Education about movement: Development of an intermittent shuttle test to determine fitness and fatigue in badminton
There were three objectives to this proposal: (i) to develop an ecologically valid matchfitness test for badminton players -the badminton intermittent shuttle test (BIST); (ii) to determine the reliability and physiological validity of the test; and (iii) to examine the influence of fatigue, induced by the BIST, on badminton performance.
The use of information communication and technologies tools to maximize students’ learning in physical education in Singapore schools.
Insights from ecological psychology and dynamical systems. Theory can underpin a philosophy of coaching
The aim of this paper is to show how principles of ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory can underpin a philosophy of coaching practice in a non-llnear pedagogy. Nonlinear pedagogy is based on a view of the human movement system as a nonlinear dynamical system and has been basically defined as the application of concepts and tools of nonlinear dynamics to coaching practice. A systems orientation is adopted to show how nonlinear dynamical movement systems demonstrate an openness to environmental information flows, use inherent degeneracy to adapt movements to dynamic environments, show capacity for self-organisation, and fluctuate between stability and instability as changes in constraints on performance shape transitions in system organisation. We demonstrate how this perspective of the human movement system can aid understanding of motor learning processes and underpin practice /or sports coaches. We provide a description of nonlinear pedagogy followed by a consideration of some of the fundamental principles of ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory that underpin it as a coaching philosophy. We illustrate how each principle impacts on nonlinear pedagogical coaching practice, demonstrating how they can substantiate a framework for the coaching process.
The use of information communication and technologies tools to maximise students' learning in physical education in Singapore schools
With the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) focus on using ICT in resourceful and innovative ways to improve teaching and learning (MOE, 2014), PE teachers should be trained and equipped with strategies to create environments where students are given more autonomy to decide ‘what’ to learn and ‘how’ to learn, according to students’ ability to use Information Communication and Technologies (ICT). For example, making available e-learning materials related to the lesson before and after the class affords students opportunities to learn more readily on their own than when these materials are absent. Using video recording to provide visual and verbal feedback from the teacher or among peers for skill performance during a lesson is just one of many ways ICT can be used to maximise students’ learning and develop the affective, psychomotor, and cognitive domains set out in the PE syllabus. The advantages of providing students with opportunities to harness ICT can be directly beneficial for skills acquisition and indirectly for honing life skills.
CoVAAPD for enhancing teacher professional development in physical education.
An investigation of nonlinear pedagogy and its application in Singapore schools
Nonlinear pedagogy (NP) approach encourages exploratory learning with Physical Education (PE) teachers, applying key pedagogical principles that focus on manipulating task constraints and creating representative learning designs to enhance skill-learning. This research project showed that students taught with an NP approach demonstrated more individualized and creative movement solutions to learn a motor skill and, despite the reduced emphasis on prescriptive instruction and drill, still achieved success. Importantly, these students also showed more effective game play characteristics after a series of PE lessons based on NP principles. Interview data from students and teachers provided insights on their positive perception of NP and its potential impact on teacher education and professional development.
Falls, cognitive function, and balance profiles of Singapore communitydwelling elderly Individuals: Key risk factors
Objective: This study compared occurrence of falls, cognitive function, and balance profiles across participants in elderly age categories, investigating associations between the 3 aspects in a sample of Singapore’s elderly population. Method: Community dwelling elderly individuals (N=385) were randomly recruited and grouped into “young-old (65-74 years),” “medium-old (75-84 years),” and “oldest-old (above 85 years)” groups. The Fallproof Health and Activity questionnaire, adapted Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) tests were used to survey information related to falls, cognition, and balance profiles. Results: Findings revealed significant differences in MMSE and BBS scores across the age groups. Participants with mild cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR] = 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08-3.25) and BBS score ≤ 40 (OR = 0.25, 95% CI=0.14-0.46) were at the highest risk of falling. Conclusion: Community-dwelling elderly individuals with subtle cognitive impairment and BBS scores ≤ 40 displayed an increased risk of falling.
