Although being physically active while exposed to nature may have synergistic health benefits and help develop environmental values, many youth today are inactive and disengaged from the natural environment. The purpose of this study was to explore adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, skills, behaviours, and general perspectives on engaging with the environment through physical activity using a social marketing lens. Social marketing is a behaviour change strategy that involves the ‘use of marketing principles and techniques to influence a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, modify, or abandon a behaviour for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society as a whole’. To address this purpose, three research questions were answered: what are youths’ perspectives of and experiences with physical activity in the natural environment; what strategies do youth recommend for engaging with nature as a way to be active, and; how do participants’ Photovoice projects on health and nature, including subsequent discussion of these projects, influence their conscientization of health in relation to nature? A purposive sample of eight grade 12 students enrolled in an elective sustainability and eco-education course participated in this study. Participants were asked to express their perspectives on being physically active in nature by completing a Photovoice project (including photos and captions) and engaging in group discussion. The action component of Photovoice was fulfilled through a presentation to the local school board. Thematic analyses of discussion transcripts, Photovoice projects, and presentation notes were guided by a social marketing lens. Themes described these youth in terms of relevant product, purchaser, price, place, and promotion for the subject of physical activity in nature. The youth believed engaging in nature through physical activity provided them with freedom, excitement, creativity, and relaxation, along with health and educational benefits, and had few or no disadvantages. Suggested strategies for engagement were framed in the shape of a tree to describe their applicability to youth at different present levels of engagement, ranging from simply spending time in nature (the roots), to challenging oneself by interaction with nature, thus resulting in better health (the branches). The Photovoice projects led to increased awareness of human-nature relationships for participants. Themes may inform decision makers of youth perspectives and thus guide development of future programs and initiatives in this area.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine social cognitive constructs as predictors of preoperative exercise (PE) in a sample of individuals waiting for total joint replacement (TJR) surgery using the framework of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Methods: Participants (N = 78) were individuals waiting for TJR at the two major urban centres on Vancouver Island, Canada who completed measures of the SCT (barrier self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, self regulation, task efficacy & sociocultural factors of pain, physical function and neighbourhood walking environment) framed for (PE). Results: Independent t-tests suggested no differences between type of surgery (hip versus knee), gender or age for PE (p<.05). Over half of the sample was considered inactive (55%) using a definition of physical activity as accumulating at least 30 minutes of exercise at a moderate or vigorous intensity at least 3 days per week in bouts of 10 minutes or more. Bivariate correlations relating to PE were significant (p<.05) between self regulation (SR) (.25), task efficacy for exercise (TEE) (.27) and pain (-.28). Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that SR (β=.17) and TEE (β=.20) explained 10% of the variance in PE behaviour, but were not significant predictors of PE independently. The addition of pain to the regression analysis added 4% of the explained variance, and remained the only significant predictor (p<.05) of Pe behaviour. Conclusions: SCT showed modest capability in predicting PE in this sample, suggesting further testing of theoretical models is warranted in this area. These findings highlight the influence of pain on exercise before TJR surgery, and support the importance of considering individual factors such as pain when designing targeted interventions to increase activity in this population.

This thesis comprises one review paper and five experimental studies, all of which are presented in the form of journal article submissions. These six research papers attempt to further our understanding of the physiological and metabolic requirements of repeated-sprint activity, specific to field-based team sports. Although coaches and sport scientists have suggested that repeated-sprint ability is an important fitness component of team sports, this area of investigation has only become more common in the past 10 years.

[ Truncated abstract] The purpose of this series of studies was to further our understanding of the relationship between muscle buffer capacity and training. Study one was performed to determine if there were differences in muscle buffer capacity (βmin-vitro) between females of differing training status (i.e., team-sport, endurance-trained and untrained subjects). Studies two and three were then performed to determine if short-term training could improve muscle buffer capacity and what type of training best improves this muscle characteristic (i.e., high-intensity, moderate-intensity or resistance training). Studies four and five were performed to determine if the accumulation of H+ during exercise was a mechanism by which training improved muscle buffer capacity. Below is a summary of these five studies. Study 1. The team-sport group had a significantly higher βmin-vitro than either the endurance-trained or the untrained groups (181 ± 27 v 148 ± 11 v 122 ± 32 'mol H+?g dm-1?pH-1 respectively; P<0.05). The team-sport group also completed significantly more relative total work (299 ± 27 v 263 ± 31 v 223 ± 21 J?kg-1, respectively; P<0.05) and absolute total work (18.2 ± 1.6 v 14.6 ± 2.4 v 13.0 ± 1.9 kJ, respectively; P<0.05) than the endurance-trained or untrained groups during a repeated sprint ability (RSA) test. There was a significant correlation between βmin-vitro and RSA (r=0.67; P<0.05). These findings show that young females competing in team sports have a larger βmin-vitro than either endurance-trained or untrained females. This may be the result of the intermittent, high-intensity activity during training and the match play of team-sport athletes... Conclusions. Our results show that training intensity is an important determinant of muscle buffer capacity. High-intensity interval training (120-150% LT) improved muscle buffer capacity (9 27%), however, neither moderate-intensity or resistance training improved muscle buffer capacity. In contrast higher training intensity (150-180% LT) may negatively affect muscle buffer capacity. Differences in the accumulation of H+ during high-intensity interval training does not appear to be the underlying mechanism for changes to muscle buffer capacity, however changes to this muscle characteristic were associated with pre-training muscle buffer capacity.

