Peer Assessments of GPW: Infusing fairness into students’ assessment of peer contributions

This paper contains results of an empirical study that tested the efficacy and acceptability of two templates designed to fully involve students in proper and fair peer-assessments of their group project work (GPW) by providing concrete evidence of independent progressive documentation of their peers’ contributions to the work-process and end-product(s). Two compatible templates – the Progressive Evaluation Template (PET) and the Peer Assessment Criteria Template (PACT) – were developed to enable students provide progressive documentation of their peers’ contributions to the student-led group project process in order to support the marks they award their peers and, at the same time, show concrete evidence of their fairness in the entire peer-assessment process. The templates were trialed through experimental usage by the faculty and students of three undergraduate courses in The Media School of Bournemouth University in Bournemouth, United Kingdom, and four undergraduate/graduate courses in the School of Business & Entrepreneurship of Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, United States. The trials were conducted in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years respectively. The efficacy and acceptability of the templates were then tested through a cross-national opinion survey of the students in the seven courses. The study results generally indicate positive acceptability of the templates and a significant relationship between the students’ acceptance of the tools and the levels of usefulness, comprehension, ease of use, and fairness they attributed to them. In discussing the aggregate findings, the paper also recommends ways of using the templates in digital peer-assessment contexts

Contract Cheating: Preparing Assignment Briefs to Enhance Academic Integrity

Contract cheating is a major academic offence and a growing issue across UK universities, expected to continue after the pandemic (Lancaster and Cotarlan 2021). Students upload assignment briefs to essay mills, that sell their tailored service in exchange for a fee (Rogerson and Basanta 2016).In a large cohort, this type of offence can be difficult to detect and nearly impossible to prove

Learning development 2030

Whilst the widening participation agenda and the impact of COVID-19 has arguably increased the importance of learning development (LD) within the UK Higher Education Sector, it is widely acknowledged that the role, and indeed title, of the learning developer varies greatly between institutions. Some staff are employed on academic contracts with research requirements, others not. Similarly, some staff are faculty based whilst others are employed within a central team. This means that as Bickle et al. (2021) explain: LD operates in a ‘third space’. The disparity within the profession has meant that the role of the learning developer is multi-faceted, reflected in Hilsdon’s (2011, p.14) definition of LD:   “Learning development is a complex set of multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary academic roles and functions, involving teaching, tutoring, research, and the design and production of learning materials […]”.   This workshop provided participants with an opportunity to untangle the complex LD web and map out ideas for the future of the LD profession. Acting as newspaper editors, participants got out their crystal balls and produced a front page of a newspaper in 2030 where the main headline has been dedicated to the field of LD. Perhaps a LD staff member has won a prestigious award, maybe LD has received some form of international recognition. After presenting their front pages, participants engaged in a discussion around how as a profession we can achieve some of these aspirations. Participants took ideas with them that they could apply to their own practice

Enhancing Academic Integrity: Avoiding Academic Offences During Covid-19

The issue: Eaton and Turner (2020) indicate that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increase in anxiety and stress in students, particularly around the issue of academic integrity. Lancaster and Cotarlan (2021) found an apparent increase in student cheating during the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time of crisis, students have become academically vulnerable, with temptations to outsource assignments, plagiarise, purposefully fail to repeat, or sell own work being recognised. The practice: The international Center for Academic Integrity (2021) have established six core values of academic integrity: HONESTY; TRUST; FAIRNESS; RESPECT; RESPONSIBILITY; COURAGE. Walking alongside the student on their scholarly journey, our key tenets are our subject-specific In-curriculum bespoke series of structured lectures, workshops, and support tutorials which focuses on writing and learning modalities, academic Integrity, assessment interrogation, diagnostic essays and presentations

THE RELATIONSHIP OF ANTHROPOMETRY AND BODY COMPOSITION WITH RUNNING ECONOMY

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of anthropometry and body composition with running economy within a large heterogeneous cohort of runners. Locomotory energy cost was determined in ninety-four healthy male and female endurance runners across a range of performance standards. Various anthropometric and body composition measurements were taken manually and via DXA scans. The relationships between anthropometry and running economy were assessed using independent Pearson’s correlation and stepwise multiple linear regression. Three parameters, normalised neck and calf perimeters and normalised whole body bone mass explained 30% of the variance in locomotory energy cost. Low locomotory energy cost was related solely to parameters indicating relative slenderness of the body

