Discussion Board Activities - Module 7

1.  7.26 Discussion Board Activity  
2.  7.27 Discussion Board Activity
3.  7.48 Discussion Board Activity - Case Study
4.  Online Application Journal
You will probably want to print this page so that you have the assignment in front of you as you interact in the discussion rooms.

7.26 Discussion Board Activity

After reading the course materials, as a member of your small group (Comets, Liberty, Monarchs, etc.), you are to discuss how a coach or physical education teacher might recognize arousal, cognitive anxiety, and somatic anxiety in an athlete or student preparing for a competitive event.  In your discussion, you are to demonstrate that you understand the terms arousal, anxiety, and stress, and that you can apply the concepts related to the multidimensional nature of anxiety.  This is a discussion, so you may start the discussion and/or comment on the posts of others. 

However, these should be a substantive posts.  

• Reflection about meaning: Describe thoughtfully what something means or new insights it provides, or raise a question as a seed for clarification or further discussion.
• Analysis: Discuss relevant themes, concepts, main ideas, components, or relationships among ideas. Or, identify hidden assumptions or fallacies in reasoning.
• Elaboration: Build on ideas of others or ideas found in the readings by adding details, examples, a different viewpoint, or other relevant information.
• Application: Provide examples of how principles or concepts can be applied to actual situations, or discuss the implications of theory for practice.
• Synthesis: Integrate multiple views to provide a summary, a new perspective, or a creative refashioning of ideas.
• Evaluation: Assess the accuracy, reasonableness, or quality of ideas.

7.27 Discussion Board Activity

Here's a Discussion Board Activity for you to do on your own.  Choose one of the following application activities. Conduct the activity, and post your findings to your small group (Comets, Liberty, Monarchs, etc.). 

Remember, pick one!

1.  Ask five coaches and five athletes to explain the difference between arousal and emotion. Then ask them to describe the characteristics of an athlete who is under-aroused and one who is over-aroused. Analyze the similarities and differences of the answers given by the two groups. (Alternatively, you may interview former coaches and athletes.)  Post your analysis under "Athletes vs. Coaches" to your small group. 

2.  Observe five athletes for signs of arousal in the locker room before an important contest (this may be athletes at any level of competition). Describe their behavior.  Post your descriptions under "Locker Room Athletes" to your small group.  

3.  Interview three athletes about how they feel when they are really "on their game," and then when they are playing poorly.  Record the general comments and compare the responses.  Are they similar?  Can you detect both arousal and anxiety?  Do they talk about somatic and cognitive anxiety?  (Alternatively, you may interview three former athletes.)  Post the answers to these questions under "Athletes on Their Game" to your small group.

By Friday, April 13, 2007:
Post your findings to your small group (Comets, Liberty, Monarchs, etc.).  Feel free to comment on the posts of any students in any of the three threads.

7.48 Discussion Board Activity - Case Study

By Friday, April 13, 2007:
Begin work on your case study within your small group.

The case study discussion room activity is related to one of the objectives for this module:  Given a theory and a sport situation, apply the theory to predict the athlete's performance in that hypothetical situation.   

Below is the hypothetical situation.  Which theory you are to apply to this case study is posted below by your group list.  Think about the case.  Think about the theory.  According to the theory, what might explain past performances?  What would the theory predict regarding the upcoming performance?  What might you do as a parent, as the coach, as a teammate, as an athletic trainer, or as a sport psychologist to help the athlete perform close to her capabilities?

Case Study: Junior National Sprinter

Susan is a 19-year old 400 meter runner who is a member of the USA 4 x 400 meter relay team.  At the the World Junior Track and Field Championships, Susan ran poorly in the qualifying heats, especially in the final 80 meters of the race.  During this stage of her race, she faded badly in the stretch and lost the lead the two previous runners had given her.  The USA team did, however, qualify for the final.

On the day of the finals, Susan's teammates approach you and ask you to speak to her since she appears very "nervous" about the upcoming final race.  After speaking with Susan, it becomes apparent that she is confident, but over-aroused regarding the upcoming race.  She relates to you that it is difficult for her to control her energy which becomes "bottled up" inside her prior to and during the early stages of her races.

Using the theoretical perspective assigned to your group, answer these questions: (1) According to the theory, what might explain past performances?  (2) What would the theory predict regarding the upcoming performance?  (3) What might you do as a parent, as the coach, as a teammate, as an athletic trainer, or as a sport psychologist to help the athlete perform close to her capabilities?

By Tuesday, April 17, 2007:
Post your group's response to Discussion Board under Case Study.  Individually comment on the similarities and differences in the theoretical explanations.  Does one seem to explain and predict performance better than the others?  Why do you think so?  

You are to work in your same groups again. 

Online Application Journal 

At the end of each module, you will be asked to post one message in your Groups discussion board that: (1) identifies and discusses at least three major concepts, principles, or ideas gained from the readings and (2) describes briefly why the ideas are important or useful to you; that is, what is your understanding of each concept and what are the implications of each concept for your professional practice or how could they be applied in a sport context?

The aim of the online application journal is threefold:
(1) it demonstrates that you can discuss in your own words concepts from the readings,
(2) it provides a vehicle for relating course content to a "real-world" context or your own work applications, and
(3) it creates a portfolio of shared ideas as a knowledge product for the group. 

These posts are to be substantive posts, and will be evaluated based on the same rubric as before.

Journal Group Membership
You will keep the same journal group membership throughout the semester. 

By Wednesday, April 18, 2007: 
Post your journal entry to your appropriate journal group in our Discussion Board.  Respond to the journal posts of at least one other member in your group.