Influence of different focus of attention instructions on learning volleyball skills for young novices

The simultaneous improvement of both form and outcome of sport skills is a challenge for every instructor since these are competing goals, especially for novices, and in the early stages of learning the improvement of movement form is usually more important than outcome. However, when novices have both goals, outcome usually prevails over form. External over internal focus of attention has been proposed by many researchers as an effective method for the development and learning of movement form or outcome. In this study, 57 girls were randomly divided into 2 experimental groups (external and internal) and a control group. All groups performed a pre-test. The two experimental groups followed an intervention program for 12 training units (6 weeks X 2 times a week). A post-test and a transfer test followed two weeks later. Data were analysed by factorial ANOVA (3 groups X 3 measurements) with repeated measurements of the last factor, followed by a post-hoc Tukey test. Both experimental groups, but not the control group, improved their performance in both form and outcome from pre-test to post-test and transfer test. The external focus group scored better in both form and outcome than the internal focus group in the post and transfer tests. It seems that external focus drives a subconscious motor control that results in greater movement automaticity and improves both form and outcome of sport skills. It is concluded that the external focus method is appropriate to develop both form and outcome of perceptual-motor skills

The Development of Motor and Perceptual Skills in Young Athletes

Human movement is a complex phenomenon. For people involved in teaching motor or perceptual skills in sports, effective models of training in children are a major challenge. Topics related to learning and the development of motor or perceptual skills help people involved in learning movements (coaches, physical education teachers, kinesiologists, physiotherapists) to have a deeper knowledge of the learning processes. An attempt is made to combine theory and practice so that this chapter can be a simple but useful tool for learning, evaluation, proper guidance, planning practice, and providing simple practical approaches to make the work of professionals more effective

A dynamical systems investigation of lower extremity coordination during running over obstacles

Objective. To investigate intralimb coordination during running over a level surface and over obstacles of three different heights. Design. The phasing relationships between the foot and leg motions in the frontal plane, and the shank and thigh motions in the sagittal plane were used to compare patterns of coordination. Background. The coordinated actions of lower extremity segments are necessary to absorb the impact forces generated during running. The behavioral patterns of these segments can be studied under changing task demands using analysis techniques from the Dynamical Systems Theory. Methods. Ten subjects ran at their self-selected pace under four conditions: over a level surface and over obstacles of different heights (5%, 10%, 15% of their standing height). A force platform was used to record impact forces during landing after obstacle clearance, while kinematics were collected using a two-camera system. Results. The increases in obstacle height resulted in significant changes in impact forces (34% increase between the two extreme conditions) and more in-phase relationships between the segments during early stance. No changes were observed in the variability of the phasing relationships. Conclusions. The coordination changes observed might be compensatory strategies aimed to reduce forces and potential injury. However, since the impact forces still increased significantly, it is also possible that the observed changes might be at-risk movement patterns predisposing runners to injury. Relevance Tools from the Dynamical Systems Theory, such as intralimb coordination, can be used as a way to evaluate running mechanics so that comparisons can be made to various patient populations in subsequent studies. This approach might be a viable alternative to examine questions in therapeutics

Satisfacción laboral y burnout de los profesores de la educación física en Grecia

