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Use of video-analysis feedback within a six-month coach education program at a professional football club
No full textThis research outlines how a neophyte sport psychology practitioner (SPP), working alongside a professional football coach, utilized video-analysis feedback within a six-month coach education program at an elite level professional football club. Video-analysis feedback was primarily utilized to improve the coach’s self-awareness in relation to his coaching practice. The intervention was also designed to support the integration of a psychosocial focus within the coaching context. Reflective accounts from both the neophyte SPP and the coach are provided. The reflections provide an insight into the efficacy of the intervention as well as presenting some of the challenges of delivering an intervention, such as this, within a professional football club. The use of video-analysis feedback provided the coach with an opportunity to reflect upon his coaching practice and as a result improve self-awareness of his coaching philosophy, especially in relation to the environment created within the coaching context and relationships developed with players
Three stages of student engagement in a flipped-classroom environment
No full textThe literature suggests that students tend to prefer in-person lectures to video lectures. This paper identifies potential causes of this phenomenon and triggers of student engagement in a flipped-classroom environment.Eight short in-house mathematics videos were prepared and made available to foundation engineering students on the university’s virtual learning environment, prior to each topic being discussed in class. The in-house videos were viewed more than accompanying external on-line video lectures for all topics covered. Students preferred in-house videos with a voice describing a drawing as it is being drawn, not one drawn earlier, and an equation as it is being written, not one written earlier. In-house videos that were produced using high numbers of pre-prepared pages tended to be viewed less. These findings suggest a gradient of student engagement from the external on-line video lecture to the interactive group learning experience. Three evidence-based stages of student engagement are proposed: (1) external video, (2) in-house video with high numbers of pre-prepared pages and (3) in-house video with low numbers of pre-prepared pages. Further validation of these stages of student engagement, and an exploration of lecturer preparedness and social presence during the production of short in-house mathematics videos, is recommended
The Bolton Review: Issue 6: Hard Liquor and Paddling Pools
No full textThe Bolton Review is a student-led creative magazine from the University of Bolton. It showcases some of the best work from Bolton’s up-and-coming: students and staff from all areas and all levels of the University buildings and other schools in the area
A reflexive breakout: the influence of structure and the agency of trainee teachers, a case study of a large FE College
No full textThe Further Education (FE) sector has been considered by successive UK governments as significant to developing a global competitive edge as well as enhancing social justice. Consequently, these governments have shown keen interests in the sector and have introduced reforms and policy initiatives that have led to cultures of marketisation, managerialism and performativity. This in turn has been viewed as the dominance of structure over agency which has seemingly marginalised teachers’ classroom practice. This case study research employs Giddens’ structuration theory to analyse and understand the interrelationships between structure and agency within a large FE College. Using in-depth semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 16 teachers from both vocational and academic curriculum areas who have completed the PGCE/Cert Ed initial teacher training programme within 3 years of the study. Findings suggest that whilst structure has the capacity to wield its influence, teachers have the propensity to negotiate this influence and ‘breakout’ from the dominance of structure by proactively making effective changes to their advantage – within the confines of their professional practice. This study also advocates a review of politically imposed education reforms and support structures in the College in order to effect the desired change in the professional development of trainee teachers
Classroom co-production of a leadership model
No full textThis paper reports on the co-production of a healthcare leadership model that was generated through in-class qualitative inductive analysis and subsequently critiqued in relation to real world value for local healthcare practice. Healthcare leadership is informed by various theoretical models and associated competencies (e.g. The UK Healthcare leadership Model NHS 2016 ) and when teaching post graduate students there is a need to go beyond merely adopting an 'off the shelf model' and to critically examine what leadership is and how it can be understood in relation to local healthcare culture and practices. Previous work on creative education (Gurbutt & Gurbutt in Brewer and Hogarth 2015) and collaborative practice for public health (Gurbutt 2016) informed a desire to enhance the students' experience of creative collaboration.The aim was to develop students' critical thinking about real world value of leadership models through a co-production activity to enhance engagement and the student learning experience. The participants were a post graduate cohort of NHS employees in Greater Manchester UK studying a leadership module at the University of Bolton, UK.A qualitative inductive analysis methodology was used to produce a descriptive leadership model. The methods included a series of steps initially to generate data using a 'post-it' note exercise exploring local leadership and leading in healthcare. Students sorted the data and developed categories and then through discussion refined them. These were developed into themes that were subsequently represented visually on a sketch-board. This process enhanced students' experiential learning about experience aspects of research methodology that linked to a future research module in their programme. A further step involved discussion about the themes and their possible relationships and facilitation of several iterations of an agreed class diagrammatic model comprising four themes (Support, traits, process, direction) around a core focus (patients). Following this the model was verbally critiqued in relation to informing competency identification in relation to real world healthcare leadership practice as well as reflexivity in terms of participants' awareness of their interpretive standpoint.Learning occurred through the process and about it. Students provided written feedback on their own learning (on the process and the model) as well as how to relate the model to practice. Students reported liking being able to share perspectives and practice putting new ideas forward as well as considering what would operationalise its four main themes. An academic colleague provided in class peer review feedback on tutor facilitation of the co-production activity to inform how to develop this activity further. An employer partner who funded students to undertake leadership modules also provided feedback in terms of partnership collaboration and adding value to the workforce. Overall the aims were met and value was added to co-production through reflective co-learning in this case about developing healthcare leaders
Teaching innovation through collaborative learning to generate a model of motivation
