not seem to significantly impact HRRec, and because HRRec was not related to obesity status, BMI, or BF%, it should not be used as the sole indicator of aerobic capacity or health status in children. Using more than one recovery variable (i.e., HRRec and VO2 recovery) may provide greater insight into cardiorespiratory fitness in this population.
Energy Expenditure and Intensity of Active Video Games in Children and Adolescents
–Karina L. R. Canabrava, Fernanda R. Faria, Jorge R. P. de Lima, Dartagnan P. Guedes, and Paulo R. S. Amorim
Purpose: This study aimed to compare the energy expenditure and intensity of active video games to that of treadmill walking in children and adolescents.
Method: Seventy-two boys and girls (aged 8–13 years) were recruited from local public schools. Energy expenditure and heart rate were measured during rest, during 3-km/hr, 4-km/hr, and 5-km/hr walks, and during active games (Adventure, Boxing I, Boxing II, and Dance). During walking and active games, we also assessed physical activity using an accelerometer.
Results: The energy expenditure of the active games Adventure, Boxing I, Boxing II, and Dance was similar to that of treadmill walking at 5 km/hr in boys and girls. Heart rate was significantly higher for the game Adventure compared with walking at 3 km/hr, 4 km/hr, and 5 km/hr and the game Dance in both genders. The heart rate of girls during the games Adventure and Dance was significantly higher compared with boys. There was a statistically significant difference (p < .05, with an effect size ranging from 0.40 to 3.54) in the counts·min−1, measured through accelerometry, between activities.
Conclusion: XBOX 360 Kinect games provide energy expenditure and physical activity of moderate intensity for both genders. The use of active video games can be an interesting alternative to increase physical activity levels.
The Effect of Whole-Body Vibration on Lower-Body Resistance Detraining in College-Age Women
–Keston G. Lindsay, David L. Nichols, Ronald W. Davis, and David D. Marshall
Purpose: This study explored the effect of whole-body vibration (WBV) using accelerations of 2.56 gto 7.68 g on lower-body detraining.
Methods: All participants (N = 20) were trained using a lower-body resistance-training program for 30 min twice per week from Week 0 to Week 6. At the end of the program, they were randomly assigned to a control group that performed no further training or a WBV group that performed a progressive static WBV program. Data for the 5-repetition-maximum (5RM) squat and extensors and flexors of the knee and ankle were collected at Weeks 0, 6, 8, 10, and 12 for all participants.
Results: Two-way (condition vs. time) analysis of variance revealed that although the WBV group maintained strength in the 5RM from Week 6 through Week 8 and the control group had a lower 5RM in Week 8 from Week 6, no differences in the 5RM squat existed between the groups at Week 8. Two-way factorial multivariate analysis of variance revealed no differences between the groups at any of the time for torque of knee flexion, dorsiflexion, or plantar flexion.
Conclusion: Static WBV of 2.56 g to 7.68 g did not attenuate detraining of the flexors and extensors of the knee and ankle.
Understanding Teacher Change: A National Survey of U.S. Physical Educators
–Ben D. Kern and Kim C. Graber
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical education teacher change that was self-initiated and externally initiated and to examine dispositions toward the change process relative to initiation.
Method: A random national sample of physical educators representing each SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators regional district participated in a survey measuring past programming changes, primary initiators of change, and teachers’ dispositions toward change. In total, 2,423 teachers (46% response rate) completed electronic, paper, or telephone questionnaires.
Results: Teachers most often made minor curriculum changes, and they added/subtracted student assessments (primarily informal assessments) least often. Self-initiated (bottom-up) change was most frequently (83.1% of the time) reported. Externally initiated (top-down) changes were less frequent and were most often associated with professional development. Teachers reported principals’ involvement in both top-down and bottom-up change processes was minimal. Teachers who were more disposed to making future changes reported making significantly (p < .01, η2 = .046–.119) more past changes than those who were less disposed to change.
Conclusion: Physical education teachers primarily self-initiated minor programming changes without involvement from administration. Externally initiated change was infrequent and mostly involved professional development. Dispositions toward change were individual and enduring such that teachers who had made more past changes were more likely to also make future changes.
Mediating Peer Teaching for Learning Games: An Action Research Intervention Across Three Consecutive Sport Education Seasons
–Cláudio Farias, Isabel Mesquita, Peter A. Hastie, and Toni O’Donovan
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide an integrated analysis of a teacher’s peer-teaching mediation strategies, the student-coaches’ instruction, and the students’ gameplay development across 3 consecutive seasons of sport education.
Method: Twenty-six 7th-grade students participated in 3 consecutive sport education seasons of invasion games (basketball, handball, and soccer). The research involved 3 action research cycles, 1 per season, and each cycle included the processes of planning, acting and monitoring, reflecting, and fact finding. Data collection consisted of videotape and audiotape records of all 47 lessons, a reflective field diary kept by the first author in the role of teacher-researcher, and a total of 24 semistructured focus-group interviews. Trustworthiness criteria for assuring the quality of qualitative research included extensive data triangulation, stakeholders’ crosschecking, and collaborative interpretational analysis.
