4095 research outputs found
Sort by
Your emotional, personal life and achievements as an undergraduate
No full textThis chapter explores the experiences of mature students whilst studying the Foundation Degree in Early Years (FDEY). Drawing on two research projects, responses from mature students were examined, where the focus was on analysing their emotional experiences whilst studying at degree level. The first study was carried out between 2012 and 2015, in which 42 mature students across three higher education institutions (HEI) in the South East of England were asked to write reflective account of their university experiences. The second study was carried out in 2020, in which 55 mature students participated in a survey addressing how the national lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic influenced their study. This chapter gives an insight to the multi-layered nature of mature students’ emotions highlighting the complex issues of how to balance the multiple demands of professional work, personal life and academic requirements. Additionally, the chapter addresses how the national lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic added to the already complex nature of university life. It is then linked to their personal achievement in education, which enhances the quality of the early years settings which is relational to the value of attending HEIs and gaining a degree. Consequently, despite switching to online learning, the course provided all participants with real depth of relevant knowledge, professional confidence and competence
The effect of sex and protein supplementation on bone metabolism during a 36-hour military field exercise in energy deficit
Get PDFThis study investigated sex differences in, and the effect of protein supplementation on, bone metabolism during a 36-hour military field exercise. Forty-four British Army Officer cadets (14 women) completed a 36-hour field exercise. Participants consumed their habitual diet (n = 14 women [Women] and n = 15 men [Men Controls]) or the habitual diet and an additional 46.6 g·d-1 protein in men (n = 15 men [Men Protein]). Women and Men Protein were compared with Men Controls to examine the effect of sex and protein supplementation. Circulating markers of bone metabolism were measured before, 24 hours after (post-exercise), and 96 hours after (recovery) the field exercise. βCTX and cortisol were not different between timepoints or Women and Men Controls (p ≥ 0.094). PINP decreased from baseline to post-exercise (p < 0.001) and recovery (p < 0.001) in Women and Men Controls. PTH increased from baseline to post-exercise (p = 0.006) and decreased from post-exercise to recovery (p = 0.047) in Women and Men Controls. Total 25(OH)D increased from baseline to post-exercise (p = 0.038) and recovery (p < 0.001) in Women and Men Controls. Testosterone decreased from baseline to post-exercise (p < 0.001) and recovery (p = 0.007) in Men Controls, but did not change for Women (all p = 1.000). Protein supplementation in men had no effect on any marker. Men and women experience similar changes to bone metabolism-decreased bone formation and increased PTH-following a short field exercise. Protein had no protective effect likely because of the energy deficit
‘Here today, gone tomorrow’: the risks and rewards of port chaplaincy
No full textThis paper documents the findings of an ESRC-funded project about religion in the context of the international global shipping industry, with particular focus on the work of port chaplains. We describe the physical, emotional, spiritual and financial risks involved in port chaplaincy work, and the way this form of religious employment is distinctly gendered. But the risks and challenges of port chaplaincy are considered alongside its intrinsic rewards and potential for professional fulfilment, most especially through the traffic of material goods and the sharing of hospitality that enable relationships between chaplains and seafarers. Our work contributes to the scholarly field of workplace chaplaincy by providing an empirical case study of port chaplains who typically operate as ‘lone workers’ as they minister to seafarers whose labours are so vital to the global economy. We consider the fact that lone workers can be vulnerable to exclusion from effective management practices which otherwise assume face-to-face interaction
Implementing a novel team performance profiling activity with young athletes
Get PDFPerformance profiling is a widely used assessment and monitoring method within the field of sport psychology. As a client-centered tool, it helps athletes, coaches, and practitioners identify the characteristics perceived necessary for successful
performance. However, traditional methods of performance profiling are not always appropriate for younger athletes or for
application outside of an office or classroom. In line with recommendations from previous research, this article presents the
experiences of a trainee sport and exercise psychologist during the development and implementation of a novel, team performance profiling activity. The activity was introduced in a workshop delivered to a youth soccer team to determine the
content of three additional workshops. During the activity, the soccer players collaborated to identify the best soccer player in the world (i.e., Lionel Messi) and the behaviors, feelings, and thoughts that enabled him to be successful. Then, as a team, they rated their abilities with regards to the identified behaviors, feelings, and thoughts on a scale of 1 to 5 in relation to Lionel Messi, to identify their potential strengths and areas for improvement. For a visual representation of the ratings, colored cones were used. The trainee’s experiences highlight the challenges of adapting traditional sport psychology tool
Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Welfare-Providers to Seafarers and the Symbolic Construction of Community
Get PDFSeafarers who call into ports usually hope for, or anticipate, a visit from people who provide them with welfare services—from SIM cards and mobile top-up vouchers to religious or nonreligious reading materials, and free transport to the nearest seafarers’ center or shopping mall. In seafarers’ centers, seafarers can normally use free internet facilities, enjoy drinks from the bar, avail themselves of remittance services, and if they wish, practice their faith in rooms/chapels dedicated to religious observance. While port chaplains are usually the people that seafarers associate with welfare services, port chaplains are not alone in providing these services—there are also paid staff and volunteers working in seafarers’ centers. This worldwide community of welfare providers displays the patina of a homogeneous bloc, sharing the same functions, activities, and end-goals in their everyday pursuits in ports and seafarers’ centers. However, this belies a more complex and sometimes fractured community of welfare providers in ports. While their services could be described with one coherent narrative of kindness to strangers, members of this community come from different backgrounds and are employed by different welfare organizations, and in the case of port chaplains, by different religious maritime charities with varying theologies. As a result of this, and the challenges to and changing contexts of maritime welfare services, in ports worldwide, this community is riven with contestation and everyday politics, which may be associated with a symbolically constructed community. This article expands on these issues. It is underpinned by research into welfare provision in two UK ports and in five other countries. It highlights narratives of unity and conflict, opening the doors to a community of people rarely noticed by social scientists