Dynamics of multi-articular coordination in neurobiological systems
Although previous work in nonlinear dynamics on neurobiological coordination and control has provided valuable insights from studies of single joint movements in humans, researchers have shown increasing interest in coordination of multi-articular actions. Multi-articular movement models have provided valuable insights on neurobiological systems conceptualised as degenerate, adaptive complex systems satisfying the constraints of dynamic environments. In this paper, we overview empirical evidence illustrating the dynamics of adaptive movement behavior in a range of multi-articular actions including kicking, throwing, hitting and balancing. We model the emergence of creativity and the diversity of neurobiological action in the meta-stable region of self organising criticality. We examine the influence on multi-articular actions of decaying and emerging constraints in the context of skill acquisition. We demonstrate how, in this context, transitions between preferred movement patterns exemplify the search for and adaptation of attractor states within the perceptual motor workspace as a function of practice. We conclude by showing how empirical analyses of neurobiological coordination and control have been used to establish a nonlinear pedagogical framework for enhancing acquisition of multi-articular actions.
The balance control of children with and without hearing impairment in Singapore: A case study
The purpose of this study is to compare the balance control of participants with and without HI and also to investigate the effect of a Balance Programme (BP) on their balance control (HI; n = 2, M age = 7 years old). The BP consisted of six practice sessions of 45 minutes each. The Balance Tasks used to assess balance control were static Balance Tasks: two-leg stand, one-leg stand and dynamic Balance Tasks: in-place jump and in-place hop. Kinetic data such as the Centre of Pressure (COP) and the Ground Reaction Force (GRF) was captured using a force plate. The results revealed differences in Balance Tasks involving static and dynamic balance control between participants with HI and without HI. Improvement in balance control of the participants is observed for some of the Balance Tasks after the introduction of the BP which indicates the inconclusive effectiveness of the BP. The authors suggest that the instructional approach and number of practice sessions may be the contributing factors affecting the effectiveness of the BP. A new BP with an alternative instructional approach together with more practice sessions is warranted to benefit both children with and without HI so as to make inclusion possible.
Development and use of a web-based Collaborative Video Annotation and Analytics Environment to enhance blended teacher professional development (CoVAAPD) in physical education
The Collaborative Video Annotation and Analytics Environment for Teacher Professional Development (CoVAAPD) project is a collaboration between National Institute of Education, Physical Education and Sports Teacher Academy (PESTA), and Educational Technology Division (ETD), Ministry of Education (MOE), to develop, implement and evaluate a web-based collaborative video annotation and analytics environment to enhance blended teacher professional development (PD) in Physical Education (PE). CoVAAPD was based on a prior evidence-based ICT innovation, an NRF-funded eduLab project, CoVAA, where teachers were involved in experimenting with the use of video annotation tools to improve learning and teaching in secondary schools. CoVAAPD leverages and augments CoVAA with substantial customisation for teacher PD.
Typically, PE teachers engage in face-to-face discussions about lesson design and enactment with MOE officers from PESTA. Even more infrequent is the involvement of other PE teachers due to the inability to meet because of their hectic schedules. CoVAAPD expands opportunities to enrich the interaction and discourse, enabling collaborative blended professional learning for the PE teacher community. Teachers can learn from each other, and dialogue anywhere and anytime from posted video resources (e.g., of a teacher’s lesson). Teachers can make time-point based annotations, and within their professional learning community, share annotations, review peer annotations, and view/receive mentor feedback. Additionally, mentors can embed purposefully designed pedagogical scaffolds/tags to engage teachers in richer practitioner dialogue and social knowledge construction to refine and improve their design and enactment of PE lessons. Powerful learning analytics modules (based on pre-specified pedagogical tags) are integrated to enable teachers and mentors to continuously monitor professional learning progress to enhance and augment face-to-face lesson observation feedback and practitioner reflection activities.