Cross-cultural communication in teacher education : A case study of an Australian pre-service teacher placement in Liaoning, China
- Authors: Jin, Aijing , Cooper, Maxine , Golding, Barry
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 6 (2016), p. 20-34
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- Description: This paper presents a case study of the experiences and reflections of four fourth year pre-service teachers from Federation University Australia who completed their three-week teaching placement in Anshan, Liaoning Province, China, in April 2014. The study also explores the perspectives and opinions of both the Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students towards the Australian preservice teachers. The research confirms the mutual benefits of crosscultural teacher education professional experiences for pre-service teachers, Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students. The teaching experiences revealed major differences in educational concepts and teaching strategies and approaches between the two systems because of the different social and cultural contexts. The evidence from the voices of the participants indicates that the professional experience in these two Chinese schools fostered the Australian pre-service teachers’ cross-cultural communication skills, developed their confidence and skills as teachers and generally enriched their personal and professional lives.
Effect of pre-departure culture preparation courses on student learning during international fieldwork
- Authors: Jiang, Xiaoli
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Creative Education Vol. 07, no. 09 (2016), p. 1237-1243
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- Description: This paper examined the effect of two pre-departure culture preparation courses on student learning during their International Fieldwork in Asia. These courses are designed to develop Anglo- European origin Australian students’ knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Asian societies, cultures, etiquettes, education and political systems, together with Asian problem solving and living styles. The courses further foster student skills in intercultural communication with people from Asia. A group of students completed the training and travelled to China for fieldwork. Their evaluation and feedback, together with their written assignments, were collated and analyzed. Results indicated that the two courses are effective in assisting students’ cultural adaptation to the host country environment and engaging in higher culture learning during their fieldwork.
Effects of exercise and manual therapy on pain associated with hip osteoarthritis : A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors: Beumer, Lucy , Wong, Jennie , Warden, Stuart , Kemp, Joanne , Foster, Paul , Crossley, Kay
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 8 (2016), p. 458-463
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- Description: Aim: To explore the effects of exercise (water-based or land-based) and/or manual therapies on pain in adults with clinically and/or radiographically diagnosed hip osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed, with patient reported pain assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) or the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) pain subscale. Data were grouped by follow-up time (0-3 months=short term; 4-12 months=medium term and; >12 months=long term), and standardised mean differences (SMD) with 95% CIs were used to establish intervention effect sizes. Study quality was assessed using modified PEDro scores. Results: 19 trials were included. Four studies showed short-term benefits favouring water-based exercise over minimal control using the WOMAC pain subscale (SMD -0.53, 95% CI -0.96 to -0.10). Six studies supported a short-term benefit of land-based exercise compared to minimal control on VAS assessed pain (SMD -0.49, 95% CI -0.70 to -0.29). There were no medium (SMD -0.23, 95% CI -0.48 to 0.03) or long (SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.51 to 0.06) term benefits of exercise therapy, or benefit of combining exercise therapy with manual therapy (SMD -0.38, 95% CI -0.88 to 0.13) when compared to minimal control. Conclusions: Best available evidence indicates that exercise therapy (whether land-based or water-based) is more effective than minimal control in managing pain associated with hip OA in the short term. Larger highquality RCTs are needed to establish the effectiveness of exercise and manual therapies in the medium and long term.
