Plymouth Marjon University Repository
Not a member yet
930 research outputs found
Sort by
Agreement between numerical integration techniques during countermovement jumps with accentuated eccentric loading in youth athletes
Full text linkThis study evaluated agreement between a) force platform numerical integration techniques for calculating performance variables and b) three-dimensional (3D) motion capture and vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) methods for identifying the dumbbell release during countermovement jumps with accentuated eccentric loading (CMJAEL). Twenty adolescent participants (10 males, 10 females) performed CMJAEL with handheld dumbbells at 20%, 25% and 30% of body mass. Variables were compared across five integration methods using repeated measures Bland-Altman and two-way repeated measures ANOVA analyses (α = 0.05), with combined forward and backward integration serving as the criterion. Backward integration and after adjusting at the dumbbells release agreed with the criterion, while forward integration and adjusting at the bottom position did not. The dumbbell release point identified using 3D motion capture (criterion) was also compared to estimates derived from force platform data (vGRF method). The vGRF method identified the dumbbell release point in delay of 3D motion capture, with limits of agreement (LOA) between −0.17 and 0.03 s across conditions. These methods should not be used interchangeably; rather, we recommend that the vGRF method be used in situations whereby only force platforms are available, and that it is combined with forward and backward integration techniques
The Development of the Senior Golfers Movement Assessment (SGMA) and Its Associated Intra- and Inter-Rater Reliability
Full text linkSenior golfers are susceptible to declines in strength, flexibility, and coordination, which can impact performance and increase injury risk, making appropriate monitoring essential (Lindsay et al., 2000). This study introduces the Senior Golfers Movement Assessment (SGMA) and evaluates its intra- and inter-rater reliability. The SGMA consists of ten exercises for a 100-point composite score. Nineteen amateur senior golfers (age 67.16 ±6.44 years, handicap 20.3 ±6.4) were videoed performing the SGMA. Three raters independently assessed and scored each participant, with one rater reassessing after four weeks. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard error of measurement (SEM) values were calculated for composite scores, and weighted kappa values (Kw) were calculated for individual exercises. Reliability of the composite score was ICC=0.99, SEM=0.28 (intra-rater) and ICC=0.97, SEM=0.45 (inter-rater). Individual sub-test reliability ranged from Kw=0.02 to 0.78 (intra-rater) and Kw=-0.02 to 0.44 (inter-rater). While the SGMA demonstrates high reliability in the composite score, variation in reliability of individual exercise scores indicates that the criteria for these sub-tests require further refinement to enhance consistency across raters and reduce time to administer
Early Career Teacher Entitlement: Great Expectations
No full textFollowing on from the seminal book The Early Career Framework: Origins, Outcomes and Opportunities (2022) edited by Tanya Ovenden-Hope, this new book written by Tanya Ovenden-Hope and Holly Kirkpatrick explores the expectations set by the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (2019) and insights into the experiences of those closest to the ECF. Ovenden-Hope and Kirkpatrick examine the 'golden thread' of teacher training and professional development since 2019, focusing on the lived experiences of ECTs and mentors in Year Two of the ECF, and offering provocations to understand the successes and failures that led to a revised framework of training and development with the ITTECF. ECT attrition remains high in England with one quarter leaving teaching within three years. As a strategy for teacher recruitment and the retention, it will be interesting to see if the ITTECF does better than its predecessor frameworks
Exploring Education Policy and Reform in England (2010 – 2024) and the Early Career Framework: The unfolding of an education ‘market’ for teacher development
No full textEntrepreneurship in Tourism
No full textThis timely and innovative book is a theoretically underpinned yet accessible introduction to entrepreneurship in tourism.
The volume takes an intuitive step-by-step approach through entrepreneurship in tourism: it begins with a review of key concepts in entrepreneurship and applies these to tourism; it then tackles the practical elements of the entrepreneurial process in tourism as well as firm growth with a specific focus on entrepreneurial marketing. The final chapters of the book take a more macro perspective at reviewing the place of entrepreneurship in society and how context shapes entrepreneurship in tourism.