[Truncated abstract] Enjoyable physical education (PE) has the potential to promote adolescent involvement in healthy activities outside the school setting. Disturbingly, evidence exists that many students do not enjoy PE and do not believe that it meets their needs. Indeed, a number of studies have documented an age-related decline in PE enjoyment among students. The research reported here is based on the assumption that a deeper understanding of the enjoyment processes could guide researchers and assist teachers in making PE classes more enjoyable for students. Given the fact that enjoyment is a product of multiple processes, a model of enjoyment developed by Scanlan and Lewthwaite (1986) was viewed as a potentially useful framework to guide this research. The validity of this model has been established in youth sport settings. However, further studies are needed to examine the utility of this framework in PE settings. In STUDY 1 (Chapter 3), a measurement instrument was constructed based on the Scanlan and Lewthwaite (1986) model. Content validity of the instrument was established by obtaining feedback from eight experts in psychology and four highly experienced secondary school teachers. ... Moreover, the results of correlation analyses again revealed significant positive relationships between PE teaching processes and enjoyment of PE. Unique findings in this study centered on the specific aspects of PA that were positively related to PE enjoyment. More v specifically, significant positive relationships were also obtained between PE enjoyment and self-reports of exercise duration (min-per-week: r = .30, p <.001), exercise intensity (r = .28, p < .001), exercise habit strength (r = .29, p < .001), and exercise stage-of-change (rho = .23, p < .001). Together, the findings from these studies provide support for the Scanlan and Lewthwaite (1986) model within the PE context. In addition, the findings provide guidance about how PA programs can be structured to maximize student enjoyment of PE. In terms of program structure, student enjoyment may be fostered by considering six processes. These processes are: self-referent competency, other-referent competency, teacher-generated excitement, activity-generated excitement, peer interaction, and parental encouragement. By emphasizing these processes, teachers will not only increase student enjoyment of PE but also increase the likelihood of involvement in PA outside of the school setting. Given global trends toward decreases in PA and increases in obesity, these outcomes could have important benefits for reducing public health costs in future.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Hons.))--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1998. / p. 14 missing. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-203) and appendices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Charles Imwold, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Sport Management, Recreation Management, and Physical Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (Jan. 12, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Orientador: Luiz Alberto Lorenzetto / Resumo: Aliando-se estudos que têm focalizado atenção nas representações que professores de educação física possuem a respeito dos corpos dos seus alunos àqueles que têm diagnosticado certo descontentamento dos alunos frente à prática pedagógica/corporal dos seus professores, a questão da corporeidade parece evidenciar-se primordial para a práxis da educação física escolar. Pois, ser corpo, é estar no mundo sensível e inteligentemente através de um diálogo de aprendizagem, no sentido de vivenciar atitudes e encontrar corpos mais enriquecidos vital e emocionalmente. É saber olhar expressões e desejos deste corpo e do corpo ao lado. Assim, objetivou-se investigar o processo de construção do sentido de corporeidade do professor de educação física do ensino médio público estadual em relação à sua atuação profissional. Participaram deste estudo, cinco professores, selecionados aleatoriamente, pertencentes à região de Rio Claro/SP; sendo três mulheres e dois homens, com idade variando entre 27 e 53 anos. Todos eram licenciados e formaram-se em faculdades ou universidades do Estado de São Paulo no final das décadas de 70 e 90. Como procedimento metodológico, para interpretar as entrevistas semi-estruturadas realizadas com aqueles, optou-se pela análise de discurso. Subsidiando a interpretação das entrevistas, seis aulas foram observadas, de modo participativo ou não, de cada um dos professores. Em linhas gerais, a análise de discurso nos direciona à uma leitura ampliada de mundo, assumindo-se também sua incompletude; procurando assim, mais que interpretar o significado, compreender o processo discursivo do sujeito historicamente constituído. Após análise dos resultados obtidos, foi possível inferir que a forma como os professores entrevistados entendem e traduzem a visão de corpo e consequente corporeidade, influencia na maneira como ministram suas aulas de educação física, no delineamento dos conteúdos... / Abstract: Comparing studies that have been focusing attention on representations that physical education teachers have about their students body to ones that have identified a kind of students unhappiness to pedagogical/body practice of their teachers, the "corporeidade" question seems to show up as special to school physical education praxis. Because, to be a body is to be in a sensible world in an intelligent way through a learning dialogue, in a sense of living attitudes and finding bodies richer in vital and emotional sense. It is to know how to look at expressions and desires of the body and the body beside. Thus, it was purpose to investigate the process of construction of body sense of physical education teacher of public high school in relation to his profession. Participated of this study, five teachers, anybody's guess selected, from Rio Claro/SP City, being three women and two men, aged between 27 to 53 years old. All of them were licensed and they had studied on São Paulo State on 70's and 90's. As a methodological proceeding, to interpret the semi-structured interview done with them it was opted for the speech analyses. Subsidizing the interpretation of interviews, six classes were observed, in a participate way and not, of each teacher. In a general way, the speech analyses give us a direction to an amplified view of the world, assuming its incompleteness; trying to interpret the meaning, comprehend the discursive process of subject historically constituted. After analyses of results, it was possible to infer that the way as teachers interviewed understand and translate the body vision and consequently the "corporeidade", has an influence in the way they teach their physical education classes in outlining of contends and purposes and in their posture to their students; constituting a process marked by the kinds of body experience that they have had in their personal and professional trajectory of life / Mestre