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education (P.E.) teachers’ perceived job satisfaction and burnout, in relation to educational sector (private vs public), educational level (primary vs secondary) and gender. Two hundred and eighty two P.E. teachers, aged from 24 to 65 years old (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), both from elementary and secondary schools, participated in the study. One hundred of them served in private schools and 182 in public ones. Their working exprerience ranged from one to 37 years (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). The Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which has been validated for the Greek population, was used. The results revealed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and burnout. Private sector P.E. teachers seem to experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to their public sector colleagues. Furthermore, P.E. teachers who serve both in elementary and secondary schools, appear to experience higher job satisfaction. Finally, secondary P.E. teachers seem to experience lower burnout compared to their primary education colleagues. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender for both job satisfaction and burnout. Overall, it seems that P.E. teachers who work in private schools and/or in secondary education seem to be more satisfied and less burned-out. Implications of the aforementioned observed relationships are discussed.El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar las posibles diferencias y relaciones en la Educación Física (EF) con respecto a la percibida satisfacción laboral y el burnout de los profesores de la EF en relación con el sector de la educación (privado versus público), nivel educativo (primario versus secundario) y género. 282 profesores de la EF participaron en el estudio, con edades entre 24 y 65 años (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), tanto de escuelas primarias que de secundarias, 100 siendo de las escuelas privadas y 182 de las públicas. Su experiencia de trabajo varía de uno a 37 años (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). Para la evaluación de la satisfacción laboral se empleó el Inventario de Satisfacción del Empleado (ESI) (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997). Para la medición del burnout, se utilizó el Inventario Maslach Burnout (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), que también ha sido validado para la población griega. Los resultados revelaron una relación negativa entre la satisfacción laboral y el burnout. Los profesores de la EF trabajando en las escuelas privadas parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción en el trabajo y menor burnouten comparación con suis colleges del sector público. Además, los profesores de EF trabajando en el mismo tiempo en las escuelas primarias y secundarias, parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción laboral, mientras que los de la secundaria parecen experimentar menor burnout. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en relación con el género, tanto para la satisfacción como para el burnout. Sobre la base de los resultados anteriormente mencionados, resulta que los profesores de EF que trabajan en escuelas privadas o en la educación secundaria parecen estar más satisfechos y menos “desgastados”.Actividad Física y Deport

Satisfacción laboral y burnout de los profesores de la educación física en Grecia

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education (P.E.) teachers’ perceived job satisfaction and burnout, in relation to educational sector (private vs public), educational level (primary vs secondary) and gender. Two hundred and eighty two P.E. teachers, aged from 24 to 65 years old (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), both from elementary and secondary schools, participated in the study. One hundred of them served in private schools and 182 in public ones. Their working exprerience ranged from one to 37 years (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). The Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which has been validated for the Greek population, was used. The results revealed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and burnout. Private sector P.E. teachers seem to experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to their public sector colleagues. Furthermore, P.E. teachers who serve both in elementary and secondary schools, appear to experience higher job satisfaction. Finally, secondary P.E. teachers seem to experience lower burnout compared to their primary education colleagues. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender for both job satisfaction and burnout. Overall, it seems that P.E. teachers who work in private schools and/or in secondary education seem to be more satisfied and less burned-out. Implications of the aforementioned observed relationships are discussed.El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar las posibles diferencias y relaciones en la Educación Física (EF) con respecto a la percibida satisfacción laboral y el burnout de los profesores de la EF en relación con el sector de la educación (privado versus público), nivel educativo (primario versus secundario) y género. 282 profesores de la EF participaron en el estudio, con edades entre 24 y 65 años (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), tanto de escuelas primarias que de secundarias, 100 siendo de las escuelas privadas y 182 de las públicas. Su experiencia de trabajo varía de uno a 37 años (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). Para la evaluación de la satisfacción laboral se empleó el Inventario de Satisfacción del Empleado (ESI) (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997). Para la medición del burnout, se utilizó el Inventario Maslach Burnout (MBI) (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), que también ha sido validado para la población griega. Los resultados revelaron una relación negativa entre la satisfacción laboral y el burnout. Los profesores de la EF trabajando en las escuelas privadas parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción en el trabajo y menor burnouten comparación con suis colleges del sector público. Además, los profesores de EF trabajando en el mismo tiempo en las escuelas primarias y secundarias, parecen experimentar mayor satisfacción laboral, mientras que los de la secundaria parecen experimentar menor burnout. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en relación con el género, tanto para la satisfacción como para el burnout. Sobre la base de los resultados anteriormente mencionados, resulta que los profesores de EF que trabajan en escuelas privadas o en la educación secundaria parecen estar más satisfechos y menos “desgastados”.Actividad Física y Deport

Beyond the walls: the design and development of the Petralona Cave virtual museum utilising 3D technologies

