La enseñanza y el entrenamiento deportivo desde un enfoque «Constraint-Led». ¿Puede el retorno al futuro afrontar la idea de que «para jugar, lo primero son los fundamentos»?

Despite the continued popularity of Games Centred Approaches with tertiary level academics, the take-up by practitioners has been limited. In a recent survey of entry level HPE students undertaken at our university, 95% reported that they had received a predominantly traditional experience in school physical education lessons. This finding is in line with a common response when we engage with practitioners who strongly advocate the need for games players to learn the basics before they can play a game. In this paper we will present concepts and practical exemplars demonstrating a Constraint-Led Approach (CLA) to games teaching and coaching. We will show that adopting a CLA has the potential to provide practitioners with the tools to address this significant barrier and potentially enhance the adoption of games-based approaches. We will argue that the technique-tactics dichotomy is a redundant framework as the intentions and actions of learners is a function of their current action capabilities. However, we will also propose that games-based practitioners need to develop pedagogical practices that initially develop intra-individual-environment co-ordination before moving onto a more traditional focus on inter-individual-environment co-ordination (i.e., how teams organise to solve games-based problems). A key focus will be on the need to consider the mutuality of the individual and the environment and how backyard games allied to CLA methods can help practitioners design better games based programmes that will meet the needs of all games players irrespective of age or ability level.A pesar de la popularidad de los Enfoques Centrados en el Juego entre los académicos de educación superior, su aceptación por los enseñantes de niveles inferiores ha sido limitada. En un reciente sondeo llevado a cabo entre los estudiantes que iniciaban sus estudios de Salud y Educación Física en nuestra universidad, el 95% indicó que la EF recibida en su escolaridad había sido predominantemente tradicional. Este dato coincide con la respuesta habitual que nos encontramos cuando trabajamos con los enseñantes; éstos defienden la necesidad de que los jugadores adquieran los fundamentos antes de jugar a cualquier deporte. En este artículo, presentamos conceptos y modelos prácticos de enseñanza y entrenamiento deportivo basados en el Enfoque Basado-en-Condicionantes/Limitadores (Constraint-Led Approach –CLA–). Mostraremos que la adopción de este enfoque proporciona a los enseñantes herramientas que les permiten abordar dicho obstáculo, a la vez que incrementa las posibilidades de que adopten enfoques centrados-en-el-juego. Sostendremos que la dicotomía técnica-táctica es un marco inútil porque las intenciones y acciones de los aprendices son una función de sus capacidades para la acción. Sin embargo, explicaremos también que los enseñantes que siguen el enfoque basado-en-el-juego necesitan llevar a cabo prácticas pedagógicas en las que inicialmente desarrollen la coordinación intra-ambiente (i. e., cómo se organizan los equipos para resolver problemas basados-en-el-juego). Un punto clave será la necesidad de considerar la reciprocidad entre individuo y entorno, y el modo en que los juegos del patio y de la calle, aliados con los métodos CLA, pueden ayudar al enseñante a diseñar mejores programas basados-en-el-juego, que respondan a las necesidades de todos los jugadores, cualquiera que sea su edad o nivel de habilidad

The impact of nonlinear pedagogy on physical education teacher education students’ intrinsic motivation

Background: Providing motivationally supportive physical education experiences for learners is crucial, since empirical evidence in sport and physical education research has associated intrinsic motivation with positive educational outcomes. Self-determination theory (SDT) provides a valuable framework for examining motivationally supportive physical education experiences through satisfaction of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. However, the capacity of the prescriptive teaching philosophy of the dominant traditional physical education teaching approach to effectively satisfy the psychological needs of students to engage in physical education has been questioned. The constraints-led approach (CLA) has been proposed as a viable alternative teaching approach that can effectively support students’ self-motivated engagement in physical education. Purpose: We sought to investigate whether adopting the learning design and delivery of the CLA, guided by key pedagogical principles of nonlinear pedagogy (NLP), would address basic psychological needs of learners, resulting in higher self-reported levels of intrinsic motivation. The claim was investigated using action research. The teacher/researcher delivered two lessons aimed at developing hurdling skills: one taught using the CLA and the other using the traditional approach. Participants and setting: The main participant for this study was the primary researcher and lead author who is a PETE educator, with extensive physical education teaching experience. A sample of 54 pre-service PETE students undertaking a compulsory second-year practical unit at an Australian university was recruited for the study, consisting of an equal number of volunteers from each of two practical classes. A repeated measures experimental design was adopted, with both practical class groups experiencing both teaching approaches in a counterbalanced order. Data collection and analysis: Immediately after participation in each lesson, participants completed a questionnaire consisting of 22 items chosen from validated motivation measures of basic psychological needs and indices of intrinsic motivation, enjoyment and effort. All questionnaire responses were indicated on a 7-point Likert scale. A two-tailed, paired-samples t-test was used to compare the groups’ motivation subscale mean scores for each teaching approach. The size of the effect for each group was calculated using Cohen's d. To determine whether any significant differences between the subscale mean scores of the two groups was due to an order effect, a two-tailed, independent samples t-test was used. Findings: Participants’ reported substantially higher levels of self-determination and intrinsic motivation during the CLA hurdles lesson compared to during the traditional hurdles lesson. Both groups reported significantly higher motivation subscale mean scores for competence, relatedness, autonomy, enjoyment and effort after experiencing the CLA than mean scores reported after experiencing the traditional approach. This significant difference was evident regardless of the order that each teaching approach was experienced

