University of South Australia

About: University of South Australia is a education organization based out in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 10086 authors who have published 32587 publications receiving 913683 citations. The organization is also known as: The University of South Australia & UniSA.

Secular changes in pediatric aerobic fitness test performance: the global picture.

Abstract: Introduction: Current attitudes towards secular changes in pediatric aerobic fitness are highly polarized, both in the popular and scientific literature. Few studies have actually quantified secular changes in pediatric aerobic fitness, with most making only informal comparisons. The aim of this study therefore, was to quantify the global change in pediatric aerobic fitness test performance. Methods: Following an extensive review of the literature, 33 pediatric studies examining secular changes in maximal field running tests of aerobic performance were analyzed. Secular changes were calculated at the country X study X age X sex X test level using least squares linear regression weighted by the square root of sample size. All secular changes were expressed as a percentage of the weighted mean value for all data points in the regression. Negative values indicated performance declines, and positive values improvements. Results: Secular changes in aerobic performance were calculated for 25,455,527 6- to 19-year-old from 27 countries (representing five geographical regions) between 1958 and 2003. Over the 45-year period, there has been a global decline in aerobic performance of -0.36% per annum. Secular changes have been very consistent across age, sex, and geographical groups. The pattern of change however, was not consistent over time, with improvements from the late 1950s until about 1970, and declines of increasing magnitude every decade thereafter. Discussion/Conclusion: This study provides the most comprehensive picture to date, of the global change in pediatric aerobic performance. It shows that there has been a precipitous decline in pediatric aerobic performance since 1970, a pattern which is not observed in pediatric anaerobic performance. This secular decline may result from a network of social, behavioral, physical, psychosocial and physiological factors.

Physical Activity of Children: A Global Matrix of Grades Comparing 15 Countries

Abstract: The Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth has been effective in powering the movement to get kids moving by influencing priorities, policies, and practice in Canada. The AHKC Report Card process was replicated in 14 additional countries from 5 continents using 9 common indicators (Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behavior, Family and Peers, School, Community and Built Environment, and Government Strategies and Investments), a harmonized process and a standardized grading framework. The 15 Report Cards were presented at the Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto on May 20, 2014. The consolidated findings are summarized here in the form of a global matrix of grades. There is a large spread in grades across countries for most indicators. Countries that lead in certain indicators lag in others. Overall, the grades for indicators of physical activity (PA) around the world are low/poor. Many countries have insufficient information to assign a grade, particularly for the Active Play and Family and Peers indicators. Grades for Sedentary Behaviors are, in general, better in low income countries. The Community and Built Environment indicator received high grades in high income countries and notably lower grades in low income countries. There was a pattern of higher PA and lower sedentary behavior in countries reporting poorer infrastructure, and lower PA and higher sedentary behavior in countries reporting better infrastructure, which presents an interesting paradox. Many surveillance and research gaps and weaknesses were apparent. International cooperation and cross-fertilization is encouraged to tackle existing challenges, understand underlying mechanisms, derive innovative solutions, and overcome the expanding childhood inactivity crisis.

Current state and future trends: a citation network analysis of the learning analytics field

Abstract: This paper provides an evaluation of the current state of the field of learning analytics through analysis of articles and citations occurring in the LAK conferences and identified special issue journals. The emerging field of learning analytics is at the intersection of numerous academic disciplines, and therefore draws on a diversity of methodologies, theories and underpinning scientific assumptions. Through citation analysis and structured mapping we aimed to identify the emergence of trends and disciplinary hierarchies that are influencing the development of the field to date. The results suggest that there is some fragmentation in the major disciplines (computer science and education) regarding conference and journal representation. The analyses also indicate that the commonly cited papers are of a more conceptual nature than empirical research reflecting the need for authors to define the learning analytics space. An evaluation of the current state of learning analytics provides numerous benefits for the development of the field, such as a guide for under-represented areas of research and to identify the disciplines that may require more strategic and targeted support and funding opportunities.