8,674 research outputs found
Japanese Expert Teachers' Understanding of the Application of Rhythm in Judo: a New Pedagogy
Aim
The aim of this research is to understand the application of rhythm in judo through the experience of expert Japanese coaches.
Background
Scientists and experienced coaches agree rhythm is an important skill in peopleâs everyday life. There is currently no research that investigates the importance of rhythm in judo. People with a highly developed sense of rhythm, move properly, breathe properly, or begin and finish work at the right time. Where sport is concerned, motion and dance can play an important role not only in the improvement of performance, but also in the reduction, or even prevention of, injuries. Those who are naturally musically inclined (have a musical ear) may find they can improve their technique faster than others, and this is something that, by investigating the way expert coaches understand the application of rhythm in judo, this research seeks to understand.
As Lange, (1970) stated, factors of movement are âweight, space, time, and flow on the background of the general flux of movement in proportional arrangementsâ (Bradley, 2008; Selioni, 2013; Youngerman, 1976), therefore, this research will investigate the interaction of body and mind. Dance training as well as judo are somatic experiences that have as their ultimate goal the attainment of a skilled body. With quality training an athlete gains an increased awareness of their body which leads to better control of movement and is very important for judo athletes. This training is found in Japanese kabuki dance (Hahn, 2007), the Greek syrtaki dance (Zografou & Pateraki, 2007), and in walking techniques used in the traditional and Olympic sports of Japanese judo and Greek wrestling.
Methods
Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was the most suitable data analysis approach for this study for a number of reasons, mainly because it was considered to most closely reflect the author's realist epistemological view. The idiographic approach and framework, particularly on IPA, was regarded as a useful framework in which the current topic could meaningfully be explored.
As this study is one of the first to explore this new thematic area, IPA was the preferred approach to address the goal of providing a detailed account of the expertâs experience. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were used as a data source. This is the most conventional form of data collection using IPA and most closely reflects the researcher-participant relationship. Semi-structured interviews provide considerable flexibility by allowing the researcher to be guided by the phenomena of interest to the participant.
In this study, purposive sampling was achieved using inclusion criteria pertaining to the research question.
Using the ranking system criteria based on the belt in combination with age employed by the International Judo Federation (IJF) and Kodokan Judo Institute, six expert coaches of forty years old and over with a minimum belt rank of 6th dan were selected as a sample.
Results
Both interviews and the codification process contributed to new findings regarding the application of rhythm to judo, and judo itself as a pedagogical tool.
The diagrammatic model can be considered a 'guideline' to the phenomena deemed most significant. The personal significance of rhythm in judo was evidenced by the frequency with which the interviewees naturally referred to it during the interviews. A number of interviewees said that it was important for rhythm to be second nature. Rhythm was also described as an integrated and representative
element in the context of training. This framework was seen as essential in providing the reader with a contextualised understanding of the phenomena considered most important for the current research. Interviewees reported various motives for employing training in rhythm such as faster technical development, better attack/defence, fitness, speed, skills acquisition, personal and spiritual growth, competition results.
Conclusions
This study offers first-hand accounts from professional coaches of a previously unknown phenomena, namely the use of rhythm in judo, and sheds insight on how judo experts understand rhythm in terms of training, competition, and personal growth. These findings suggest that outside of training, coaches play an important role in teaching, mentoring, and leading students. In conclusion, the research revealed four important points which form the basis of a new method of teaching judo: pedagogy, skills, rhythm and movement
The Globalization of Artificial Intelligence: African Imaginaries of Technoscientific Futures
Imaginaries of artificial intelligence (AI) have transcended geographies of the Global North and become increasingly entangled with narratives of economic growth, progress, and modernity in Africa. This raises several issues such as the entanglement of AI with global technoscientific capitalism and its impact on the dissemination of AI in Africa. The lack of African perspectives on the development of AI exacerbates concerns of raciality and inclusion in the scientific research, circulation, and adoption of AI. My argument in this dissertation is that innovation in AI, in both its sociotechnical imaginaries and political economies, excludes marginalized countries, nations and communities in ways that not only bar their participation in the reception of AI, but also as being part and parcel of its creation.
Underpinned by decolonial thinking, and perspectives from science and technology studies and African studies, this dissertation looks at how AI is reconfiguring the debate about development and modernization in Africa and the implications for local sociotechnical practices of AI innovation and governance. I examined AI in international development and industry across Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, by tracing Canadaâs AI4D Africa program and following AI start-ups at AfriLabs. I used multi-sited case studies and discourse analysis to examine the data collected from interviews, participant observations, and documents.