of Airport Landing Slots

Abstract: We investigate the competitive effects of exchanges or sales of airport landing slots. In our model, airlines with potentially asymmetric slot allocations must decide upon which routes to use their landing slots. When all airlines serve the same routes in a slot-constrained Cournot-Nash equilibrium, small changes in slot allocations among airlines do not affect the overall allocation of slots across routes or air fares. In a symmetric equilibrium where slot-holding airlines have the same number of slots, we find that an increase in the number of slot-holding airlines leads to higher social welfare and consumer surplus, although the number of served routes may decline. Under asymmetric slot allocations, larger slot holders serve “thin” demand routes that are not served by smaller slot holders. In this situation, transfers of slots from larger to smaller slot holders increase social welfare and consumer surplus, even though fewer routes may be served. More generally, our results suggest that increases in slot concentration are harmful to consumers and social welfare, although consumers on relatively thin routes may gain air transportation service as a result.

Antifungal Chemical Compounds Identified Using a C. elegans Pathogenicity Assay

There is an urgent need for the development of new antifungal agents. A facile in vivo model that evaluates libraries of chemical compounds could solve some of the main obstacles in current antifungal discovery. We show that Candida albicans, as well as other Candida species, are ingested by Caenorhabditis elegans and establish a persistent lethal infection in the C. elegans intestinal track. Importantly, key components of Candida pathogenesis in mammals, such as filament formation, are also involved in nematode killing. We devised a Candida-mediated C. elegans assay that allows high-throughput in vivo screening of chemical libraries for antifungal activities, while synchronously screening against toxic compounds. The assay is performed in liquid media using standard 96-well plate technology and allows the study of C. albicans in non-planktonic form. A screen of 1,266 compounds with known pharmaceutical activities identified 15 (∼1.2%) that prolonged survival of C. albicans-infected nematodes and inhibited in vivo filamentation of C. albicans. Two compounds identified in the screen, caffeic acid phenethyl ester, a major active component of honeybee propolis, and the fluoroquinolone agent enoxacin exhibited antifungal activity in a murine model of candidiasis. The whole-animal C. elegans assay may help to study the molecular basis of C. albicans pathogenesis and identify antifungal compounds that most likely would not be identified by in vitro screens that target fungal growth. Compounds identified in the screen that affect the virulence of Candida in vivo can potentially be used as “probe compounds” and may have antifungal activity against other fungi

Overcoming acculturation: physical education recruits' experiences of an alternative pedagogical approach to games teaching

© 2015 Association for Physical Education Background: Physical education teacher education (PETE) programmes have been identified as a critical platform to encourage the exploration of alternative teaching approaches by pre-service teachers. However, the socio-cultural constraint of acculturation or past physical education and sporting experiences results in the maintenance of the status quo of a teacher-driven, reproductive paradigm. Previous studies have reported successfully overcoming the powerful influence of acculturation, resulting in a change in PETE students' custodial teaching beliefs and receptiveness to alternative teaching approaches. However, to date, limited information has been reported about how PETE students' acculturation shaped their receptiveness to an alternative teaching approach. This is particularly the case for PETE recruits identified in the literature as most resistant to change. Purpose: To explore the features and experiences of an alternative games teaching approach that appealed to PETE recruits identified as most resistant to change, requiring a specific sample of PETE recruits with strong, custodial, traditional physical education teaching beliefs, and whom are high-achieving sporting products of this traditional culture. The alternative teaching approach explored in this study is the constraints-led approach (CLA), which is similar operationally to Teaching Games for Understanding, but distinguished by a neurobiological theoretical framework (nonlinear pedagogy) that informs learning design. Participants and setting: A purposive sample of 10 Australian PETE students was recruited for the study. All participants initially had strong, custodial, traditional physical education teaching beliefs, and were successful sporting products of this teaching approach. After experiencing the CLA as learners during a games unit, participants demonstrated receptiveness to the alternative pedagogy. Data collection and analysis: Semi-structured interviews and written reflections were sources of data collection. Each participant was interviewed separately, once prior to participation in the games unit to explore their positive physical education experiences, and then again after participation to explore the specific games unit learning experiences that influenced their receptiveness to the alternative pedagogy. Participants completed written reflections about their personal experiences after selected practical sessions. Data were qualitatively analysed using grounded theory. Findings: Thorough examination of the data resulted in establishment of two prominent themes related to the appeal of the CLA for the participants: (i) psychomotor (effective in developing skill) and (ii) inclusivity (included students of varying skill level). The efficacy of the CLA in skill development was clearly an important mediator of receptiveness for highly successful products of a traditional culture. This significant finding could be explained by three key factors: the acculturation of the participants, the motor learning theory underpinning the alternative pedagogy and the unit learning design and delivery. The inclusive nature of the CLA provided a solution to the problem of exclusion, which also made the approach attractive to participants. Conclusions: PETE educators could consider these findings when introducing an alternative pedagogy aimed at challenging PETE recruits' custodial, traditional teaching beliefs. To mediate receptiveness, it is important that the learning theory underpinning the alternative approach is operationalised in a research-informed pedagogical learning design that facilitates students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the approach through experiencing and or observing it working

