Empowering Athletes with the Sport Education Model in Youth Soccer

Athlete empowerment accentuates giving athletes autonomy for decision-making with the clear purpose of offering them opportunities to make choices, be responsible, and develop higher levels of motivation. The focus in Sport Education is on placing the athlete in the center of the experience where the participant can become competent, literate, and enthusiastic as a result of participation. This is in line with the nonlinear pedagogical approach, where the learning processes can be structured by manipulating performer constraints. Therefore, this chapter focuses on examining and understanding the processes involved in athlete learning through manipulating performer constraints when using the Sport Education model in Finland. Twenty-three players and their three coaches from one junior sport club participated in the study. The Sport Education season consisted of 11 practice sessions over 8 weeks. Data were collected through interviews, observations, questionnaires, and document analysis. Results suggested that players were united within their small teams and that they enjoyed having the autonomy and responsibility. As a conclusion, the Sport Education season implemented through manipulating performer constraints facilitated perceptions of empowerment, which in turn fostered motivated players

Octupole correlations in the structure of O2 bands in the N=88 nuclei150Sm Gd

Knowledge of the exact microscopic structure of the 01 + ground state and first excited 02 + state in 150Sm is required to understand the branching of double β decay to these states from 150Nd. The detailed spectroscopy of 150Sm and 152Gd has been studied using (α,xn) reactions and the γ -ray arrays AFRODITE and JUROGAM II. Consistently strong E1 transitions are observed between the excited Kπ = 02 + bands and the lowest negative parity bands in both nuclei. These results are discussed in terms of the possible permanent octupole deformation in the first excited Kπ = 02 + band and also in terms of the “tidal wave” model of Frauendorf.Web of Scienc

Lifetime measurements of excited states in ¹⁶³W and the implications for the anomalous B(E2) ratios in transitional nuclei

This letter reports lifetime measurements of excited states in the odd-N nucleus 163W using the recoil-distance Doppler shift method to probe the core polarising effect of the i13/2 neutron orbital on the underlying soft triaxial even-even core. The ratio B(E2:21/2⁺ → 17/2⁺)/B(E2:17/2⁺ → 13/2⁺) is consistent with the predictions of the collective rotational model. The deduced B(E2) values provide insights into the validity of collective model predictions for heavy transitional nuclei and a geometric origin for the anomalous B(E2) ratios observed in nearby even-even nuclei is proposed

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In-flight recoil separators RITU and MARA and the standard detector setups

In-flight recoil separators RITU and MARA at Jyväskylä Accelerator Laboratory are complementary devices to separate the fusion-evaporation residues from the primary beam and other reaction products. The nuclear-structure-research program at Jyväskylä utilizes these separators and the detector setups shared between the separators to identify weak reaction channels and extract nuclear-structure information via decay experiments and in-beam spectroscopic studies. For example the very weak N∼Z nuclei are studied in-beam by using -decay tagging method (Tuike scintillator) enhanced with the mass selection (MARA) and charge particle-evaporation veto (JYTube).peerReviewe

Athlete-Centred coaching using the Sport Education model in youth soccer

While Sport Education has shown to be effective in promoting students’ participation in the student-centred learning tasks in teaching physical education, there have been no studies reporting the use of this pedagogical model in youth sport settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe and understand players’, coaches’ and parents’ perceptions and experiences of a soccer season when using the model in a Finnish junior sport club. Twenty-three players, their three coaches and four parents from one junior sport club participated in the study. The Sport Education season consisted of 11 practice sessions over eight weeks. Within that season, the players had additional roles as fitness trainers, skill coaches, captains and referees. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis. Results suggested that players were successfully affiliated within their small teams and that they enjoyed having the autonomy and responsibility. Most of the players took their roles seriously and were prepared to instruct their peers. Based on our results, we conclude that this first attempt to implement Sport Education in sport clubs showed promising results in making the environment more player friendly

Mass Analyzing Recoil Apparatus, MARA

An in-flight zero-angle mass separator, MARA, has been recently constructed and commissioned at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. MARA is a double focusing device, consisting of a quadrupole driplet, electrostatic deflector, and magnetic dipole. This separator is built for nuclear structure studies to be performed around the N∼Z line and at beyond the proton drip line.peerReviewe

Estimating mean lifetime from partially observed events in nuclear physics

The mean lifetime is an important characteristic of particles to be identified in nuclear physics. State-of-the-art particle detectors can identify the arrivals of single radioactive nuclei as well as their subsequent radioactive decays (departures). Challenges arise when the arrivals and departures are unmatched and the departures are only partially observed. An inefficient solution is to run experiments where the arrival rate is set very low to allow for the matching of arrivals and departures. We propose an estimation method that works for a wide range of arrival rates. The method combines an initial estimator and a numerical bias correction technique. Simulations and examples based on data on the alpha decays of Lutetium isotope 155 demonstrate that the method produces unbiased estimates regardless of the arrival rate. As a practical benefit, the estimation method enables the use of all data collected in the particle detector, which will lead to more accurate estimates and, in some cases, to shorter experiments.peerReviewe

High voltage conditioning of the electrostatic deflector of MARA

MARA is a new recoil mass separator in the Accelerator Laboratory of University of Jyväskylä (JYFL-ACCLAB) with a mass resolving power of 250 and an ion-optical configuration of QQQDEDM. In this paper the construction, control and conditioning of its electrostatic deflector are described. The deflector was designed for voltages up to 500 kV accross the gap, corresponding to a 3.6 MV/m field, to accomodate fusion reactions with inverse kinematics. Titanium electrodes with a beam dump opening in the anode are used. The conditioning procedure, which has been used repeatedly to take the deflector to 450 kV, is described, along with the safety systems and precautions that are in place.peerReviewe

The MARA-LEB ion transport system

A low-energy branch is under development for the MARA vacuum-mode recoil separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä. This development will allow for the study of proton-rich nuclei through laser ionisation spectroscopy and mass measurements. After stopping and extraction from a buffer gas cell, the ions of interest will be accelerated and transported to dedicated experimental setups by an ion transport system consisting of several focusing, accelerating and mass-separating elements. This article presents the current design and simulations for the ion transport.peerReviewe