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To improve the badminton skills learning of students, this study proposed the portfolio-based WISER model, which combines tablets for instantaneous recording and Facebook for e-portfolios. The 97 learners in the experimental group (EG) were taught with tablets and Facebook, and the 102 learners in the control group (CG) were taught with traditional teaching methods. The paired sample t test and ANCOVA were used for statistical analysis. The posttests of smashing and footwork in the EG and CG were both significantly higher than those on the pretests. The posttest scores for smashing were significantly higher in the EG than those in the CG. For pretest scores were higher than 7.66 or lower than 5.09, the posttest footwork scores were significantly higher in the EG than in the CG. The proposed portfolio-based WISER model can help students reinforce their understanding of badminton skills and improve their skill learning.

In the staging of many sport events, ranging from grassroots to mega-events, volunteers have become a vital component of the sport industry. This study aimed to examine the sport volunteering behaviour and well-being of young adults within the framework of the theory of planned behaviour. Participants were 347 college students (61% males; M age = 19.80 years, SD = 1.69) majoring in sport and physical education. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intention, behaviour, and well-being were measured in different ways with a two-time-point design. The results revealed that perceived behavioural control positively influenced both volunteering intention and behaviour and that sport volunteering behaviour effectively predicted well-being. However, attitude and subjective norms did not influence intention. This study provides practical implications not only for sport volunteerism researchers but also for managers in developing strategies for recruiting and managing sport volunteers., Author(s): Wan Chen Lu [sup.1] , Chih-Fu Cheng [sup.2] , Shin-Huei Lin [sup.3] , Mei-Yen Chen [sup.4] Author Affiliations: (Aff1) 0000 0004 0546 0241, grid.19188.39, Department of Athletics, National Taiwan [...]

Previous research has encouraged a cultural specific framework to be developed through research in Asian countries, such as China, to help internationalize the findings and help athletes to adapt them to their society and culture. Based on a socioecological framework, this study investigated how social-ecological determinants affect elite student athletes' (ESA) experience of the socialization process of dual career development in Hong Kong and Taiwan. We interviewed eight ESAs who trained at the national level, studying simultaneously at universities in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Grounded theory techniques and procedures were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that ESAs are affected by interrelated determinants at different levels: individual (career aims, identities, roles, characters, self-efficacy, and motivation), micro-level (coaches, teammates, parents, siblings, physical education [PE] teachers, other teachers, alumni, seniors, and classmates), meso-level (interrelations between individual and micro-level), exo-level (government, financial, policy, academic, medical, and parent-teacher association), macro-level (attitudes, norms, values, beliefs, resources, and culture), and chrono-level (transition).

Training camps or exchange visits offered to schools and sports clubs in various team sports have attracted considerable attention in terms of their commercial value. The purpose of this study was to construct, develop and validate a Scale of Market Demand (SMD) associated with overseas sports training program. Based on the literature review, four factors were identified that may influence the decision of sports teams to participate in overseas sports training programs. The instrument appeared to be reliable and valid to measure the market demand of sports training tourism. Highlights This study examined the dimensions of market demand for overseas sports training programs and its results have specific relevance to the general marketing of sports training tourism. The instrument, Scale of Market Demand (SMD). appeared to be reliable and valid to measure the market demand of sports training tourism. The development of this instrument (SMD) can serve as a foundation to understand the concept of sport training tourism and its constructs and composition, which can further be utilized to examine the reasons that cause, channel, and sustain this growing segment of sport business activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Alcoholic hepatitis is a necroinflammatory process that is associated with fibrosis and leads to cirrhosis in 40% of cases. The hepatoprotective effects of red mold dioscorea (RMD) from Monascus purpureus NTU 568 were evaluated in vivo using a mouse model of chronic alcohol‐induced liver disease (ALD). RESULTS: ALD mice were orally administered vehicle (ALD group) or vehicle plus 307.5, 615.0 or 1537.5 mg kg–1 (1 ×, 2 × and 5 ×) RMD for 5 weeks. RMD lowered serum leptin, hepatic total cholesterol, free fatty acid and hepatic triglyceride levels and increased serum adiponectin, hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase and antioxidant enzyme levels. Furthermore, ankaflavin (AK) and monascin (MS), metabolites of RMD fermented with M. purpureus 568, induced peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ expression and the concomitant suppression of ethanol‐induced elevation of sterol regulatory element‐binding transcription factor‐1 and TG in HepG2 cells. CONCLUSION: These results indicate the hepatoprotective effect of Monascus‐fermented RMD. Moreover, AK and MS were identified as the active constituents of RMD for the first time and were shown to protect against ethanol‐induced liver damage. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]