Manipulating task constraints to improve tactical knowledge and collective decision-making in rugby union

In team sports such as rugby union, a myriad of decisions and actions occur within the boundaries that compose the performance perceptual- motor workspace. The way that these performance boundaries constrain decision making and action has recently interested researchers and has involved developing an understanding of the concept of constraints. Considering team sports as complex dynamical systems, signifies that they are composed of multiple, independent agents (i.e. individual players) whose interactions are highly integrated. This level of complexity is characterized by the multiple ways that players in a rugby field can interact. It affords the emergence of rich patterns of behaviour, such as rucks, mauls, and collective tactical actions that emerge due to players’ adjustments to dynamically varying competition environments. During performance, the decisions and actions of each player are constrained by multiple causes (e.g. technical and tactical skills, emotional states, plans, thoughts, etc.) that generate multiple effects (e.g. to run or pass, to move forward to tackle or maintain position and drive the opponent to the line), a prime feature in a complex systems approach to team games performance (Bar- Yam, 2004). To establish a bridge between the complexity sciences and learning design in team sports like rugby union, the aim of practice sessions is to prepare players to pick up and explore the information available in the multiple constraints (i.e. the causes) that influence performance. Therefore, learning design in training sessions should be soundly based on the interactions amongst players (i.e.teammates and opponents) that will occur in rugby matches. To improve individual and collective decision making in rugby union, Passos and colleagues proposed in previous work a performer- environment interaction- based approach rather than a traditional performer- based approach (Passos, Araújo, Davids & Shuttleworth, 2008).

The ecological dynamics of decision-making in sailing

Competitive sailing is characterised by continuous interdependencies of decisions and actions. All actions imply a permanent monitoring of the environmental conditions, such as intensity and direction of the wind, sea characteristics, and the behaviour of the opponent sailors. These constraints on sailors’ behavior are in constant change implying continuous adjustments in sailors’ actions and decisions. Among the different parts of a regatta, tactics and strategy at the start are particularly relevant. Among coaches there is an adage that says that “the start is 50% of a regatta” (Houghton, 1984; Saltonstall, 1983/1986). Olympic sailing regattas are performed with boats of the same class, by one, two or three sailors, depending on the boat class. Normally before the start, sailors visit the racing venue and analyse wind and sea characteristics, in order to fine- tune their boats accordingly. Then, five minutes before the start, sailors initiate starting procedures in order to be in a favourable position at the starting line (at the “second zero”). This position is selected during the start period according to wind shifts tendencies and the actions of other boats (Figure 11.1). Only after the start signal can the boats cross the imaginary starting line between the race committee signal boat “A” and the pin end boat. The start takes place against the wind (upwind), and the boats start racing in the direction of mark 1. Based on the evaluation of the sea and wind characteristics (e.g. if the wind is stronger at a particular place on the course), sailors re- adjust their strategy for the regatta. This strategy may change during the regatta, according to wind changes and adversary actions. More to the point, strategic decisions constrain and are constrained by on- line decisions during the regatta.

Identifying constraints on children with movement difficulties : implications for pedagogues and clinicians

A constraints- based framework for understanding processes of movement coordination and control is predicated on a range of theoretical ideas including the work of Bernstein (1967), Gibson (1979), Newell (1986) and Kugler, Kelso & Turvey (1982). Contrary to a normative perspective that focuses on the production of idealized movement patterns to be acquired by children during development and learning (see Alain & Brisson, 1986), this approach formulates the emergence of movement co- ordination as a function of the constraints imposed upon each individual. In this framework, cognitive, perceptual and movement difficulties and disorders are considered to be constraints on the perceptual- motor system, and children’s movements are viewed as emergent functional adaptations to these constraints (Davids et al., 2008; Rosengren, Savelsbergh & van der Kamp, 2003). From this perspective, variability of movement behaviour is not viewed as noise or error to be eradicated during development, but rather, as essentially functional in facilitating the child to satisfy the unique constraints which impinge on his/her developing perceptual- motor and cognitive systems in everyday life (Davids et al., 2008). Recently, it has been reported that functional neurobiological variability is predicated on system degeneracy, an inherent feature of neurobiological systems which facilitates the achievement of task performance goals in a variety of different ways (Glazier & Davids, 2009). Degeneracy refers to the capacity of structurally different components of complex movement systems to achieve different performance outcomes in varying contexts (Tononi et al., 1999; Edelman & Gally, 2001). System degeneracy allows individuals with and without movement disorders to achieve their movement goals by harnessing movement variability during performance. Based on this idea, perceptual- motor disorders can be simply viewed as unique structural and functional system constraints which individuals have to satisfy in interactions with their environments. The aim of this chapter is to elucidate how the interaction of structural and functional organismic, and environmental constraints can be harnessed in a nonlinear pedagogy by individuals with movement disorders.