No full textInnovation and leadership education requires students to develop their creative approaches to thinking, especially in healthcare settings that are resource constrained, outcome focused and subject to continual change. Public healthcare settings are often complex, resource limited busy environments subject to workforce shortages that are challenging for front line healthcare leaders, especially when it comes to leading others through change. A leadership and innovation module undertaken by advanced practitioners included a segment on motivating others. A novel approach was designed to help students to move from surface learning through a lecture approach and towards gaining deeper learning through immersion in research activity to generate a model of motivation relevant to a healthcare setting.The intervention was a day long activity in which 30 students were invited to participate in research study to develop a model of motivation. This had three key steps: generating a description of motivation, inductively generating a model of motivation and finally representing that as a conceptual model and critically discussing it. The tutor role was as facilitator and the students co-produced a model. An individual semi-structured qualitative questionnaire about motivation was completed before the session and also an evaluation questionnaire on completion. Ethical approval was granted by the University of Bolton Faculty research ethics chair.The activity added value to the students' learning in several ways: research design, reflexivity and real world application. It introduced students to research enquiry, including identifying potential questions, devising a methodology and generating an answer to the question. This illustrated a process that they would encounter if they progressed to undertake an empirical dissertation. Students gained deeper insights into their standpoint and how they shaped data interpretation as well as triangulation to confirm meaning attributed to stages during data analysis. Deeper learning was developed through a critical discussion of the concepts, their interrelationships and application of the class generated model to the real world of healthcare practice. In this way students developed critical thinking skills about approaches to motivating others. Subsequent learning introduced existing motivation models and a focus for critical discussion of their merits in relation to the class generated version. Student evaluation demonstrated a range of benefits gained through the experience including peer learning, transferable skills and developing critical thinking.Learning about innovation demands tutor modelling of innovative practice - in this case facilitating healthcare students to learn through a collaborative research process, so that value is added to classroom sessions and students can take forward both subject knowledge and critical thinking development as well as a learning approach that could be used by themselves to develop this within their own teams
Predictors of health anxiety during pregnancy
No full textBackground: The internet has become a quick, easy and accessible source for health-related information.Women are more likely to search for health information online and this likelihood increases further during pregnancy. Searching online for health-related information can have both positive and negative impacts upon levels of health anxiety during pregnancy. This research initially explored how health impacts heath anxiety during pregnancy. Secondly, the sources of offline support that predict health anxiety and thirdly, how online health seeking behaviour predicts health anxiety.Methods: The sample consisted of 159 pregnant women who completed an online questionnaire to investigate significant predictors of health anxiety during pregnancy.Results: Multiple regression analyses showed health anxiety increased during pregnancy when medical complications had been experienced in a previous pregnancy and if under medical treatment for a nonpregnancy related condition. Interestingly, health anxiety was not affected by medical complications in the current pregnancy. Knowing when you have had enough information and repeating searches were significant predictors of levels of health anxiety, whereas using the same or different sources was not.Conclusions: For many the internet is a convenient platform for information however the information is not always accurate, reliable or helpful. Relevant health care professionals should continue to sign-post pregnant women to validated health information websites with the aim to reassure women during pregnancy.Further research in this area would benefit from exploring how women use the internet when pregnant and devising guidelines which can be followed and recommended when doing so
Highly efficient removal of ammonia nitrogen from wastewater by dielectrophoresis-enhanced adsorption
No full textA new approach, based on dielectrophoresis (DEP), was developed in this work to enhance traditional adsorption for the removal of ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) from wastewater. The factors that affected the removal efficiency were systematically investigated, which allowed us to determine optimal operation parameters. With this new method we found that the removal efficiency was significantly improved from 66.7% by adsorption only to 95% by adsorption-DEP using titanium metal mesh as electrodes of the DEP and zeolite as the absorbent material. In addition, the dosage of the absorbent/zeolite and the processing time needed for the removal were greatly reduced after the introduction of DEP into the process. In addition, a very low discharge concentration (C, 1.5 mg/L) of NH3-N was achieved by the new method, which well met the discharge criterion of C < 8 mg/L (the emission standard of pollutants for rare earth industry in China)
Learning from a Premium Dining Restaurant to Implement a Delight Strategy in a Bar/Grill: Applying Experiential Learning
No full textEpisodes of service delight were identified in a UK premium casual dining restaurant chain using 408 mystery diner reports. Skills required in various jobs in the premium casual dining restaurants that promoted service delight were identified. In a second research phase, a yearlong study in a newly opened bar/grill in Liverpool used an experiential learning set that met weekly and implemented business improvements. Phase two showed how the new business continually improved as a result of applying specific skills identified in phase one and implementing improvements following weekly reflections by the learning set on real business encounters. The city bar/grill financial reports and position on TripAdvisor were analysed and showed the business continually improved as a result of putting the learning into action
Utopian and Radical Leisure Communities
No full textFrom the final decade of the nineteenth century evangelical religious interest in leisure was challenged by secular models of voluntary association, which defined leisure not primarily in moral terms but in those of an imagined ideal social community. Utopian thinking had historically associated leisure with ideals of community and the good society, notably through Plato and Aristotle and later Thomas More, whose Utopians devoted an hour to recreation each day and tended their gardens when not following Aristotle’s guidance to pursue intellectual development. In terms of the built environment, Patrick Geddes and Victor Branford, both connected to the Chelsea Utopians discussion circle on citizenship, developed a sociological approach to urban living in which leisure and the cultural environment formed the seedbed of community in a new type of town. A different type of community was envisioned in socialism, which developed a leisure culture imbued with co-operative and collective values