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Self-regulation in endurance sports: theory, research, and practice
Get PDFThere is considerable research interest in psychological aspects of endurance performance. Until recently, research typically lacked a theoretical underpinning, and contemporary research is particularly informed by the psychobiological model of endurance performance. In this critical review, we propose that psychological theories relating to self-regulation, particularly self-efficacy theory and the process model of emotion regulation, could shed more light on how endurance performance is determined and lead to additional understanding of how psychological interventions can be used. We argue that people encounter fewer stressors in most experimental studies than are encountered before and during real-life events. In addition, we argue that most research conducted to date has focused on the forethought and performance phases of self-regulation, rather than the self-reflection phase, and research has not considered the cyclical nature of self-regulation. We also argue that if research participants are not endurance athletes, then their motivation may not be self-determined, and self-regulatory learning may not take place. Recommendations are given for future research, and evidence-based guidance is offered on enhancing performance and improving the quality of experience for endurance athletes
Chapter 8: The Impact of Youth Work in UK (England): ‘Friendship’, ‘Confidence’ and ‘Increased Wellbeing’
No full textEffects of High vs. Low Glycemic Index of Post-Exercise Meals on Sleep and Exercise Performance: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Counterbalanced Polysomnographic Study
Get PDFThe aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of the glycemic index of
post-exercise meals on sleep quality and quantity, and assess whether those changes could affect the
next day’s exercise performance. Following a baseline/familiarization phase, 10 recreationally trained
male volunteers (23.2 � 1.8 years) underwent two double-blinded, randomized, counterbalanced
crossover trials. In both trials, participants performed sprint interval training (SIT) in the evening.
Post-exercise, participants consumed a meal with a high (HGI) or low (LGI) glycemic index.
Sleep parameters were assessed by a full night polysomnography (PSG). The following morning,
exercise performance was evaluated by the countermovement jump (CMJ) test, a visual reaction
time (VRT) test and a 5-km cycling time trial (TT). Total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency were
greater in the HGI trial compared to the LGI trial (p < 0.05), while sleep onset latency was shortened
by four-fold (p < 0.05) and VRT decreased by 8.9% (p < 0.05) in the HGI trial compared to the LGI
trial. The performance in both 5-km TT and CMJ did not differ between trials. A moderate to strong
correlation was found between the difference in TST and the VRT between the two trials (p < 0.05).
In conclusion, this is the first study to show that a high glycemic index meal, following a single
spring interval training session, can improve both sleep duration and sleep efficiency, while reducing
in parallel sleep onset latency. Those improvements in sleep did not affect jumping ability and
aerobic endurance performance. In contrast, the visual reaction time increased proportionally to
sleep improvements
Extracurricular Enterprise Activities as a Vehicle for Entrepreneurial Learning: Examining Experiential, Social and Self-directed Learning Outcomes
Get PDFThis paper critically examines the value of extracurricular enterprise activity from a student and educator perspective at United Kingdom (UK) universities. Extracurricular activities are a popular facet of enterprise education and studies note an increase in recent years of provision of extracurricular enterprise activities across European universities (Rae et al., 2012; Lilischkis et al., 2015). The research aims to examine the benefits of participation in extracurricular enterprise activities and in particular the benefits to students’ entrepreneurial learning processes. Thus, this research addresses the following research questions:
1. What benefits, learning or otherwise, may be attainable from Higher Education (HE) student engagement in extracurricular enterprise activities?
2. How may engagement in extracurricular enterprise activities enhance students’ entrepreneurial learning processes?
This paper addresses the conference theme – ‘Research, policy and practice: Collaboration in a disparate world’ by examining the advancement of individuals’ entrepreneurial learning processes through engagement in collaborative activities. This study adopted an inductive methodological approach to explore themes emergent from the data rather than to predict or explain through hypotheses (Berger and Luckmann, 1967; Booth et al., 2009). A semi-structured survey (n=55), administered to students at a national conference themed on extracurricular enterprise activity, contained qualitative questions regarding what types of extracurricular enterprise activities respondents had participated in and what they felt they had gained from participation. A total of 26 in-depth interviews were also conducted, 23 with student participants and three with enterprise educators, to ascertain the perceived value of participation in extracurricular enterprise activities to students’ entrepreneurial learning processes.
In relation to research question one, it was found that each participant was unique in the combination of benefits they gained from engaging in extracurricular enterprise activities but there were commonalities identified under the six themes of: skills development, knowledge acquisition, personal growth, development of social capital, venture creation/growth and enhanced employability. These benefits ranged from intrinsic, such as a growth in self-belief, to extrinsic such as an enhanced CV. They also ranged across the spectrum of the venture creation process from ideation to business registration.