Equivalent or not? : Beyond measuring teaching and learning standards in a transnational education environment
- Authors: Lim, Chooey , Bentley, Duncan , Henderson, Fiona , Pan, Shin , Balakrishnan, Vimala
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Quality Assurance in Education Vol. 24, no. 4 (2016), p. 528-540
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- Description: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine issues academics at importing institutions face while delivering Australian degrees in Malaysia. Transnational higher education (TNE) has been widely researched. However, less widely researched is the area of understanding what academics at the offshore locations need to uphold the required academic standards of their partnered exporting universities. This area warrants close attention if Australian and other transnational education universities are to sustain their growth through a partnership model with offshore academics delivering a portion (often a substantial portion) of the teaching. Design/methodology/approach: Two focus groups were conducted with a mix of long standing and newly recruited Malaysian lecturers who taught into an Australian degree through a partnership arrangement. The semi-structured questions which were used were derived from a preliminary literature review and previous internal institutional reports. Findings: The findings from the focus groups indicate that TNE is largely “Australian-centric” when addressing the standard of academic quality and integrity. The findings pointed not so much to any sustained internationalisation of curriculum or administration or personnel but more as internationalisation as deemed required by the local academic. Originality/value: To a greater extent, the findings highlighted that equivalent student outcomes do not necessarily equate to equivalent learning experiences or teaching workload. In fact, the frustration of the interviewees on the tension to fulfil the home institution curriculum and helping students to “comprehend” an Australian-centric curriculum translates to “additional and unrecognised workload” for the interviewees. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Duncan Bentley” is provided in this record**
Exceeding expectations : scaffolding agentic engagement through assessment as learning
- Authors: Fletcher, Anna
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Educational Research Vol. 58, no. 4 (2016), p. 400-419
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- Description: Background: The active involvement of learners as critical, reflective and capable agents in the learning process is a core aim in contemporary education policy in Australia, and is regarded as a significant factor for academic success. However, within the relevant literature, the issue of positioning students as agents in the learning process has not been fully examined and needs further exploration. Purpose: This study aims to explore ways in which aspects of self-regulated learning theory may be integrated with the concept of agentic engagement into classroom practice. Specifically, the study seeks to scaffold students’ self-assessment capabilities and self-efficacy by using a formative assessment-as-learning process. The research examines how scaffolded planning, as part of the forethought phase in the Assessment as Learning (AaL) process, influences self-regulation and student agency in the learning process. Sample: 126 students from school years two, four and six (student age groups 7, 9 and 11 years), and 7 teachers at an independent (co-educational, non-religious) primary school in the Northern Territory, Australia, participated in the study. Design and methods: Conducted as a one-setting, cross-sectional practitioner research study, the data sources included students’ planning templates, writing samples, interviews with students and teachers and email correspondence with teachers. The data were analysed for emerging themes and interpreted from a framework of social cognitive theory. Findings: In this study, students were given the opportunity and support to exercise agentic engagement. Findings suggested that, in particular, students who were identified by their teachers as low-achieving and/or with poor motivation, were perceived by the teachers as exceededing expectations by demonstrating relatively greater motivation, persistence, effort and pride in their work than would be the case usually. Conclusions: The findings from this formative AaL study suggest that AaL has the potential to help scaffold primary students’ development of assessment capabilities. © 2016 NFER.
Increasing compliance with neuromuscular training to prevent ankle sprain in sport : Does the 'Strengthen your ankle' mobile App make a difference? A randomised controlled trial
- Authors: van Reijen, Miriam , Vriend, Ingrid , Zuidema, Victor , van Mechelen, Willem , Verhagen, Evert
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 19 (2016), p. 1200-1205
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- Description: Background: E-health has the potential to facilitate implementation of effective measures to prevent sports injuries. Aim: We evaluated whether an interactive mobile application containing a proven effective exercise programme to prevent recurrent ankle sprains resulted in higher compliance as compared with regular written exercise materials. Methods: 220 athletes participated in this randomised controlled trial with a follow-up of 8 weeks; 110 athletes received a booklet explaining an 8-week neuromuscular training programme; 110 athletes participated in the same programme in an interactive mobile App (Strengthen your ankle). The primary outcome was compliance with the exercise programme. Secondary outcome measure was the incidence density of self-reported recurrent ankle sprains. Results: The mean compliance to the exercise scheme was 73.3% (95% CI 67.7% to 78.1%) in the App group, compared with 76.7% (95% CI 71.9% to 82.3%) in the Booklet group. No significant difference in compliance was found between groups. The incidence densities of self-reported time-loss recurrences were not significantly different between both groups (HR 3.07; 95% CI 0.62 to 15.20). Summary: This study shows that the method of implementing the exercises by using an App or a Booklet does not lead to different compliance rates. New findings: The use of a mobile App or a Booklet lead to similar compliance and injury rates in the short term. Trial registration number: The Netherlands National Trial Register NTR 4027. The NTR is part of the WHO Primary Registries. © 2016, BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