A kinematic algorithm to identify gait events during running at different speeds and with different footstrike types

Although a number of algorithms exist for estimating ground contact events (GCEs) from kinematic data during running, they are typically only applicable to heelstrike running, or have only been evaluated at a single running speed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of four kinematics-based algorithms to estimate GCEs over a range of running speeds and footstrike types. Subjects ran over a force platform at a range of speeds; kinetic and kinematic data was captured at 1000 Hz, and kinematic data was downsampled to 250 Hz. A windowing process initially identified reduced time windows containing touchdown and toe-off. Algorithms based on acceleration and jerk signals of the foot markers were used to estimate touchdown (2 algorithms), toe-off (2 algorithms), and ground contact time (GCT) (4 algorithms), and compared to synchronous ‘gold standard’ force platform data. An algorithm utilising the vertical acceleration peak of either the heel or first metatarsal marker (whichever appeared first) for touchdown, and the vertical jerk peak of the hallux marker for toe-off, resulted in the lowest offsets (+3.1 ms, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): -11.8 to +18.1 ms; and +2.1 ms, CI: -8.1 to +12.2 ms respectively). This method also resulted in the smallest offset in GCT (-1.1 ms, CI: -18.6 to +16.4 ms). Offsets in GCE and GCT estimates from all algorithms were typically negatively correlated to running speed, with offsets decreasing as speed increased. Assessing GCEs and GCT using this method may be useful when a force platform is unavailable or impractical

Is there an optimum speed for economical running?

The influence of running speed and sex on running economy is unclear and may have been confounded by measurements of oxygen cost that do not account for known differences in substrate metabolism, across a limited range of speeds, and differences in performance standard. Therefore, this study assessed the energy cost of running over a wide range of speeds in high-level and recreational runners to investigate the effect of speed (considered in absolute and relative terms) and sex (males vs. females of equivalent performance standard) on running economy. 92 healthy runners (high-level males, n=14; high-level females, n=10; recreational males, n=35; recreational females, n=33) completed a discontinuous incremental treadmill test for the determination of the energy cost (kcal·kg 1·km-1) of submaximal running, speed at lactate turnpoint (sLTP) and the maximal rate of oxygen uptake (V̇O2max). There were no sex specific differences in the energy cost of running for the recreational or high-level runners when compared at absolute or relative running speeds (P>0.05). The absolute and relative speed-energy cost relationships for the high-level runners demonstrated a curvilinear inverted “u shape” with a nadir reflecting the most economical speed at 13 km.h-1 or 70% sLTP. The high-level runners were more economical than the recreational runners at all absolute and relative running speeds (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate that there is an optimal speed for economical running; there is no sex-specific difference; and, high-level endurance runners exhibit a better running economy than recreational endurance runners

Running technique is an important component of running economy and performance

© 2017 American College of Sports MedicineDespite an intuitive relationship between technique and both running economy (RE) and performance, and the diverse techniques employed by runners to achieve forward locomotion, the objective importance of overall technique and the key components therein remain to be elucidated. PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between individual and combined kinematic measures of technique with both RE and performance. METHODS: Ninety-seven endurance runners (47 female) of diverse competitive standards performed a discontinuous protocol of incremental treadmill running (4 min stages, 1 km.h increments). Measurements included three-dimensional full body kinematics, respiratory gases to determine energy cost, and velocity of lactate turnpoint (vLTP). Five categories of kinematic measures (vertical oscillation, braking, posture, stride parameters and lower limb angles) and locomotory energy cost (LEc) were averaged across 10-12 km.h (the highest common velocit

Fusion Learning Conference 2021 - Supplement

This is a supplement to the proceedings of the 2021 Fusion Learning Conference held at Bournemouth University in the UK and contains material not previously published