In the empirical chapters, I first examine how local actors understand the notion of decolonizing AI and show that it has become a sociotechnical imaginary. I then investigate the political economy of AI in Africa and argue that despite Western efforts to integrate the African AI ecosystem globally, the AI epistemic communities in the continent continue to be excluded from dominant AI innovation spaces. Finally, I examine the emergence of a Pan-African AI imaginary and argue that AI governance can be understood as a state-building experiment in post-colonial Africa. The main issue at stake is that the lack of African perspectives in AI leads to negative impacts on innovation and limits the fair distribution of the benefits of AI across nations, countries, and communities, while at the same time excludes globally marginalized epistemic communities from the imagination and creation of AI
Study of the impact of social learning and gamification methodologies on learning results in higher education
In this work, as the last step of a longitudinal study of the impact of so-
cial learning and gamification methodologies on learning results in higher
education, we have recorded the activity in a software platform based on
Moodle, especially built for encouraging online participation of the stu-
dents to design, carry out and evaluate a set of learning tasks and games,
during two consecutive editions of an undergraduate course. Our aim is to
confirm the relationships of the patterns of accomplishment of the gam-
ified activities and the network structure of the social graphs associated
to the online forums with knowledge adquisition and final outcomes. For
this purpose we have offered two learning paths, traditional and novel,
to our students. We have identified course variables that quantitatively
explain the improvements reported when using the innovative methodolo-
gies integrated in the course design, and we have applied techniques from
the social network analysis (SNA) and the machine learning/deep learn-
ing (ML/DL) domains to conduct success/failure classification methods
finding that, generally, very good results are obtained when an ensemble
approach is used, that is, when we blend the predictions made by different
classifiers. The proposed methodology can be used over reduced datasets
and variable time windows for having early estimates that allow pedagog-
ical interventions. Finally, we have applied other statistical tests to our
datasets, that confirm the influence of learning path on learning results
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Production networks in the cultural and creative sector: case studies from the publishing industry
The CICERONE project investigates cultural and creative industries through case study research, with a focus on production networks. This report, part of WP2, examines the publishing industry within this framework. It aims to understand the industryâs hidden aspects, address statistical issues in measurement, and explore the industryâs transformation and integration of cultural and economic values. The report provides an overview of the production network, explores statistical challenges, and presents qualitative analyses of two case studies. It concludes by highlighting the potential of the Global Production Network (GPN) approach for analyzing, researching, policymaking, and intervening in the European publishing network.
The CICERONE projectâs case study research delves into the publishing industry, investigating its production networks and examining key aspects often unseen by the public. The report addresses statistical challenges in measuring the industry and sheds light on its ongoing transformations and integration of cultural and economic values. It presents an overview of the production network, explores statistical issues, and provides qualitative analyses of two case studies. The report emphasizes the potential of the GPN approach for analyzing and intervening in the European publishing network, ultimately contributing to research, policymaking, and understanding within the industry
Facilitating prosociality through technology: Design to promote digital volunteerism
Volunteerism covers many activities involving no financial rewards for volunteers but which contribute
to the common good. There is existing work in designing technology for volunteerism in HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) and related disciplines that focuses on motivation to improve
performance, but it does not account for volunteer wellbeing. Here, I investigate digital volunteerism
in three case studies with a focus on volunteer motivation, engagement, and wellbeing. My research
involved volunteers and others in the volunteering context to generate recommendations for a
volunteer-centric design for digital volunteerism. The thesis has three aims:
1. To investigate motivational aspects critical for enhancing digital volunteersâ experiences
2. To identify digital platform attributes linked to volunteer wellbeing
3. To create guidelines for effectively supporting volunteer engagement in digital volunteering
platforms
In the first case study I investigate the design of a chat widget for volunteers working in an
organisation with a view to develop a design that improves their workflow and wellbeing. The second
case study investigates the needs, motivations, and wellbeing of volunteers who help medical
students improve their medical communication skills. An initial mixed-methods study was followed by
an experiment comparing two design strategies to improve volunteer relatedness; an important
indicator of wellbeing. The third case study looks into volunteer needs, experiences, motivations, and
wellbeing with a focus on volunteer identity and meaning-making on a science-based research
platform. I then analyse my findings from these case studies using the lens of care ethics to derive
critical insights for design.
The key contributions of this thesis are design strategies and critical insights, and a volunteer-centric
design framework to enhance the motivation, wellbeing and engagement of digital volunteers
What works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students in higher education: Rapid Combined Evidence Review
This evidence review explores what works to reduce equality gaps for disabled students in higher education (HE) through an extensive systematic review of the academic literature, engagement with expert stakeholders, and analysis of institutional data
Motives and Incentives for Data Sharing in Industrial Data Ecosystems: An Explorative Single Case Study
The increasing connectivity of the business world leads to economic value being created less and less by one company alone, but rather through the exchange and combination of data by various actors in so-called data ecosystems. However, many companies are not yet willing to participate in data ecosystems because they do not see the added value of their participation. This is partly because the motives of data providers do not match the incentives offered to share their data. So far, there are only very few studies that deal with this issue in detail. Therefore, we close this research gap by adopting a conceptual model to the issue of motives and incentives for data sharing and applying it to the industrial data ecosystem Catena-X in a single case study. Through the case study analysis, we can identify seven different motives and eight incentives for data sharing
Nutrient Intake and Physical Exercise as Modulators of Healthy Women
Cumulative evidence demonstrates that healthy nutrient intake and regular physical exercise are both powerful lifestyle strategies that modulate lifelong health through their ability to improve body composition, musculoskeletal health, sex steroid hormones, sleep quality, and physical and cognitive performance, as well as to prevent chronic diseases across the lifespan, especially in women. While the benefits of nutrition and physical exercise are commonly studied separately, the integration of nutrition and physical exercise has the potential to produce greater benefits in women than strategies focusing only on one or the other. Studying the specificities of women in response to interventions is of the utmost importance for providing optimal healthcare and aids the design of guidelines that are better suited for women. A better knowledge regarding nutrient intake and physical exercise and their interaction in women is therefore needed. This Special Issue entitled ânutrient intake and physical exercise as modulators of healthy womenâ will comprise manuscripts that highlight this integrational approach as a potential modulator of lifelong outcomes in women
Modelling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization for Complex Industrial Processes
This reprint includes 22 research papers and an editorial, collected from the Special Issue "Modelling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization for Complex Industrial Processes", highlighting recent research advances and emerging research directions in complex industrial processes. This reprint aims to promote the research field and benefit the readers from both academic communities and industrial sectors
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