Use of Sports Science Knowledge by Turkish Coaches

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(1) : 21-37, 2015. The purpose of this study is to examine the following research questions in Turkish coaching context: a) What are coaches’ perceptions on the application of sport science research to their coaching methods? b) What sources do coaches utilize to obtain the knowledge they need? c) What barriers do coaches encounter when trying to access and apply the knowledge they need for their sport? In addition, differences in research questions responses were examined based on gender, years of coaching experience, academic educational level, coaching certificate level, coaching team or individual sports, and being paid or unpaid for coaching. The participants were 321 coaches (255 men, 66 women) from diverse sports and coaching levels working in Ankara. The questionnaire “New Ideas for Coaches” by Reade, Rodgers and Hall (2008) was translated, adapted into Turkish, and validated for the current study. According to our findings among Turkish coaches, there is a high prevalence of beliefs that sport science contributes to sport (79.8%);however, there are gaps between what coaches are looking for and the research that is being conducted. Coaches are most likely to attend seminars or consult other coaches to get new information. Scientific publications were ranked very low by the coaches in getting current information. The barriers to coaches’ access to sport science research are finding out the sources of information, being able to implement the sport science knowledge into the field of coaching, lack of monetary support in acquiring knowledge, and language barriers. Also, differences in perceptions and preferences for obtaining new information were identified based on coaches’ gender, coaching contexts (i.e., professional-amateur), coaching settings (i.e., team/individual), and their other demographic characteristics (i.e., coaching experience, coaching educational level, and coaching certificate level). Future coach education programs should emphasize the development of coaches’ competencies in identifying and accessing eligible sports science knowledge sources and lack of money for acquiring information while also tailoring the messages based on differences in coaching contexts, coaching settings, and coaches’ demographic characteristics so as to ensure successful knowledge transfer

Health-Related Work Loss: Wellness Profiles of Information Technology Employees

Understanding health-related work loss and creating a comprehensive approach requires the identification of lifestyle behavior patterns. An essential part of this process is the examination of different profiles within the target population to develop effective intervention strategies. This study explored the wellness profiles of information technology (IT) employees regarding lifestyle behaviors and health-related work loss. The cross-sectional study surveyed 405 employees (174 women and 231 men) in six cities in Türkiye to examine lifestyle behaviors (exercise, nutrition, stress management, health responsibility, mental development, and interpersonal relations) and health-related work loss (presenteeism and absenteeism). Data analysis was conducted using independent samples t-test, ANOVA, multiple linear regression, and two-step cluster analysis. Regression findings indicated that physical activity, nutrition, and stress management behaviors statistically predict work performance in IT employees (

Youth athletes' developmental outcomes by age, gender, and type of sport

The purpose of this study was to examine the athletes’ perceived developmental outcomes of competence, confidence, connection and character (the 4 Cs) in a competitive youth sport context with respect to age groups (12 – 14 vs 15 – 18-year-old), gender (girls and boys) and sport type (individual vs. team). Participants were 314 athletes (173 girls, 141 boys) and 31 coaches (5 Women, 26 Men) from artistic gymnastics, basketball, football, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Data were collected by the adapted and validated form of Positive Youth Development Measurement Toolkit. According to the findings, older group of athletes (15 – 18 years of age) had lower scores than their younger counterparts (12 – 14 years of age) in all of the developmental outcomes. Girls scored lower in competence outcome, while boys had lower scores in connection and character outcomes. Moreover, team sport athletes had lower scores in competence outcome (p < .05). The findings were discussed with the extant literature, and programmatic suggestions for future studies were provided

USE OF A SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY-BASED PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY INTERVENTION ON HEALTH-PROMOTING BEHAVIORS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 12-wk. physical activity intervention, based on conceptual discussions and practices of a social cognitive theory on health-promoting behaviors of 62 university students. The intervention Mainly focused on development of self-regulatory skills, social support, and self-assessment of health-related fitness. The Adolescent Health Promotion Scale and International Physical Activity Questionnaire were given Analysis of self-reports indicated improved nutrition, health responsibility, social support, exercise, stress management, and overall health from pre- to postintervention. Also, participants' postintervention reports of moderate, vigorous, and total physical activity were higher than at preintervention

Supporting learning of practitioners and early career scholars in physical education and sports pedagogy

