Koh, Koon Teck

Physical education and sports (PES) are conducive platforms to inculcate sport skills, values, and life skills among students and athletes. However, not every programme aiming to instil values and life skills through PES has been successful, as practitioners were found to lack training and experience in incorporating them into their lessons. Past studies have suggested that explicit planning and teaching of values and sport skills are important in facilitating effective learning and transfer beyond the learning context. Researchers have also used various methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme outcomes, such as questionnaires and interviews. However, there are limitations to using these evaluation methods, which include recall bias and a lack of consideration of the coach’s behaviours exhibited during coaching sessions and their impact on their athletes. This chapter explores some existing tools that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of intentional coaching of a sport skills, values, and life skills programme. We also introduced a free mobile application – Coaching Observation Tool (COT) that was developed based on the Arizona State University Observation Instrument. This application can be used to quantify the planned and actual coaching behaviours during PES sessions. Findings from the observational data suggest that the COT mobile application is a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of a coaching lesson by comparing the planned and actual percentage of time allocated to sport skills, values, and life skills development. Sport practitioners can make use of the objective data for self-reflection and explore ways to seek assistance to enhance future coaching practices to benefit their athletes. Considering these findings, implications are offered.

This impactful resource guide is for international educators and practitioners involved in physical education and sports (PES) who want to learn evidence-based approaches to the teaching of values and char acter education.

Through a systematic approach to teaching and evaluating values and character education, this book bridges the gap between theory and practice. It offers empirical evidence and strategies to show how values and character can be internalised through carefully designed experiences, active participation, and regular reinforcement, without compromising the time needed to learn sports skills – a common concern raised by PE teachers and sports coaches. Results from case studies have also revealed that values can be transferred beyond the context of physical education lessons and sports through a collaborative approach and effective communication between teachers, coaches, and parents. Key strategies based on empirical evidence are highlighted in this book. It also highlights an Asian perspective on values and life skills training through physical education and provides readers with step-by-step implementation guidelines to simplify some complex strategies in developing values and life skills through PES seamlessly.

The book provides useful information to anyone engaged in devel oping young people in, and through, sports. In particular, it will be of great value to pre-service and in-service teachers and coaches for implementing effective strategies to balance teaching sports skills, values, and life skills effectively in PES.

Physical education and sports (PES) are included in many school curricula across the globe. Students come from diverse age groups, and thus, coaches and teachers play a crucial role in delivering age-appropriate content to educate their students. Prior research has highlighted that learners of different ages respond to instructions differently, presenting the need to differentiate the teaching approaches adopted. This chapter begins by explaining the “anatomy” of a typical physical education lesson or sports coaching session. The chapter then further extends the key ideas discussed in Chapter 6 with the aim of illustrating a range of research-driven strategies that can be incorporated in a practical manner for both primary (age 7–12) and secondary school (age 13–17) levels while emphasising the need for student-centricity, autonomy, and physicality.

Many studies in recent years have shown the effectiveness of physical education and sports (PES) as a vehicle for teaching values and personal development among youth. However, despite research showing values transference is crucial for optimal learning, a gap in the literature remains regarding the strategies and methods underlying values transference beyond the PES context. This chapter will identify the strategies and methods that facilitate the transfer of values learned in physical education (PE) to the classroom and home settings. Based on empirical evidence, we found that the collaborative work between the stakeholders within a school’s setting through a whole-school approach was an important strategy in teaching and transferring values beyond PE. Practical strategies will be provided to enhance the learning and transfer of values in PE to the classroom and home settings.

Orally marketed products nintedanib (NDNB) and pirfenidone (PFD) for pulmonary fibrosis (PF) are administered in high doses and have been shown to have serious toxic and side effects. NDNB can cause the elevation of galectin-3, which activates the NF-κB signaling pathway and causes the inflammatory response. S-allylmercapto-N-acetylcysteine (ASSNAC) can alleviate the inflammation response by inhibiting the TLR-4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Therefore, we designed and prepared inhalable ASSNAC and NDNB co-loaded liposomes for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. The yellow, spheroidal co-loaded liposomes with a particle size of 98.32±1.98 nm and zeta potential of -22.5 ± 1.58 mV were produced. The aerodynamic fine particle fraction (FPF) and mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) of NDNB were >50 % (81.14 %±0.22 %) and <5 μm (1.79 μm±0.06 μm) in the nebulized liposome solution, respectively. The results showed that inhalation improved the lung deposition and retention times of both drugs. DSPE-PEG 2000 in the liposome formulation enhanced the mucus permeability and reduced phagocytic efflux mediated by macrophages. ASSNAC reduced the mRNA over-expressions of TLR-4, MyD88 and NF-κB caused by NDNB, which could reduce the NDNB's side effects. The Masson's trichrome staining of lung tissues and the levels of CAT, TGF-β1, HYP, collagen III and mRNA expressions of Collagen I, Collagen III and α-SMA in lung tissues revealed that NDNB/Lip inhalation was more beneficial to alleviate fibrosis than oral NDNB. Although the dose of NDNB/Lip was 30 times lower than that in the oral group, the inhaled NDNB/Lip group had better or comparable anti-fibrotic effects to those in the oral group. According to the expressions of Collagen I, Collagen III and α-SMA in vivo and in vitro, the combination of ASSNAC and NDNB was more effective than the single drugs for pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, this study provided a new scheme for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.