Fitness and fatness in childhood obesity : implications of physical activity

Overweight and obesity are a significant cause of poor health worldwide, particularly in conjunction with low levels of physical activity (PA). PA is health-protective and essential for the physical growth and development of children, promoting physical and psychological health while simultaneously increasing the probability of remaining active as an adult. However, many obese children and adolescents have a unique set of physiological, biomechanical, and neuromuscular barriers to PA that they must overcome. It is essential to understand the influence of these barriers on an obese child's motivation in order to exercise and tailor exercise programs to the special needs of this population. Chapter Outline • Introduction • Defining Physical Activity, Exercise, and Physical Fitness • Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, And Motor Competence In Obese Children • Physical Activity and Obesity in Children • Physical Fitness in Obese Children • Balance and Gait in Obese Children • Motor Competence in Obese Children • Physical Activity Guidelines for Obese Children • Clinical Assessment of the Obese Child • Physical Activity Characteristics: Mode • Physical Activity Characteristics: Intensity • Physical Activity Characteristics: Frequency • Physical Activity Characteristics: Duration • Conclusion

Ezine and iRadio as knowledge creation metaphors for scaffolding learning in physical and virtual learning spaces

eZine and iRadio represent metaphors for multimedia communication on the Internet. Participating students experience a simulated Internet publishing environment in both their classroom and virtual learning environment. This chapter presents an autoethnographic account highlighting the voices of the learning designer and the teacher and provides evidence of the planning and implementation of two tertiary music elective courses over three iterations of each course. A blended learning environment was incorporated within each elective music course and a collaborative approach to development between lecturers, tutors, learning and technological designers using an iterative research design. The research suggests that learning design which provides real world examples and resources integrating authentic task design into their unit can provide meaningful and engaging experiences for students. The dialogue between learning designers and teachers and iterative review of the learning process and student outcomes, we believe, has engaged students meaningfully to achieve transferable learning outcomes.

Indigenous mathematics : creating an equitable learning environment

This chapter examines how a change in school leadership can successfully address competencies in complex situations and thus create a positive learning environment in which Indigenous students can excel in their learning rather than accept a culture that inhibits school improvement. Mathematics has long been an area that has failed to assist Indigenous students in improving their learning outcomes, as it is a Eurocentric subject (Rothbaum, Weisz, Pott, Miyake & Morelli, 2000, De Plevitz, 2007) and does not contextualize pedagogy with Indigenous culture and perspectives (Matthews, Cooper & Baturo, 2007). The chapter explores the work of a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics from the YuMi Deadly Centre who are turning the tide on improving Indigenous mathematical outcomes in schools and in communities with high numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

Relational contracting and its efficacy of project outcomes in the Australian construction industry

The Australian construction industry is characterized as being a competitive and risky business environment due to lack of cooperation, insufficient trust, ineffective communication and adversarial relationships which are likely lead to poor project performance. Relational contracting (RC) is advocated by literature as an innovative approach to improve the procurement process in the construction industry. Various studies have collectively added to the current knowledge of known RC norms, but there seem to be little effort on investigating the determinants of RC and its efficacy on project outcomes. In such circumstances, there is a lack of evidence and explanation on the manner on how these issues lead to different performance. Simultaneously, the New Engineering Contract (NEC) that embraced the concept of RC is seen as a modern way of contracting and also considered as one of the best approaches to the perennial problem of improving adversarial relationships within the industry. The reality of practice of RC in Australia is investigated through the lens of the NEC. A synthesis of literature views on the concept, processes and tools of RC is first conducted to develop the framework of RC.

Recognising Torres Strait Islander women’s knowledges in their children’s mathematics education

This paper discusses women’s involvement in their children’s mathematics education. It does, where possible, focus Torres Strait Islander women who share the aspirations of Aborginal communities around Australia. That is, they are keen for their children to receive an education that provides them with opportunities for their present and future lives. They are also keen to have their cultures’ child learning practices recognised and respected within mainstream education. This recognition has some way to go with the language of instruction in schools written to English conventions, decontextualised and disconnected to the students’ culture, Community and home language.

Evaluating educational software : a historical overview and the challenges ahead

Teachers are under increasing pressure from government and school management to incorporate technology into lessons. They need to consider which technologies can most effectively enhance subject learning, encourage higher order thinking skills and support the performance of authentic tasks. This chapter reviews the practical and theoretical tools that have been developed to aid teachers in selecting software and reviews the software assessment methodologies from the 1980s to the present day. It concludes that teachers need guidance to structure the evaluation of technology, to consider its educational affordances, its usability, its suitability for the students and the classroom environment and its fit to the teachers’ preferred pedagogies.