International consensus statement on injury surveillance in cricket : A 2016 update
- Authors: Orchard, John , Ranson, Craig , Olivier, Benita , Dhillon, Mandeep , Gray, Janine , Langley, Ben , Mansingh, Akshai , Moore, Isabel , Murphy, Ian , Patricios, Jon , Alwar, Thiagarajan , Clark, Christopher , Harrop, Brett , Khan, Hussain , Kountouris, Alex , Macphail, Mairi , Mount, Stephen , Mupotaringa, Anesu , Newman, David , O'Reilly, Kieran , Peirce, Nicholas , Saleem, Sohail , Shackel, Dayle , Stretch, Richard , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 20 (2016), p. 1245-1251
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- Description: Cricket was the first sport to publish recommended methods for injury surveillance in 2005. Since then, there have been changes to the nature of both cricket and injury surveillance. Researchers representing the major cricket playing nations met to propose changes to the previous recommendations, with an agreed voting block of 14. It was decided that 10 of 14 votes (70%) were required to add a new definition element and 11 of 14 (80%) were required to amend a previous definition. In addition to the previously agreed 'Match time-loss' injury, definitions of 'General time-loss', 'Medical presentation', 'Player-reported' and 'Imaging-abnormality' injuries are now provided. Further, new injury incidence units of match injuries per 1000 player days, and annual injuries per 100 players per year are recommended. There was a shift towards recommending a greater number of possible definitions, due to differing contexts and foci of cricket research (eg, professional vs amateur; injury surveillance systems vs specific injury category studies). It is recommended that researchers use and report as many of the definitions as possible to assist both comparisons between studies within cricket and with those from other sports.
It will take more than an existing exercise programme to prevent injury
- Authors: O'Brien, James , Donaldson, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Editorial
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 5 (Mar 2016), p. 264-265
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
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- Description: In 1983, Ekstrand et al published the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) of an injury prevention programme for team ball sport. Three decades on from this landmark study, it is worth reflecting on the progress made and the current ‘state-of-play’ in the field of team ball sport injury prevention research. The volume of published research has grown considerably with a recent systematic review of team ball sport injury prevention exercise programmes (IPEPs) identifying over 50 published trials. The scale, quality and outcomes of recent RCTs are also encouraging with a Swedish trial including over 4500 female soccer players and demonstrating a 64% reduction in the rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries.
Nagging, noobs and new tricks - students' perceptions of school as a context for digital technology use
- Authors: Bulfin, Scott , Johnson, Nicola , Nemorin, Selena , Selwyn, Neil
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Educational Studies Vol. 42, no. 3 (Jul 2016), p. 239-251
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- Description: While digital technology is an integral feature of contemporary education, schools are often presumed to constrain and compromise students' uses of technology. This paper investigates students' experiences of school as a context for digital technology use. Drawing upon survey data from three Australian secondary schools (n=1174), this paper considers the various ways in which students use digital devices and applications in school and for school. After highlighting trends and differences across a range of digital devices and practices, the paper explores the ways in which students perceive school as a limiting and/or enabling setting for technology use. The findings point to a number of ways that schools act to extend as well as curtail student engagement with technology. This paper concludes by considering the possible ways that schools might work to further support and/or enhance students' technology experiences.
On laughter and loss : Children's views of shared time, parenting and security post-separation
- Authors: Sadowski, Christina , McIntosh, Jennifer
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Childhood Vol. 23, no. 1 (2016), p. 69-86
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- Description: Among the research, practice and socio-legal commentary on the substantial sharing of parenting time after separation, children's voices about their experiences remain overwhelmingly silent. This article draws on findings of a descriptive phenomenological study which investigated Australian school-aged (8- to 12-year-old) children's descriptions of two binary phenomena: security and contentment in shared time arrangements, and the absence of security and contentment in shared time parenting. Specifically, this article focuses on exploring parental behaviours and interactions recognised by children as sources of security in shared time lifestyles, through happy and needy times. Central to this is the juxtaposition of the child's experience of security and shared enjoyment with the present parent, against the absence of security emanating from unresolved longing for the 'absent' parent. The article provides an empirically derived formulation of children's advice to parents about shared time parenting, with relevance for family law related parent education forums. © The Author(s) 2015.