Preservice teachers implementing a nonlinear physical education pedagogy

Background In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the evolution of physical education teaching practice from a traditional teacher-centred approach to a student-centred approach. Consequently, research has focused on questions about the changing conceptions of the teaching and learning process, that is, from how ‘we’ teach to how ‘they’ learn. A contemporary theoretical model of the teaching and learning process could underpin learning design and delivery adopted in physical education. The constraints-led approach (CLA) is a viable alternative as its practice design and delivery is grounded in the contemporary motor learning theory of ecological dynamics within a nonlinear pedagogy framework. However, its implementation is thought to present unique challenges to physical education practitioners due to the dynamic individual learner-environment interactions from which learning occurs. For this reason, it has been suggested that researchers work symbiotically with practitioners to help facilitate the adoption of nonlinear pedagogies and provide valuable information regarding the application of theory into practice. Purpose This study sought to explore two PETE students’ experiences learning to implement a nonlinear informed pedagogical approach, specifically the CLA, with physical education students in a school practicum setting. The two PETE students were provided with support from the primary researcher during the experience. Participants and setting A purposive sample of two second-year PETE students from an Australian university were recruited for the study. Participant selection was based on meeting the pre-specified selection criteria of a demonstrated receptiveness to the CLA and a demonstrated confidence, ability and enthusiasm to implement the approach within a school setting. The two study participants were given the opportunity to implement the CLA within a supportive school culture while on their first physical education teaching practicum. Data collection and analysis The data collection methods utilised were documentary evidence, in the form of PETE students’ post lesson written reflections, primary researcher observations with written reflections and semi-structured student interviews undertaken within 1 week of the culmination of the practicum. These data sources were analysed collectively using thematic analysis to identify repeated patterns of meaning within the data. Findings As expected, implementing the CLA presented significant challenges to novice practitioners, due to the complex nature of student learning within a nonlinear informed approach. Specifically, the PETE students rarely detected any of the multiple pupil responses that ‘unexpectedly’ emerged from their modified learning environments. They also had difficulty manipulating the learning environment to facilitate the emergence of learners’ tactical problem-solving behaviour through the natural learning processes underpinning the CLA. Conclusion For an evolution of physical education teaching practice to progress, it is important that PETE educators work together with the physical education department of a local school to support PETE students to effectively implement nonlinear informed approaches in a school environment. Opportunities need to be provided to allow PETE students to progressively develop their experiential knowledge and conceptual understanding of the exploratory learning processes underpinning a nonlinear approach

Transferring Skills

Tactical skills are an important aspect of successful game play. Groups of games require similar tactical skills and learners can positively transfer these tactical skills between tactically similar games. Technical skills can also transfer between games.<br/

A constraint-led approach for PE teachers

The Game Sense coaching approach emphasises the modification of game elements or the development of modified games to achieve learning outcomes. In this article we will introduce the constraints-led approach to learning and demonstrate how the theory can underpin the design of games lessons ensuring that teachers give themselves the best chance of satisfying the skill acquisition and psychological needs of every child in PE

Examining Tactical Awareness

To be a successful performer in any game it is important that you are able to execute an effective technique. However, just as important is your ability to read a game, identify opportunities and decide on appropriate tactics to exploit that opportunity. These abilities are referred to as your tactical awareness. In this chapter, you will examine the concept of tactical awareness and explore the steps involved in improving your tactical weaknesses in the physical activity selected for this topic. You will be introduced to a physical education teaching approach called the constraints-led approach. This approach can effectively facilitate the learning of movement strategies that will improve your tactical awareness and optimise your performance

Skills without Drills

When students display a lack of ‘basic skills’ to effectively play a game, a common simplified solution is to practice the technique (e.g. passing) in isolation from the complexities of the game (e.g., defenders). This presentation will demonstrate an alternative solution to teaching ‘basic skills’ through a continuum of simple to complex authentic learning environments grounded in contemporary motor skill acquisition theory