High speed rail and regional competitiveness

The presence of High Speed Rail (HSR) systems influences market shares of road and air transport, and the development of cities and regions they serve. With the deployment of HSR infrastructure, changes in accessibility have occurred. These changes have lead researchers to investigate effects on the economic and spatial derived variables. Contention exists when managing the trade off between efficiency, and access points which are usually in the range of hundreds of kilometres apart. In short, it is argued that intermediate cities, bypassed by HSR services, suffer a decline in their accessibility and developmental opportunities. The present Chapter will analyse possible impacts derived from the presence of HSR infrastructure. In particular, it will consider small and medium agglomerations in the vicinity of HSR corridors, not always served by HSR stations. Thus, a methodology is developed to quantify accessibility benefits and their distribution. These benefits will be investigated in relation to different rail transit strategies integrating HSR infrastructure where a HSR station cannot be positioned. These strategies are selected principally for the type of service offered: (i) cadenced, (ii) express, (iii) frequent or (iv) non-stopping. Furthermore, to ground the theoretical approach linking accessibility and competitiveness, a case study in the North-Eastern Italian regions will be used for the application of the accessibility distributive patterns between the HSR infrastructure and the selected strategies. Results indicate that benefits derive from well informed decisions on HSR station positioning and the appropriate blend of complementary services in the whole region to interface HSR infrastructure. The results are significant for all countries in Europe and worldwide, not only for investing in HSR infrastructure, but mostly in terms of building territorial cohesion, while seeking international recognition for developing successful new technology and systems.

YouTube and the formalisation of amateur media

This chapter describes how, as YouTube has scaled up both as a platform and as a company, its business model and the consequences for its copyright regulation strategies have co-evolved, and so too the boundaries between amateur and professional media have shifted and blurred in particular ways. As YouTube, Inc moves to more profitably arrange and stabilise the historically contentious relations among rights-holders, uploaders, advertisers and audiences, some forms of amateur video production have become institutionalised and professionalised, while others have been further marginalised and driven underground or to other, more forgiving, platforms.

The subjective experience of negative symptoms : characteristics of emotional withdrawal

According to the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), negative symptoms are those personal characteristics that are thought to be reduced from normal functioning, while positive symptoms are aspects of functioning that exist as an excess or distortion of normal functioning. Negative symptoms are generally considered to be a core feature of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, negative symptoms are not always present in those diagnosed, and a diagnosis can be made with only negative or only positive symptoms, or with a combination of both. Negative symptoms include an observed loss of emotional expression (affective flattening), loss of motivation or self directedness (avolition), loss of speech (alogia), and also a loss of interests and pleasures (anhedonia). Positive symptoms include the perception of things that others do not perceive (hallucinations), and extraordinary explanations for ordinary events (delusions) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Both negative and positive symptoms are derived from watching the patient and thus do not consider the patient’s subjective experience. However, aspects of negative symptoms, such as observed affective flattening are highly contended. Within conventional psychiatry, the absence of emotional expression is assumed to coincide with an absence of emotional experience. Contrasting research findings suggests that patients who were observed to score low on displayed emotional expression, scored high on self ratings of emotional experience. Patients were also observed to be significantly lower on emotional expression when compared with others (Aghevli, Blanchard, & Horan, 2003; Selton, van der Bosch, & Sijben, 1998). It appears that there is little correlation between emotional experience and emotional expression in patients, and that observer ratings cannot help us to understand the subjective experience of the negative symptoms. This chapter will focus on research into the subjective experiences of negative symptoms. A framework for these experiences will be used from the qualitative research findings of the primary author (Le Lievre, 2010). In this study, the primary author found that subjective experiences of the negative symptoms belonged to one of the two phases of the illness experience; “transitioning into emotional shutdown” or “recovering from emotional shutdown”. This chapter will use the six themes from the phase of “transitioning into emotional shutdown”. This phase described the experience of turning the focus of attention away from the world and onto the self and the past, thus losing contact with the world and others (emotional shutdown). Transitioning into emotional shutdown involved; “not being acknowledged”, “relational confusion”, “not being expressive”, “reliving the past”, “detachment”, and “no sense of direction” (Le Lievre, 2010). Detail will be added to this framework of experience from other qualitative research in this area. We will now review the six themes that constitute a “transition into emotional shutdown” and corresponding previous research findings.