Preparing pre-service teachers for professional engagement through place/community pedagogies and partnerships
- Authors: Green, Monica
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 11 (2016), p. 44-60
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- Description: There is an expectation that Australian teachers engage professionally in all aspects of teaching and learning, including engagement with teaching networks and broader communities. This paper reports on a partnership between a teacher educator and an environmental educator who set out to expand pre-service teachers' professional knowledge, engagement and practice in an undergraduate Bachelor of Education (primary) course. The paper reports on a study about teacher education students' perspectives of fieldwork-based learning and its potential to inform students' future engagement with the broader school community. Using a conceptual framework of place- and community based education, the study examined data from an electronic survey and student teacher fieldwork reflections to better understand how pre-service teachers interpret the benefits of working with local schools, and communitybased representatives. Findings suggest pre-service teachers' professional engagement was significantly enhanced as a consequence of partnership fieldwork. The implications for teacher education and future teacher practice are discussed.
Sports-related workload and injury risk : Simply knowing the risks will not prevent injuries : Narrative review
- Authors: Drew, Michael , Cook, Jill , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 21 (2016), p. 1306-1309
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058737
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- Description: Training loads contribute to sports injury risk but their mitigation has rarely been considered in a sports injury prevention framework. A key concept behind monitoring training loads for injury prevention is to screen for those at increased risk of injury so that workloads can be adjusted to minimise these risks. This review describes how advances in management of workload can be applied as a preventive measure. Primary prevention involves screening for preparticipation load risk factors, such as low training loads, prior to a training period or competition. Secondary prevention involves screening for workloads that are known to precede an injury developing so that modification can be undertaken to mitigate this risk. Tertiary prevention involves rehabilitation practices that include a graded return to training programme to reduce the risk of sustaining a subsequent injury. The association of training loads with injury incidence is now established. Prevention measures such as rule changes that affect the workload of an athlete are universal whereas those that address risk factors of an asymptomatic subgroup are more selective. Prevention measures, when implemented for asymptomatic individuals exhibiting possible injury risk factors, are indicated for an athlete at risk of developing a sports injury. Seven key indicated risks and associated prevention measures are proposed.
Tendon neuroplastic training : Changing the way we think about tendon rehabilitation : A narrative review
- Authors: Rio, Ebonie , Kidgell, Dawson , Lorimer Moseley, Graham , Gaida, Jamie , Docking, Sean , Purdam, Craig , Cook, Jill
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 50, no. 4 (2016), p. 209-215
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- Description: Tendinopathy can be resistant to treatment and often recurs, implying that current treatment approaches are suboptimal. Rehabilitation programmes that have been successful in terms of pain reduction and return to sport outcomes usually include strength training. Muscle activation can induce analgesia, improving self-efficacy associated with reducing one's own pain. Furthermore, strength training is beneficial for tendon matrix structure, muscle properties and limb biomechanics. However, current tendon rehabilitation may not adequately address the corticospinal control of the muscle, which may result in altered control of muscle recruitment and the consequent tendon load, and this may contribute to recalcitrance or symptom recurrence. Outcomes of interest include the effect of strength training on tendon pain, corticospinal excitability and short interval cortical inhibition. The aims of this concept paper are to: (1) review what is known about changes to the primary motor cortex and motor control in tendinopathy, (2) identify the parameters shown to induce neuroplasticity in strength training and (3) align these principles with tendon rehabilitation loading protocols to introduce a combination approach termed as tendon neuroplastic training. Strength training is a powerful modulator of the central nervous system. In particular, corticospinal inputs are essential for motor unit recruitment and activation; however, specific strength training parameters are important for neuroplasticity. Strength training that is externally paced and akin to a skilled movement task has been shown to not only reduce tendon pain, but modulate excitatory and inhibitory control of the muscle and therefore, potentially tendon load. An improved understanding of the methods that maximise the opportunity for neuroplasticity may be an important progression in how we prescribe exercise-based rehabilitation in tendinopathy for pain modulation and potentially restoration of the corticospinal control of the muscle-tendon complex.