The Petralona Cave, which local inhabitants discovered by chance in 1959, is a remarkable natural and cultural landmark close to the village of Petralona, in the Chalkidiki peninsula of Greece. The site has gained global recognition for the discovery of a remarkably well-preserved Palaeolithic human skull, unearthed in 1960; it also holds archaeological and palaeontological significance. In this paper, the researchers introduce the Petralona Cave Virtual Museum: an innovative project whose mission is to increase public awareness and comprehension of the site. Our approach goes beyond mere replication of the physical museum located close to the cave; instead, the objective is to create an independent and comprehensive experience that is accessible to all visitors, irrespective of their ability to visit the site in person. Our methodology involved the documentation of the site and its history, analysis of user requirements, development of use cases to steer the design process, as well as architectural designs creation, itineraries and findings digitisation, and architectural structure finalisation. The Virtual Museum provides a well-organised frame structure that serves as an efficient gateway to the content, making navigation easy for visitors. Thanks to various presentation methods, including videos, high-quality images, interactive maps, animated content, interactive 3D models, plus searchable item libraries, among others, users are empowered to create a highly personalised navigation plan; thus the Virtual Museum experience is comparable to visiting the physical museum or cultural site. Cutting-edge digitisation techniques were employed to create highly detailed 3D models of the site. The Petralona Cave Virtual Museum is expected to offer an immersive experience, engaging diverse audiences; the interactive and educational exploration provides highly innovative access to archaeological knowledge. The visibility of the Petralona site is amplified and there is a significant contribution to knowledge dissemination about this important cultural heritage site

Different multimedia means for class presentation in higher education

Etude de l'efficacité et de l'attractivité de divers moyens multimédia de présentation d'un cours sur l'apprentissage moteur à des étudiants : transparents, présentation par logiciel power-point, vidéo, CD-ROM, visio-conférenc

A formal response to Brad McKay’s and Michael Carter’s “Data irregularities across six implicit learning articles: Comments on Lola and Tzetzis (2021), Lola, Giatis, Pérez-Turpin, and Tzetzis (In Press), Lola and Tzetzis (2020), Tzetzis and Lola (2015), Lola, Tzetzis, and Zetou (2012), and Tzetzis and Lola (2010)”

This paper is a formal response to McKay’s and Carter’s publication titled “Data irregularities across six implicit learning articles: Comments on Lola and Tzetzis (2021), Lola, Giatis, Pérez-Turpin, and Tzetzis (In Press), Lola and Tzetzis (2020), Tzetzis and Lola (2015), Lola, Tzetzis, and Zetou (2012), and Tzetzis and Lola (2010)” in the blog psyarxiv.com. This paper directly addresses and refutes all of McKay’s and Carter’s comments regarding the validity of our results and conclusions on the aforementioned publications. Unfortunately, McKay’s and Carter’s comments are based on misconceptions of our statistical methodology (e.g. measuring methods, family-wise error corrections, etc.) as well as in the methods they utilize: the applicability of GRIMMER analysis, the difference of effect size, and statistical significance are in their vast majority invalid. Our research team is in the process of updating the manuscripts in the journals in order to correct the few errors that McKay and Carter identified, which in no case affected any of our studies’ results or conclusions. Through this paper, we provide all required clarifications and better explain our methodological choices. We strongly believe that any critique that provides food for thought is welcome, but a critique that only deals with the numbers of a survey, without commenting on the qualitative characteristics, is not useful to the academic community, highlighting the need for adequate meta-analytic training in the field of motor learning in order to promote constructive dialogue

The influence of analogies on the development of selective attention in novices in normal or stressful conditions

The effect of explicit, implicit, and analogy learning methods on developing selective attention skills in young novice participants was examined under normal and stressful conditions. The 60 novice participants, aged 11-12 years old, followed a video simulation intervention program of 12 sessions (3 times * 4 weeks). They were tested four times (pre-test, post-test, retention, and stress test) to evaluate their reaction time and accuracy in selective attention skills. The differences among the groups and the measurements were analysed using a two-way mixed factorial ANOVA (4 groups * 4 measurements), and post-hoc Bonferroni evaluated significant differences among the groups. The results showed that all three experimental groups improved their performance in response reaction time and accuracy from the pre-test to the post-test and maintained their scores on the retention test. However, the analogy group had the best scores, followed by the implicit group, and they were both better than the explicit group. According to the stress test, the analogy and the implicit group remained unaffected while the explicit group showed a decrease in both reaction time and accuracy. Training by analogy was more effective in improving selective attention in novices in both normal and stressful conditions. Analogy learners probably developed an advanced mechanism that allowed them to quickly and accurately select the most useful information from the sport setting even in stressful conditions. This research highlights the advantages of simulation techniques; future research may assess selective attention in real conditions