Jacques Saury

Analysis of contextual information sharing during table tennis matches: An empirical study of coordination in sports

Abstract This study examined contextual information sharing between table tennis players during competitive interaction (two opponents during singles) and cooperative interaction (two partners during doubles) in a study based on the notion of shared context (Salembier & Zouinar, 2000) and conducted within the semiological framework of the course‐of‐action (Theureau, 2003). Matches were videotaped and players’ verbalizations as they viewed the tapes were collected a posteriori. The analysis and comparison of their courses of action served to characterize the nature and content of the contextual information that was shared between the players during singles and doubles matches. The results revealed alternating forms of sharing (i.e., symmetrical sharing, asymmetrical sharing, and no sharing) and highlighted several processes for regulating contextual information sharing (i.e., inquiry, monitoring, displaying, masking, and focusing). The discussion is organized in three sections: (a) the changes in information that was shared between players during sports interactions, (b) the role of awareness during sports interactions, and (c) the relationship between information sharing and collective effectiveness during sports interactions

Activity organization and knowledge construction during competitive interaction in table tennis

Using a semiological framework and course-of-action theory, this study analyzes the activity of a top-level table tennis player during a match. Recorded data from an international meet was obtained and then supplemented by verbalization data from a post-match interview. The meaningful units that made up the players course of action were labelled so as to: (a) reconstruct the dynamics of the activity as the match took place, (b) point out how the players mode of involvement evolved, and (c) determine how knowledge was constructed in action. The player began the match by attempting to discover the particular features of the opponents play. This was followed by the reproduction of the effective actions just discovered. The players activity during the match did not consist of applying predefined plans, but included exploration, learning, disguising, and indetermination. The results raise the question of the role of practice and training in producing skillful performance.

Description of dynamic shared knowledge: an exploratory study during a competitive team sports interaction

This exploratory case study describes the sharedness of knowledge within a basketball team (nine players) and how it changes during an official match. To determine how knowledge is mobilised in an actual game situation, the data were collected and processed following course-of-action theory (Theureau 2003). The results were used to characterise the contents of the shared knowledge (i.e. regarding teammate characteristics, team functioning, opponent characteristics, opposing team functioning and game conditions) and to identify the characteristic types of change: (a) the reinforcement of a previous element of shared knowledge; (b) the invalidation of an element of shared knowledge; (c) fragmentation of an element of shared knowledge; (d) the creation of a new element of shared knowledge. The discussion deals with the diverse types of change in shared knowledge and the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of common ground within the team. Statement of Relevance:The present case study focused on how the cognitions of individual members of a team coordinate to produce a team performance (e.g. surgical teams in hospitals, military teams) and how the shared knowledge changes during team activity. Traditional methods to increase knowledge sharedness can be enhanced by making use of ‘opportunities for coordination’ to optimise team adaptiveness.

Temporal Aspects of Team Cognition: A Case Study on Concerns Sharing Within Basketball

This case study investigated team cognition in basketball. The focus was on how concerns in a real match situation were shared among teammates and how the sharedness evolved. The activity of five basketball players (M age = 17.60, SD = 0.89) was studied. The data were collected and processed according to a procedure defined for course-of-action analysis (Theureau, 2003). The results indicated that the instances when all the teammates shared the same typical concern were relatively rare, but temporal analysis revealed two kinds of convergence phenomena (simultaneous and progressive). In conclusion, shared understanding emerged within this team as essentially “local sharing of understanding.”

An analysis of a user's exploration and learning of a multimedia instruction system

Abstract In a situated-cognition framework, this article takes an ergonomic approach to describing and interpreting a user’s activity on a computer-assisted interactive learning environment. The environment was designed to improve sports instructors’ knowledge and understanding of some of the major issues in sports training. By focusing on the dynamics of the user-computer interaction, this exploratory study was aimed at validating the system prototype and proposing effective, user-friendly enhancements. The meaning the user grants to his/her actions and the organization of those actions are studied in reference to course-of-action theory. Observation data for a user was collected on-line and supplemented a posteriori by self-appraisal verbalization data. The results present a description and an explanation of the local and global organization of the user’s course of action. They demonstrate the complexity of his exploration and learning activity, how he activates and constructs knowledge during action, and his emotional states that alternate between feelings of apprehension, enjoyment, and effort. The implications of these results for the design of computer-assisted learning environments are discussed.