The bridges and barriers model of support for high-functioning students with ASD in mainstream schools
- Authors: Holcombe, Wendy , Plunkett, Margaret
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 9 (2016), p. 27-47
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- Description: Abstract: National statistics indicate the ongoing challenge of catering for the unique needs of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) within the context of inclusive education. Higher rates of difficulty and poorer outcomes are experienced by this cohort when compared to both the general population and others within the disability sector. The perspectives of educators from a variety of roles were examined to identify factors impacting upon the educational experience of high-functioning students with ASD to determine how they could be supported more effectively. Findings indicate despite extensive educational experience and considerable knowledge of ASD, many educators lack an understanding of how to identify individual student needs, and also of specific impacts of ASD and appropriate supportive strategies. Emerging from the data, the Bridges and Barriers Model of Support (BBMS) provides inclusive school communities with a framework for planning a shared understanding of student strengths, identified challenges, supportive strategies and specific targets for success.
Attitude to the study of chemistry and its relationship with achievement in an introductory undergraduate course
- Authors: Brown, Stephen , White, Sue , Sharma, Bibhya , Wakeling, Lara , Naiker, Mani , Chandra, Shaneel , Gopalan, Romila , Bilimoria, Veena
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Vol. 15, no. 2 (2015), p. 33-41
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- Description: A positive attitude to a subject may be congruent with higher achievement; however, limited evidence supports this for students in undergraduate chemistry – this may result from difficulties in quantifying attitude. Therefore, in this study, the Attitude to the Study of Chemistry Inventory (ASCI) – a validated instrument to quantify attitude, was used to measure attitude to chemistry in 125 undergraduates studying an introductory course in chemistry, as part of a BSc Chemistry major. The 13 week course contained 4 summative assessments: practical (PRAC), tutorial (TUT), on-line web-based learning (OWL), and a final exam (FE). Sub-scales within ASCI which quantify the ‘affective’ and ‘cognitive’ components of attitude were determined. Firstly, for all 125 students, weak correlations (r) between the affective scale score and FE (r=0.275, P<0.01) and TOTAL (r=0.228, P<0.05), were recorded. Secondly, a low achieving (LA, n=48) and a high achieving (HA, n=77) group were identified using a cluster analysis procedure. The HA group scored higher than the LA group in PRAC, OWL, FE and TOTAL (all P<0.001), but the clusters were not different in their scores for either the affective or the cognitive components of attitude. There was no correlation between attitude and achievement in the HA group, and only one weak positive correlation (0.409), between the affective score and achievement in the LA group. We suggest that although a positive attitude may be an important part of the undergraduate experience, it is at best only weakly associated with achievement in undergraduate chemistry.
Boxing headguard performance in punch machine tests
- Authors: McIntosh, Andrew , Patton, Declan
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 49, no. 17 (2015), p. 1108-1112
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- Description: Background: The paper presents a novel laboratory method for assessing boxing headguard impact performance. The method is applied to examine the effects of headguards on head impact dynamics and injury risk. Methods: A linear impactor was developed, and a range of impacts was delivered to an instrumented Hybrid III head and neck system both with and without an AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur)- approved headguard. Impacts at selected speeds between 4.1 and 8.3 m/s were undertaken. The impactor mass was approximately 4 kg and an interface comprising a semirigid 'fist' with a glove was used. Results: The peak contact forces were in the range 1.9-5.9 kN. Differences in head impact responses between the Top Ten AIBA-approved headguard and bare headform in the lateral and forehead tests were large and/or significant. In the 8.3 m/s fist-glove impacts, the mean peak resultant headform accelerations for bare headform tests was approximately 130 g compared with approximately 85 g in the forehead impacts. In the 6.85 m/s bare headform impacts, mean peak resultant angular head accelerations were in the range of 5200-5600 rad/s
Bread and roses : Voices of Australian Academics from the working class
- Authors: Michell, Dee , Wilson, Jacqueline , Archer, Verity
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book
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- Description: Bread and Roses is an Australian first, a collection of stories from academics who identify as coming from working-class backgrounds. At once inspiring and challenging, the collection demonstrates how individual narratives are both personal and structural, in that they illustrate the ways in which social forces shape individual lives. Central themes in the book are generational changes in university education provision in Australia, the complexities of coming from a working class background and being female, or coming from a working class background and being female and a recent migrant, and the particular challenges facing students and staff from rural and regional areas. An essential read for anyone interested in widening participation programs in higher education, including administrators, academics, past and present students, Bread and Roses is both a map for those who want to undertake a similar journey and a community for those who want to join. © 2015 Sense Publishers. All Rights Reserved.
