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Journal of Physical Activity and Health
Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko
In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that higher education in the United States is experiencing somewhat of a paradigm shift. We are being challenged to reform our institutions in order to respond to changing societal needs resulting from the fast-paced, digital transformation of industries, societal systems, and our daily lives. The member institutions of the American Academy of Kinesiology will need to think long and hard about how they will respond to these challenges. America’s universities have a responsibility to be a catalyst for the human-centric, technology-driven transformation of sectors such as transportation, agriculture, medicine, public health, clean energy, and manufacturing, among others, and to provide the vision, leadership, and innovation that such workforce transformation demands. Within the academy, we rightly take great pride in our long-standing contributions to the development and deployment of breakthrough discoveries and innovations that have contributed to the transformation of society. However, we have begun to realize that our institutions will need to bring this same commitment to innovation to our teaching, curricula, and instructional programs. Addressing these new areas of need and opportunity will require institutional innovation and reform, for us and for the postsecondary education sector generally. I believe that American Kinesiology Association member departments can play a significant role in the transformation of higher education at our institutions. I am delighted that the American Kinesiology Association has begun to think through how these changes will impact the future of our discipline. I am both optimistic and excited about the many ways that American Kinesiology Association member institutions will continue to play a leading role in the new higher education reality.
Ryan G. Bailey and Martin J. Turner
Research into the psychology of coaching has been somewhat neglected in comparison to research on the psychological development of athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a brief online rational-emotive-behavioral-therapy (REBT) program on coach irrational beliefs and well-being. Coaching staff from an elite international canoeing team (N = 4) took part in a three-session (30- to 40-min) REBT program. Participants completed measures of irrational beliefs and mental well-being at preintervention, postintervention, and follow-up (1 month) time points. Visual analyses and social validation revealed that the intervention reduced irrational beliefs and enhanced mental well-being in two participants. However, REBT was more effective for some coaches than others, and follow-up data indicated a return to base levels in some coaches. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed, alongside practitioner reflections.
Journal of Physical Activity and Health
Journal of Physical Activity & Health
Kara K. Palmer, Adam Pennell, Bryan Terlizzi, Michael A. Nunu, David F. Stodden, and Leah E. Robinson
This study (a) examined the associations among different performance metrics derived from different strategies (i.e., maximum and average scores) and trials from product-oriented measures of motor skills, and (b) explored how different performance metrics from product-oriented assessments of motor skills change in young children with typical development. Children (N = 279; 156 girls; M age = 4.44 years) completed a battery of product-oriented assessments for throwing (in meters per second, five trials); kicking (in meters per second, five trials); jumping (in centimeters, five trials); running (in meters per second, two trials); and hopping (in meters per second, four trials—two preferred foot, two nonpreferred foot). A total of 36 performance metrics were derived—throw (n = 7), kick (n = 7), jump (n = 7), run (n = 4), and hop (n = 11). Intraclass correlations examined reliability among performance metrics for each skill; linear mixed models examined whether variations changed across early childhood. There was excellent reliability among all performance metrics for each skill (all ICC > .90). Linear mixed models revealed that children’s motor performance improved for two metrics of the throw, five variations of the jump, and three metrics of the hop (all p < .05). Researchers should be aware that some performance metrics from product-oriented assessments (e.g., maximum and average of three or five trials) are highly related and change, whereas others do not.