In relation to research question two, the data was reviewed in accordance with established theoretical framing for the examination of entrepreneurial learning processes; experiential and social learning theory (Taylor and Thorpe, 2004; Politis, 2005; Cope et al., 2007; Pittaway et al., 2015). It was found that prior links posited in the literature between entrepreneurial learning and experiential learning were supported in the data but the role of reflection was found to be diminished as limited opportunities to reflect upon learning may hinder abstract conceptualization processes. Links already posited in the literature between
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social learning theories and entrepreneurial learning were also confirmed; entrepreneurial learning was seen to be enacted alone but also in groups whereby participants observed others to enhance their entrepreneurial learning, modelling behaviours, and collaborating in a ‘community of practice’ (Lave and Wenger, 1991).
For policy and practice, findings contribute to ongoing debate regarding the value of enterprise education and in particular extracurricular activities (Lilischkis et al., 2015; Johannisson, 2016; Arranz et al., 2017; Nabi et al., 2017). This research contributes significant empirical knowledge to the limited understanding of how extracurricular enterprise activities may positively enhance students’ entrepreneurial learning processes. Prior studies have focused upon mapping the extracurricular enterprise activities available at universities and gathering an educator perspective of potential benefits (Rae et al., 2012; Lilschkis et al., 2015; Vanevenhoven and Drago, 2015). This research moves beyond mapping activities to contribute empirical evidence of how HE students’ entrepreneurial learning processes may be enhanced by engagement in extracurricular enterprise activities and also offers valuable insight into the student perspective of these activities.
This research also has value in enhancing the theoretical conceptualisation of entrepreneurial learning within a HE setting. A conceptual framework confirms the importance of the experiential and social learning activities afforded by participation in extracurricular enterprise activities but also provides a novel contribution in positioning the self-directed nature of these activities as key to developing students’ autonomous learning capabilities. Such findings have important implications for enterprise educators in their design and delivery of extracurricular enterprise activities
The value of problem-based learning in learning for sustainability: Undergraduate accounting student perspectives
Get PDFThis paper discusses the findings of a small ethnographic study that explored students’
perceptions of the value of problem-based learning in introducing sustainability, in a two
semester elective accounting module at a post-1992 university in south-west England.
Findings suggest that students believed that gaining knowledge of sustainability is essential
for all accounting undergraduates, not just those who elect to follow a specialist module, and
that problem-based learning is an appropriate and enabling method with which to introduce
sustainability. It is also important for developing individual interest, building knowledge of
various accounting, auditing, and reporting procedures, and motivating students. For those
who wish to develop a sustainability in accounting module, a caveat is presented that delivery
of sustainability within a core, single-semester module has potential implications for student
motivation and depth of learning. Recommendations are made to help mitigate these
potential issues and with the necessary amendments in place, the paper argues that
sustainability should constitute a core module in all accounting programmes in the interests
of students, the accounting profession, and society at large
The Routledge Handbook of Popular Culture and Tourism
No full textThis handbook provides a comprehensive overview and holistic analysis of the intersection between tourism and popular culture. It examines current debates, questions, and controversies of tourism in the wake of popular culture phenomena and explores the relationships between popular culture, globalisation, tourism and mobility. In addition, it offers a cross-disciplinary, cutting edge review of the character of popular cultural production and consumption trends, analysing their consequences for tourism, spatial strategies and destination competitiveness.
The scope of the volume encompasses various expressions of popular culture such as cinema, TV shows, music, literature, sports and heritage. Featuring a mix of theoretical and empirical chapters, the handbook problematizes and conceptualizes the ties and clusters of popular cultural actors, thereby positioning tourism within the wider context of creative economies, cultural planning and multimodal technologies.
Written by an international team of academics with expertise in a range of disciplines, this timely book will be of interest to researchers from a variety of subjects including tourism, events, geography, cultural studies, fandom research, political economy, business, media studies and technology
‘RETAIN’ Early Career Teacher Retention Programme: Evaluating the role of research informed continuing professional development for a high quality, sustainable 21st century teaching profession.
Get PDFTeacher recruitment and retention is an international challenge. In England the government have reported that more teachers leave before retirement age than five years ago, 30% within five years and schools are finding it difficult to fill posts with quality teachers . This paper evaluates the contribution of the research-informed RETAIN Early Career Teacher (ECT) Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme for developing and retaining quality teachers. RETAIN was a yearlong CPD pilot for Early Career Teachers (ECTs) in primary schools in Cornwall, UK (a region with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage). The programme design was informed by research and based on factors shown to support the retention of ECTs. It was contextualised using the precept that teachers should be active researchers, influencing curriculum development as ‘reflective practitioners’, focussed with a Professional Learning Community lens and theorised within a social constructivist frame. In addition, RETAIN utilised robust evidence-informed practice approaches to support teacher development in schools with persistently disadvantaged pupils. The programme was independently evaluated using multiple-methods over the course of the programme to generate data. The theory-based evaluation suggests that the contribution of this intervention to the field is the specific combination of development; taught workshops, coaching and collaborative professional learning, which improved the self-efficacy, confidence and quality of teaching of ECTs in differing but complementary ways. All ECTs who completed the programme have been retained in teaching and all have achieved a leadership role in their school. We argue that these outcomes are of international significance and the promise of the programme can be utilised for developing and retaining high quality teachers in other countries