Quality Early Childhood Education and Care practices: the importance of skills, knowledge and the Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner competences
Get PDFThis article focuses on the English Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector’s perception of graduates in the workforce. Previous research has already highlighted the benefits
of a graduate workforce, demonstrating a positive impact on provision and leading to high-quality education and care. However, there has been limited appetite for policy makers to reflect the wider need for graduates in non-compulsory provision. This research aimed to explore the ECEC sector’s perspectives on higher education (HE) qualifications on the skills and knowledge graduates’ need to develop, both in training and in practice, to provide high-quality ECEC provision. Employing qualitative research approaches via survey (n = 105) and semi-structured interview (n = 16) methods, data were collected from ECEC owners, managers and practitioners. Our findings indicate the importance of HE qualifications as they give a sound foundational knowledge of child development and behaviour management to future staff; develop students’ and graduates reflective skills about their own, and others’ professional practice; support development of business management skills; and enhance further understanding and knowledge of how to interpret current legislation. The findings inform the understanding of the ways in which HE programmes can enable practitioners to develop themselves and contribute to their wider profession
Cognition and lifeguard detection performance
Get PDFTwo experiments aimed to determine whether working memory capacity (WMC) and
high-order executive functions predict drown detection performance and maintenance
under heightened task demands. Experiment 1 (n = 111) found a positive correlation
between enhanced performance scores and higher WMC, while executive
function showed no comparable association. Experiment 2 (n = 28) individuals with
elevated WMC demonstrated an ability to detect a greater number of drowning
events over an extended period overall, relative to their lower scoring counterparts.
However, this heightened capacity did not necessarily prevent the presence of vigilance
decrement, but enabled lifeguards to perform more effectively under conditions
of increased bather numbers. Our findings highlight that lifeguards have a
measurable underlying process that may systematically discriminate lifeguards of
varying degrees of experience and detection performance. This offers a new avenue
for future lifeguarding research
“That's where you start to think like, does anyone actually listen to or watch women's sport?” gender regimes and students experiences on higher education sport courses: curriculum, gender regimes and students on higher education sport courses
Get PDFIn this article we apply theoretical tools from the work of Elias and Connell to critically discuss the ways in which gender relations on Higher Education sport courses are manifested and experienced by students. Drawing on data from an analysis of curriculum, as well as interviews, surveys and workshops with students across a range of sport courses at one university, we explore curriculum design and the ways in which knowledge is presented which both marginalises and compartmentalises issues of gender, as well as presenting knowledge as gender neutral. This article provides a critical understanding of how knowledge about gender and women’s sport features and is taught in UK Higher Education sport courses, alongside how students experiences in the classroom to provide an understanding which reinforces existing gender regimes and gender relations
Changes in deadlift six repetition maximum, countermovement jump performance, barbell velocity, and perceived exertion over the duration of a microcycle
Get PDFThe primary aim of this study was to investigate the stability of the six-repetition maximum (6RM) deadlift over the length of a five-day microcycle and whether the fatigue induced by maximal effort testing detrimentally impacted preparedness. Twelve participants performed four testing sessions, comprising a one-repetition maximum test and three 6RM tests separated by 48 hours. Countermovement jumps were performed before each testing session, and barbell velocity was measured during each warm-up set to assess changes in preparedness. The 6RM deadlift was not statistically different between any of the testing sessions ( p = .056; ηp2 = 0.251). Similarly, there were no significant differences in jump height or other CMJ variables between sessions ( p > .05). There were small to moderate differences in mean barbell velocity between the first and second 6RM test ( g = 0.24–0.88), while there were only small differences in mean velocity (MV) between the second and third 6RM test at some of the warm-up loads (40% 6RM: g = 0.20; 80% 6RM: g = −0.47). Taken collectively, these data indicate that 6RM deadlift strength is stable over five days and does not appear to induce sufficient fatigue to impact vertical jump performance or rating of perceived exertion despite some changes in barbell velocity
The Validity of Hawkin Dynamics Wireless Dual Force Plates for Measuring Countermovement Jump and Drop Jump Variables
Get PDFForce plate testing is becoming more commonplace in sport due to the advent of commercially available, portable, and affordable force plate systems (i.e., hardware and software). Following the validation of the Hawkin Dynamics Inc. (HD) proprietary software in recent literature, the aim of this study was to determine the concurrent validity of the HD wireless dual force plate hardware for assessing vertical jumps. During a single testing session, the HD force plates were placed directly atop two adjacent Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc. in-ground force plates (the “gold standard”) to simultaneously collect vertical ground reaction forces produced by 20 participants (27 ± 6 years, 85 ± 14 kg, 176.5 ± 9.23 cm) during the countermovement jump (CMJ) and drop jump (DJ) tests (1000 Hz). Agreement between force plate systems was determined via ordinary least products regression using bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals. No bias was present between the two force plate systems for any of the CMJ and DJ variables, except DJ peak braking force (proportional bias) and DJ peak braking power (fixed and proportional bias). The HD system may be considered a valid alternative to the industry gold standard for assessing vertical jumps because fixed or proportional bias was identified for none of the CMJ variables (n = 17) and only 2 out of 18 DJ variables