This second edition has been fully updated to include:
A wider restructure of the original text, including the addition of chapters on the context of tourism, the addition of sustainable tourism entrepreneurship in a chapter on social and sustainable tourism entrepreneurship, alongside a chapter on the role of tourism in offering a pathway to empowerment
New content covering key developments in entrepreneurship, including important topics that are only beginning to find their way into tourism literature. This includes themes such as: business models and business model innovation, crowdfunding in tourism, the role of AI and digitalisation in tourism marketing, sustainable tourism entrepreneurship, tourism entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the role of tourism entrepreneurship in supporting empowerment and poverty alleviation. These novel themes co-exist alongside material from the first edition that remains under-researched such as how tourism firms may maintain an entrepreneurial orientation and innovations in tourism employment
Updated global case studies and examples from industry and academia throughout
Each chapter offers an abstract, learning outcomes and a series of questions to stimulate critical engagement with the material covered. As such, the text offers an invaluable resource to tutors and their students on both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in tourism, as well as tourism scholars engaging with the dynamic phenomenon of entrepreneurship in tourism
Development of Entrepreneurial Identity and Intent in the early years of Higher Education
No full textPreedy, Sarah
Walmsley, Andreas
Smith, Kelly
McLuskie, Pete
“Drive these boys…make sure that’s ingrained in our blood”: theorising coach identity as subjectivities across the coaching ‘archipelago’
No full textDespite being positioned as a central concern for sport coaching research, coach identity has received limited critical attention. This study adopts the notion of subjectivity to move beyond the static and essentialist connotations of identity, aiming to recognise the contingent and ongoing constitution of coaches. Data were generated over 2 years in the youth academy of an English Football League club through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Drawing on Foucault’s geographic metaphor of the carceral archipelago, we illustrate the dispersed yet interconnected processes through which coaches were constituted across the breadth of their practice. Discourses produced assumed truths that shaped subjectivities through coach meetings, CPD events, training sessions, and matches. Specifically, the notion of intensity functioned as a normalising judgement that spanned the academy’s archipelago of activity. This logic informed CPD and governed the subject positions through which coaches could become intelligible
Innovations and Challenges in Transforming Reflective Practice within Sports Therapy Programmes: A Critical Examination
No full textReflective practice plays a vital role in higher education, especially within sports therapy programmes, as it enhances both student learning and professional growth. However, there is limited research on its integration into sports therapy curricula. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities in embedding reflective practice in sports therapy degrees. Key challenges include traditional assessment methods, student engagement, and staff training. Opportunities exist in developing alternative assessments that promote deeper reflection and integrating reflective practice into accreditation standards. By reviewing existing literature, this paper critiques current assessment approaches that may inhibit authentic reflective thinking and proposes new methods to encourage more meaningful reflection. It also emphasises the need for staff training to effectively support and assess reflective practices. Incorporating reflective practice into accreditation criteria can help ensure it remains a core element in the education and professional development of sports therapy students
Summer 2025 Journal – The early years workforce
No full textThe early years workforce in the UK is significant in size and impact, there are over 430,000 people employed in the early years workforce across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (Daynurseries.co.uk, 2025). This workforce and the individuals within, represent a diverse cross-section of society, coming from differing backgrounds, representing a range of qualification levels and working within a wide range of setting types, from independent childminders to school-based provisions and forest school-style settings. They work together to deliver a staggering 1.6 million early years education and care places in England alone (Gov.uk, 2024). The unifying factor is the commitment and dedication to this important role that sees so many drawn to work with our youngest children despite the sector's challenges in recent years.
One such issue is the landscape of early years qualifications which has been changing since the introduction of the EYFS in 2008. Successive governments have sought to elevate the status of the early years workforce, but despite varying initiatives, such plans have failed to raise the overall status. Although approaches such as the Early Years Professional Status and Early Years Teacher Status at level 6 have sought to provide suitable progression routes for those eager to develop their roles, the terms, conditions and remuneration have not followed. The introduction of the apprenticeship routes from level 1 to 6 have provided further avenues for those within the workforce to follow work-based routes to enhance skills and knowledge through developing on-the-job training to grow their careers
‘I don’t quite belong’: Working-class students’ experiences of being first-in-family to attend university
No full textThis blog post reflects on findings from the BERA Brian Simon fellowship fund research project Far away from the ivory tower to highlight some of the issues that might be experienced by those who self-identify as working-class students, who are likely to be disadvantaged in material ways. It draws on testimony from two of the project’s participants, Lucy and Kat[1] which reveals that attending university might be particularly challenging for students from working-class backgrounds. The authors argue that systemic change is still needed to increase inclusivity in higher education (HE)