Enhancing Student Learning Experiences in Sport Psychology Modules Using Practical Activities

The University of Worcester states in its most recent strategic plan (2013 – 2018) a set of enduring values that guide and direct the activities of the institution. The first listed, and perhaps the most important value is the striving to be “an outstanding university at which to be a student”. This is further supplemented by values such as “to inspire our students to reach their full potential through excellent, innovative teaching, scholarship and research” (University of Worcester 2013: p.4). One of the many ways in which the institution strives to provide this outstanding educational experience is through regular engagement, both formal and informal, with students at a number of points in each semester. Regular experiences of collating formal and informal feedback has led to the identification of a common theme amongst Higher National Diploma (HND) students in the Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences (ISES), where they consistently request ‘more practicals’. The ISES modules however are designed to incorporate a high degree of interaction, practical activities and tasks. This is especially important for those studying at HND level as research suggests differences in learning preferences exist when compared to undergraduate students, the former preferring a more tactile style of learning (Peters et al. 2008). Using an introductory Sport Psychology HND module as an example, practical activities and tasks are fully embedded in the taught sessions to enable contextual links to be made between the learning outcomes and their subsequent use. Examples of these include: a. interviewing athletes to produce a performance profile (Butler & Hardy 1992); b. completing psychometric instruments such as the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) to measure competitive anxiety in sport (Martens et al. 1990) and demonstrate data collection and construct measurement; c. performing relaxation interventions on the students to demonstrate how specific techniques (in this instance, decreasing somatic anxiety) might work in practice; d. demonstrating how observational learning facilitates skill acquisition by creating experimental conditions that the students participate in, in teaching a new skill. Nevertheless owing to the students' previously stated on-going requests for more practical activities, it became evident that assumptions about what students consider an effective means of experiential or active learning in the context of sport-related disciplines of study needed to be investigated. This is where the opportunity to undertake an action research project arose, this being a practical method commonly employed in pedagogical enquiry to aid reflection on teaching and assessment practice for the purposes of working towards continuous improvement.

Bridging the Divide in Work and Occupational Psychology: Evidence From Practice

This study explores the extent to which work and organizational (W&O) psychology practitioners use evidence, how they apply it to the everyday contexts in which they work and the types of barriers they encounter in so doing. It adopts a mixed methods approach involving the administration of a survey to a UK sample (N=163) of W&O psychologists and a series of semi-structured interviews (N=25) exploring in greater depth how evidence is applied in practice. Findings reveal that practitioners consult a wide range of different types of evidence which they employ at various stages of engagement with client organisations and that this evidence is pressed into service in the pursuit of solutions which are both acceptable from the client perspective and consistent with the scientific standards underpinning professional knowledge and expertise in W&O psychology. Barriers to evidence-use were mainly practical in nature, concerning issues around managing the client-consultant relationship and the particularities of implementation context, both of which were shown to influence evidence utilisation. The study contributes to current debate on the extent to which W&O psychologists adopt an evidence-based approach and provides a valuable and much called-for empirical insight into the enactment of the scientist-practitioner model in W&O psychology

Counselling Psychology in the United Kingdom

Counselling psychology within the UK has grown over the last three decades, adapting to many changes in the field of applied psychology, whilst remaining true to its core values and humanistic origins. The identity of counselling psychology is strongly rooted in a relational stance and applied psychology, where attention to psychological formulation is given to improve psychological functioning and well-being. This article outlines a brief history of counselling psychology in the UK, the training process, credentialing and looks at some important challenges and future directions for counselling psychology in the UK. A proportion of the members from the British Psychological Society’s division of counselling psychology (DCoP, N = 148) took part in the study. Participants provided demographic, training, employment, workplace and career pathway information obtained through an online questionnaire distributed to all DCoP members. On the whole, DCoP members are working in a variety of areas within the UK and the findings of this article contribute to the international study comparing counselling psychology across the globe.

Perceived Social Pressures and the Internalization of the Mesomorphic Ideal: the Role of Drive for Muscularity and Autonomy in Physically Active Men

BACKGROUND: Researchers have tested the beliefs of sportspeople and sports medicine specialists that cognitive strategies influence strength performance. Few investigators have synthesised the literature. OBJECTIVES: The specific objectives were to review evidence regarding (a) the cognitive strategy-strength performance relationship; (b) participant skill level as a moderator; and (c) cognitive, motivational, biomechanical/physiological, and emotional mediators. METHOD: Studies were sourced via electronic databases, reference lists of retrieved articles, and manual searches of relevant journals. Studies had to be randomised or counterbalanced experiments with a control group or condition, repeated measures, and a quality control score above 0.5 (out of 1). Cognitive strategies included goal setting, imagery, self-talk, preparatory arousal, and free choice. Dependent variables included maximal strength, local muscular endurance, or muscular power. RESULTS: Globally, cognitive strategies were reliability associated with increased strength performance (results ranged from 61 to 65 %). Results were mixed when examining the effects of specific strategies on particular dependent variables, although no intervention had an overall negative influence. Indeterminate relationships emerged regarding hypothesised mediators (except cognitive variables) and participant skill level as a moderator. CONCLUSIONS: Although cognitive strategies influence strength performance, there are knowledge gaps regarding specific types of strength, especially muscular power. Cognitive variables, such as concentration, show promise as possible mediators.