Caution this drug may cause serious harm! why we must report adverse effects of physical activity promotion
- Authors: Verhagen, Evert , Bolling, Caroline , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 49, no. 1 (January 2015), p. 1-2
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Competing with injuries : Injuries prior to and during the 15th FINA World Championships 2013 (aquatics)
- Authors: Mountjoy, Margo , Junge, Astrid , Benjamen, Sarah , Boyd, Kevin , Diop, Mohamed , Gerrard, David , van den Hoogenband, Cees-Rein , Marks, Saul , Martinez-Ruiz, Enrique , Miller, Jim , Nanousis, Kyriakos , Shahpar, Farhad , Veloso, Jose , van Mechelen, Willem , Verhagen, Evert
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 49, no. 1 (2015), p. 37-43
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- Description: Background: Injury and illness surveillance is the foundation for the development of prevention strategies. Objective: To examine injuries among the aquatic disciplines in the 4 weeks prior to and during the 2013 FINA World Championships. Methods: The study was comprised of two components: (1) a retrospective athlete survey recording injuries in the 4 weeks prior to the Championships and (2) a prospective recording of injuries and illnesses by the medical teams of the participating countries and the local host medical team. Results: One-third of the 1116 responding athletes reported an injury/physical complaint in the 4 weeks prior to the Championships. Significantly more women (36.7%) than men (28.6%) reported injuries. Divers reported the highest rate of injury/physical complaints (55.7%). At the start of the Championships, 70% of injured respondents (n=258) were still symptomatic; however, full participation was expected by 76%. During the Championships, 186 new injuries were reported (8.3/100 registered athletes) with the highest injury incidence rate in water polo (15.3/100 registered athletes). The most common injured body part was the shoulder (21%). A total of 199 illnesses were reported during the Championships (9.0/100 registered athletes) with the most common diagnosis of illness being gastrointestinal infection. Environmental exposure (allergy, otitis and jellyfish stings) was responsible for 27% of all illnesses in open water swimming. Conclusions: Injuries pose a significant health risk for elite aquatic athletes. A prospective study would improve understanding of out-of-competition injuries. Future injury and illness surveillance at FINA World Championships is required to direct and measure the impact of prevention strategies.
Examining the accuracy and in-game performance effects between pre- and post-performance routines : A mixed methods study
- Authors: Mesagno, Christopher , Hill, Denise , Larkin, Paul
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Psychology of Sport and Exercise Vol. 19, no. (2015), p. 85-94
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- Description: Objectives: Researchers have identified that pre-performance routines improve performance under pressure, yet have not investigated the effects of post-performance routines. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether the type of performance routine training could improve tenpin bowling accuracy and in-game performance. Design: A mixed-method design was adopted, whereby the impact of a performance routine intervention on performance accuracy and in-game performance was examined. This was followed by participants completing semi-structured interviews which explored the perceived effect of those routines. Method: Thirty-six experienced tenpin bowlers completed 30 accuracy shots pre- and post-intervention training, with league scores obtained for in-game performance comparison. Four groups (i.e., pre-performance routine [PPR], post-performance routine [POST], combined pre-post routine, and a control group) practiced 12 games across four weeks while listening to the group specific routine instruction on an IPod. Results: It was noted that accuracy improved (albeit non-significantly) for the PPR and combined pre-post routine group, but not the other groups. Critically, all intervention groups (PPR, POST & COMBO) improved in-game performance. The qualitative data indicated that both the PPR and POST was perceived to influence positively performance, attentional and emotional control, self-awareness, self-confidence, motivation. The PPR was also considered to enhance a state of readiness, and perceived control. Conclusions: Results indicate that the PPR training enhanced accuracy and in-game performance, with the POST training acting as a supportive role for in-game performance as evidenced by the qualitative and quantitative data. Future research should continue to investigate the effects of POSTs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.