Results: Through the application of systematic preparation strategies, student-coaches were able to successfully conduct team instruction that resulted in students’ tactical development and improved performance. Aspects such as the study of predominant configurations of players’ gameplay and similar tactical principles across games within the same category prevented a setback in the complexity of the learning content addressed at the beginning of each season. Players also showed an increasing ability to adapt gameplay to game conditions.
Conclusion: While sport education has the capacity to develop competent players, different levels of teacher guidance and learners’ instructional responsibility are necessary when teaching tactics.
A Comparison of Training and Competition Demands in Semiprofessional Male Basketball Players
–Jordan L. Fox, Robert Stanton, and Aaron T. Scanlan
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare training and competition demands in basketball.
Method: Fifteen semiprofessional male basketball players wore microsensors during physical conditioning training (PCT), games-based training (GBT), and competition to measure absolute and relative (·min−1) PlayerLoadTM (PL) and estimated equivalent distance (EED). Internal responses were calculated using absolute and relative session rating of perceived exertion (sRPE) and summated heart rate zones (SHRZ). Integrated measures were calculated as sRPE:PL and SHRZ:PL ratios.
Results: TPlayerLoad (arbitrary units [AU]) and EED (m) were statistically significantly (p < .05) higher during PCT (632 ± 139 AU, d = 1.36; 5,964 ± 1,312 m, d = 1.36; 6.50 ± 0.81 AU·min−1, d = 2.44; 61.88 ± 7.22 m·min−1, d = 2.60) and GBT (624 ± 113 AU, d = 1.54; 5,892 ± 1,080 m, d = 1.53; 6.10 ± 0.77 AU·min−1, d = 2.14; 56.76 ± 6.49 m·min−1, d = 2.22) than they were during competition (449 ± 118 AU; 3,722 ± 1474 m; 4.35 ± 1.09 AU·min−1; 41.01 ± 10.29 m·min−1). Summated heart rate zones were statistically significantly (p < .05) higher during PCT (314 ± 86 AU, d = 1.05; 3.22 ± 0.50 AU·min−1, d = 1.94) and GBT (334 ± 79 AU, d = 1.38; 3.19 ± 0.54 AU·min−1, d = 1.83) than they were during competition (225 ± 77 AU; 2.17 ± 0.69 AU·min−1). The ratio of sRPE:PL was statistically significantly (p < .05) higher during competition (1.58 ± 0.85) than during PCT (0.98 ± 0.22, d = 1.44) and GBT (0.91 ± 0.24, d = 1.90).
Conclusion: Training demands exceeded competition demands.
Research Notes
Gaze Behavior of Gymnastics Judges: Where Do Experienced Judges and Gymnasts Look While Judging?
–Alexandra Pizzera, Carsten Möller, and Henning Plessner
Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to examine if this superior judging performance is reflected in judges’ gaze behavior.
Method: Thirty-five judges were asked to judge 21 gymnasts who performed a skill on the vault in a video-based test. Classifying 1 sample on 2 different criteria, judging performance and gaze behavior were compared between judges with a higher license level and judges with a lower license level and between judges who were able to perform the skill (specific motor experience [SME]) and those who were not.
Results: The results revealed better judging performance among judges with a higher license level compared with judges with a lower license level and more fixations on the gymnast during the whole skill and the landing phase, specifically on the head and arms of the gymnast. Specific motor experience did not result in any differences in judging performance; however, judges with SME showed similar gaze patterns to those of judges with a high license level, with 1 difference in their increased focus on the gymnasts’ feet.
Conclusion: Superior judging performance seems to be reflected in a specific gaze behavior. This gaze behavior appears to partly stem from judges’ own sensorimotor experiences for this skill and reflects the gymnasts’ perspective onto the skill.
Physiological Correlations With Short, Medium, and Long Cycling Time-Trial Performance
–Fernando K. Borszcz, Artur F. Tramontin, Kristopher M. de Souza, Lorival J. Carminatti, and Vitor P. Costa
Purpose: Several studies have demonstrated that physiological variables predict cycling endurance performance. However, it is still unclear whether the predictors will change over different performance durations. The aim of this study was to assess the correlations between physiological variables and cycling time trials with different durations.
Method: Twenty trained male cyclists (maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max] = 60.5 ± 5.6 mL/kg/min) performed 4 separate experimental trials during a 2-week period. Cyclists initially completed an incremental exercise test until volitional exhaustion followed by 3 maximal cycling time trials on separate days. Each time trial consisted of 3 different durations: 5 min, 20 min, and 60 min performed in a randomized order.
Results: The main results showed that the physiological measures strongly correlated with long cycling performances rather than short and medium time trials. The time-trial mean power output was moderately high to highly correlated with peak power output and VO2max (r = .61–.87, r = .72–.89, respectively), and was moderately to highly correlated with the lactate threshold Dmax method and second ventilatory threshold (r = .52–.75, r = .55–.82, respectively).
Conclusion: Therefore, trained cyclists should develop maximal aerobic power irrespective of the duration of time trial, as well as enhancements in metabolic thresholds for long-duration time trials.