Improving school physical education (PE) practices in the future mainly depends on supporting the professional capital of practitioners' and early career scholars'. In this paper, I aim to present effective strategies to support the human, social and decisional capital of those PE and sports professionals in Turkey. To this end, first, the complex social-ecology of the country-specific PE setting was discussed by using Bronfenbrenner's (1979) social-ecological model. Then, six strategies' that were effective in supporting the professional development of teachers, coaches and early career scholars in this specific context, including identifying the learner subsets, understanding the local social, physical, and policy setting, connecting PE stakeholders toward the same aims, creating learning communities, being future-oriented, and being data-driven in practice were presented with the evidence to support them. Social-ecological examination of the setting indicated the poor outcome of PE for the learning of K12 students in developing movement and lifelong physical activity skills and knowledge. There were weaknesses identified in PE teachers', coaches', and scholars' professional knowledge and skills. The social setting was not supportive especially for girls' physical activity participation in rural areas. Physical Education-related community, organizational and the physical setting had inequalities for the population living in different regions of the country due to fast urbanization, family income level, geography, and climate variations, rapidly growing school-age population and migration. At the macro level, the influence of a centralized education system and the policies of institutions with interest in youth education, health, and sport over the PE practices was critical. Application of the six strategies by considering the social-ecological characteristics of the Turkish PE setting was successful in general. Based on the evidence, I strongly recommend a comprehensive examination of the social-ecology in each cultural setting during structuring the professional development programmes for teachers, coaches, and early career scholars

Üniversite Öğrencilerininserbest Zaman Fiziksel Aktivite Davranışlarının Geliştirilmesinde Bağlamlar Arası Modele Dayalı Uygulamanın Kullanılması

Alan yazında, gençlerin ergenlik döneminde fiziksel aktiviteye katılımın azaldığını gösteren çalışmalar yer almaktadır. Bunun bir nedeni fiziksel aktiviteye yönelik motivasyonun azalmasıdır. Böylelikle, gençlerin fiziksel aktivite davranışının altında yatan motivasyonel mekanizmaların araştırılması gerekmektedir. Geçmişte yapılan çalışmalara dayanarak, teoriye dayalı uygulamaların tasarlanması ve yürütülmesine ve bu uygulamaların fiziksel aktivite katılımına etkilerinin incelenmesine gereksinim duyulmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin serbest zaman fiziksel aktivite davranışlarının geliştirilmesinde bağlamlar arası modele dayalı uygulamanın etkisini incelemektir. Yapılacak olan çalışmada, amaca uygun olarak, deneysel araştırma deseni kullanılacaktır. Bir üniversitede okuyan gençler arasından seçilen öğrenciler iki farklı gruba rastlantısal olarak atanacaktır. Rastlantısal yöntemde, önce üniversite öğrencileri gönüllü olarak bir seçmeli ders seçecektir, sonra araştırmacı bu homojen öğrenci grubunu deneysel ve kontrol gruplara rastlantısal olarak atayacaktır. Deneysel gruptaki öğrenciler 12 hafta boyunca serbest zaman fiziksel aktivite davranışı için tasarlanan bağlamlar arası modele dayalı uygulamaya katılacaktır. Kontrol grubunu ise bu uygulamayı almayan bir grup öğrenci oluşturacaktır. Data toplama süreci ön-test ve son-test olmak üzere iki aşamalı olarak yürütülecektir. Hem ön-test hem de son-testte her iki gruptaki öğrencilere bir dizi anket ve fiziksel aktivite öz bildirimleri uygulanacaktır. Öğrencilere uygulanacak olan anketler arasında algılanan özerklik desteği, otonom motivasyon, planlı davranış kuramı, temek psikolojik ihtiyaç doyumu ve fiziksel aktivite davranışını ölçen anketler yer almaktadır. Araştırmanın uygulama süresi 12 hafta olacaktır. Uygulamada (derste) öğrencilere özerklik- destekleyici öğrenme iklimi sağlanacaktır. Eğitim ortamında özerklik-destekleyici öğrenme ikliminin sağlanabilmesi için bir eğitmenin beş farklı özerklik-destekleyici stratejisinden bir veya daha fazlasını kullanması gerekmektedir. Bu stratejiler; (1) açıklayıcı gerekçeler sunmak, (2) içsel motivasyon kaynaklarını beslemek, (3) bilgilendirici ve denetlemeyen bir anlatım dili kullanmak, (4) seçenekler sunmak ve (5) öğrencilerin negatif düşüncelerini bilmek olarak sıralanır. Böylece, bu çalışmada yer alacak üniversite öğrencilerini serbest zaman fiziksel aktiviteye katılmalarına dair motive etmek için bu stratejilerden bir veya daha fazlası kullanılacaktır. Bu çalışmanın sonucunda, bağlamlar arası modele dayalı özerklik-destekleyici uygulamayı alan öğrencilerin hem ders ortamındaki hem de serbest zaman fiziksel aktivite ortamındaki motivasyonlarının artması ve böylelikle bu uygulamayı alan öğrencilerin serbest zamanlarında fiziksel aktiviteye katılımın artması beklenmektedir