Performance analysis in sport: Contributions from a joint analysis of athletes’ experience and biomechanical indicators

The purpose of this study was to test the usefulness of combining two types of analysis to investigate sports performance with the aim of optimizing it. These two types of analysis correspond to two levels of athletes’ activity: (a) their experiences during performance and (b) the biomechanical characteristics of their movements. Rowing served as an illustration, and the activity of one female crew member was studied during a race. Three types of data were collected: (a) audiovisual data recorded during the race; (b) verbalization data obtained in interviews conducted afterward; and (c) biomechanical data. The courses of experience of the two rowers during the race were reconstructed on the basis of the audiovisual and verbalization data. This paper presents a detailed analysis of a single phenomenon of the race experienced by one of the rowers. According to the coaches, it reflected a dysfunction in crew coordination. The aim of this analysis was to identify the biomechanical characteristics of the rowers’ movements that might explain it. The results showed that the phenomenon could be explained principally by an amplitude differential between the two rowers’ strokes. On this basis, the coaches defined new training objectives to remedy the dysfunction in crew coordination.

Joint Action of a Pair of Rowers in a Race: Shared Experiences of Effectiveness Are Shaped by Interpersonal Mechanical States

The purpose of this study was to understand how a single pair of expert individual rowers experienced their crew functioning in natural conditions when asked to practice a joint movement for the first time. To fulfill this objective, we conducted a field study of interpersonal coordination that combined phenomenological and mechanical data from a coxless pair activity, to analyze the dynamics of the (inter)subjective experience compared with the dynamics of the team coordination. Using an enactivist approach to social couplings, these heterogeneous data were combined to explore the salience (and accuracy) of individuals’ shared experiences of their joint action. First, we determined how each rower experienced the continuous crew functioning states (e.g., feelings of the boat’s glide). Second, the phenomenological data helped us to build several categories of oar strokes (i.e., cycles), experienced by the rowers as either detrimentally or effectively performed strokes. Third, the mechanical signatures that correlated with each phenomenological category were tracked at various level of organization (i.e., individual-, interpersonal-, and boat-levels). The results indicated that (a) the two rowers did not pay attention to their joint action during most of the cycles, (b) some cycles were simultaneously lived as a salient, meaningful experience of either a detrimental (n = 15 cycles) or an effective (n = 18 cycles) joint action, and (c) the mechanical signatures diverged across the delineated phenomenological categories, suggesting that the way in which the cycles were experienced emerged from the variance in some mechanical parameters (i.e., differences in peak force level and mean force). Notably, the mechanical measures that helped to explain differences within the phenomenological categories were found at the interpersonal level of analysis, thus suggesting an intentional inter-personal mode of regulation of their joint action. This result is further challenged and discussed in light of extra-personal regulation processes that might concurrently explain why participants did not make an extensive salient experience of their joint action. We conclude that attempts to combine phenomenological and mechanical data should be pursued to continue the research on how individuals regulate the effectiveness of their joint actions’ dynamics.

Construction of Trust Judgments within Cooperative Dyads.

