Introduction to Scientific Thinking and Research in Sport

Description

- To understand and integrate the importance of scientific thinking and research done in Sports Sciences. - To get acquainted with the main research topics in Sport Sciences conducted in FADEUP. - To know the main scientific methods used in Sports Sciences. - To identify Sports Science research problems and translate them into research studies. - To understand and integrate the importance of data analysis in research carried out in Sports Sciences. - To know ways of formulating substantive research questions and translating them into Statistics terms. - To know how to calculate and interpret data from different sources (univariate and bivariate) from simple Descriptive statistics techniques - To know how to formulate hypotheses in Statistical terms, test them, and interpret results adequately. - To deal confidently with Excel and SPSS software or free distribution equivalents, know their basic commands and dialog windows dealing with data analysis, and have a proper interpretation of main outputs. - To know how to extract relevant results from Excel and SPSS outputs (or free distribution equivalents), how to do hand calculations from the main issues dealt with in class. - Scientific thinking and research problems in Sport Sciences. - Problem formulation in Sport Sciences from the perspective of practical examples. - Methodological paradigms – qualitative and quantitative. - Introduction to the quantitative methodology from the perspective of research done in FADEUP. - Data analysis and graphical representations. - Measures of central tendency, dispersion and order. - Inferential statistics. - Association between variables. - Mean comparisons. - Non-parametric tests. - The objectives are formulated to provide students with a comprehensive understanding, focused primarily on the essential knowledge domain of scientific thinking and research in Sports. It is intended that students acquire the necessary skills to understand and apply scientific methods and research processes in sports, thus contributing to their academic and professional development. - Scientific methods, and particularly quantitative methods, are of great utility in the analysis of fundamental aspects of the practice of the Physical Education teacher and sports coach, and the program contains the fundamental elements for this. - 3. The classes are divided into two domains: theoretical and application of knowledge in practical situations, which is consonant with the contents of the subjects in the face of a strong technical component, i.e., a high level of literacy in information technology and data analysis. The main strategies are: (1) “theoretical” classes will provide the essence of each topic to which links will be made to practical problems; (2) practical classes will come back to all theoretical issues providing opportunities for “hand-solving” problems; (3) each student must present, in each class, the solution of one problem, exposing their reasoning. We aim at autonomy development in problem-solving together with their oral presentation. Assessment/evaluation: designation Weight (%) Exame 100,00 Total: 100,00 SIGARRA mobility teaching-language note: Portuguese. Incoming mobility students choose course units through SIGARRA and a Learning Agreement. U.Porto states that one ECTS credit corresponds to 27 hours of total student work, the standard load is 30 ECTS per semester or 60 ECTS per academic year, students are strongly advised to register for at least 20 ECTS per semester, and enrolment is subject to timetable compatibility, prerequisites, vacancies, and later programme changes.