Introduction: One of the aims of physical education (PE) is to develop social skills such as cooperation, teamwork, and mutual helping among students. Cooperation is a broad research topic, implicating several disciplines in the human sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy). It is also an important topic in various domains of practice like organizational management, ergonomics, sports performance, and PE and sports pedagogy. Studies in sport have shown that cooperation between partners is not automatically produced by the cooperative structure of the learning tasks. In this exploratory study, we focused on the links between cooperation and trust judgments about ones partner. We characterized the processes by which students construct trust judgments in dyadic cooperative interactions during climbing lessons. This study was carried out within the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the ‘course of action.’ Method: Two middle-school students in 10th-grade participated in this study. They formed a fixed dyad based on personal affinity. During the four climbing lessons under study, the students alternated the roles of climber and belayer. Their behaviors and communications were recorded on video and after each session they participated in self-confrontation interviews. From these data, we then reconstructed their courses of experience and focused particularly on preoccupations, meaningful elements in the situation, and mobilized knowledge. The elements contributing to the construction of the climbers trust judgments about his belayer were identified. Changes in these judgments were characterized in relation to the modes of cooperation between the students. Twenty-seven climbs were analyzed. Results and discussion: The results showed that the climbers trust judgments focused on two dimensions of the belayers activity: the reliability of both the belay and his advice for success in the task. To build these trust judgments, the climber combined knowledge about his belayer (the partners climbing skills, his mastery of safety techniques, his familiarity with the climbing equipment, and his typical attitudes in class) and interpretations of the events during belayer–climber cooperation (the attention shown by the partner, his requests for advice from other students, and the teachers interventions). Moreover, the results showed the relationship between the development of each students trust judgments about his partner and the positive and negative dynamics of cooperation between the students. Three typical connections were identified between the climbers trust judgments about his partner and the climbers involvement in cooperation. The results are discussed on the basis of two points: (a) the dynamic and composite character of the construction of trust judgments and (b) the construction of trust judgments as a condition for genuine cooperation between students. The students in the situation of climber displayed typical processes to build a trust judgment about their partner, and this trust judgment appears to be an important element in promoting and regulating cooperative interactions between students. Conclusions: We propose pedagogical perspectives for teachers with regard to understanding trust judgments in climbing and student cooperation. We also suggest new research perspectives with the objective of fully elucidating the dimensions of trust involved in cooperation.

What does the questioning of expert coaches reveal about the biomechanical knowledge of forward ice hockey skating

Coaches and scientists share a preoccupation with understanding athletic performance. The aim of this study was to investigate coaches’ practical knowledge about forward ice hockey skating with reference to the biomechanical research findings in order to improve understanding of the skating task and encourage the design of more representative research. For this purpose, 10 expert ice hockey coaches were interviewed. Semistructured interviews were transcribed and meanings units were selected and grouped to build the main categories after verbatim analysis. The qualitative analysis revealed that the coaches detailed forward skating based on three categories: posture, lower limb kinematics, and arm movements. They used performance indicators to specify their practical knowledge. These indicators were generally consistent with recent biomechanical research and when the coaches held different opinions, they expressed intuitive ideas that often suggested new research perspectives. This study illustrates how the interaction of scientists and coaches, via their respective knowledge, can supply new research perspectives.

Petite enfance et scolarisation

Ce dossier presente des travaux recents, emanant de champs disciplinaires differents, concernant la petite enfance et la prescolarisation. S’interrogeant sur les evolutions de l’ecole maternelle et de son positionnement par rapport a l’ecole elementaire et aux structures non scolaires d’accueil et d’education des jeunes enfants, Pascale Garnier fait le constat d’une emprise croissante des orientations proprement scolaires, c’est-a-dire liees a l’ecole elementaire de l’ecole maternelle. Christophe Joigneaux analyse quant a lui, les processus de differenciation et de production d’inegalites des l’ecole maternelle, au sens ou ces processus apparaissent a ce niveau de la scolarite dans des domaines et des pratiques relevant de la raison graphique et de la forme scolaire, et qui sont a la fois pregnants des ce niveau de la scolarite et de plus en plus importants dans la suite du cursus. Ceci conduit l’auteur a interroger et a nuancer la pertinence de la distinction ou du Grand Partage entre formes orales pratiques et formes scripturo-scolaires, pour rendre compte de ces processus de differenciation precoces et des suivants. Enfin, Pierre Roques et al. ont etudie les modes de gestion et d’usage de l’espace interpersonnel chez les enfants de petite section de maternelle. Ils ont mis en evidence trois modes de gestion de cet espace, dont la stabilite durant l’annee scolaire et la mise en relation avec les modalites de participation sociale permettent de penser qu’ils relevent d’un developpement comportemental contribuant a la construction et a la differenciation des capacites interactives des enfants. Ce dossier apporte donc des connaissances et reflexions nouvelles sur un objet, l’ecole maternelle, qui a ete recemment au centre de debats et controverses, qu’il ne manquera pas d’eclairer.