Manolis Adamakis

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | uoa · School of Physical Education and Sport Science

Purpose Given the many policies and interventions aimed at increasing physical activity (PA), it is important to understand how levels of PA, sport participation and active travel change over time. The purpose of this study is to assess the participation levels of children and adolescents in sport, PA and active travel in Northern Ireland (NI) and...

Typical school provision of physical education, physical activity and sports, which is reflective of the school’s response to the national curriculum, available resources and school ethos, may impact adolescent mental health and wellbeing. Systematic literature reviews have not yet considered this impact. The Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, PsychINFO,...

Brain injury is often mistaken for a low incidence educational consideration addressed minimally in pre-service teacher training, with persistent misconceptions reported in the international literature (Linden, Braiden and Miller, 2013; Ernst et al., 2016; Buck and Mckinlay, 2021). This is an under-researched area in Irish education field. This mix...

This Special Issue seeks to provide a forum for high-quality research, which contributes important and innovative insights into teaching and learning in Physical Education (PE), as well as addressing new scientific perspectives and evidence-based practices in PE. We aim to develop public pedagogies and knowledge in the interests of critical educat...

A scoping review was carried out on the literature relating to the evaluation of the implementation of quality physical education (QPE) programmes and related outcomes on final-stage primary-level pupils' attitudes towards physical education (ATPE), physical activity behaviour (PAB), mental wellbeing (MWB) and academic achievement (AA). The scoping...

Wearable technologies have become powerful tools for health and fitness and are indispensable everyday tools for many individuals; however, significant limitations exist related to the validity of the metrics these monitors purport to measure. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to validate the step count of three wearable monitors (i.e., Ya...

Like most school subjects and their respective mother sciences and research areas, physical education faces severe challenges caused by recent political and social developments. Due to the implementation of international guidelines and increased immigration, inclusion and intercultural learning, as well as corresponding teacher training, will be cr...

This chapter presents a summary of findings of a series of reviews of the scientific literature on the current evidence of the contributions of different school-based settings on the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity. The objectives of this review are: to review evidence from the last ten years of the contributions of school-based phy...

The Healthy and Physically Active Schools project aimed at building up the capacity of school-related stakeholders (e.g., teachers, educators, school headmasters) when it comes to the improvement of school-based physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents, as well as their healthy lifestyles in general. (HEPAS; https://www.movingschoolsawar...

Basic motor competencies (BMC) belong to the key learning goals of Physical Education (PE) in primary school curricula in Europe. These competencies are necessary to participate in sports inside and outside of school. Children should therefore achieve age-adequate BMC in PE and any need for educational motor support should be identified at an early...

Previous research has shown that university students’ decision to use social networks for academic reasons is influenced by several factors. However, until today there is no validated instrument measuring the factors that influence undergraduates to migrate to online networks for educational purposes. The aim of this study was to propose and valida...

During the last 40 years, sport didactics in Greece has witnessed the emergence of major reforms and modernization attempts. Aligned with the changes in contemporary society, holistic approaches and interdisciplinary practices have been brought into the foreground by researchers and educational policy makers, who have pointed out the need to study...

The growing popularity of wearable physical activity (PA) monitors and fitness applications (apps) in recent years and the vast amounts of data that they generate present attractive possibilities for surveillance. However, measurement accuracy is indispensable when tracking PA variables to provide meaningful measures of PA. The purpose of this stud...

The aim of this chapter is to identify the importance of structured play activities in children’s holistic development, particularly in the development of social skills. It consists of two sections: a theoretical and a practical section. The theoretical section focuses on structured physical activities such as integrated and organized/cooperative a...

The coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has given rise to significant global challenges across education, and specifically in the physical education teacher education (PETE) community. Students attending teacher education programmes during the Covid-19 pandemic have experienced an abrupt and unprecedented pedagogical transition from a face-to-face...

Basic motor competencies (BMC) are a prerequisite for children to be physically active, participate in sports and thus develop a healthy, active lifestyle. The present study provides a broad screening of BMC and associations with age, sex, body mass index (BMI) and extracurricular physical activity (PA) in 10 different European countries. The diffe...

A number of measures and policies have been implemented globally since March 2020 to combat the spread of COVID-19, including restrictions on movement, activities , and sport. This desk study explores published research investigating the impact of COVID-19 on physical activity and sports participation, as well as published recommendations and natio...

During the HEPAS project, so-called Multiplier Events for the dissemination of the project results and resources took place in 15 European countries in the format of a school staff training. In a training evaluation survey, data from 94 participants in trainings in five European countries (Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, and Romania) was collec...

In the framework of the HEPAS project a teacher training toolkit was developed to support the implementation of the project’s outcomes. The aim is to assist mainly the schools’ representatives (mostly Physical Education teachers and principals), as well as the representatives of organizations who can support schools on their way to become Healthy a...

This study aimed to determine the net energy expenditure (EENET) required for overground walking and running 1200 m in a sample of healthy adolescent boys and girls. A secondary purpose was to describe the effect of body composition on energy expenditure (EE) of walking versus running. Twenty healthy adolescents (9 boys, 11 girls) aged 15.85 ± 2.80...

Abstract: Lack of physical activity is a global public health problem causing not only morbidity and premature mortality, but it is also a major economic burden worldwide. One of the cornerstones of a physically active lifestyle is Motor Competence (MC). MC is a complex biocultural attribute and therefore, its study requires a multi-sectoral, multi...

The growing popularity of physical activity (PA) applications (apps) in recent years and the vast amounts of data that they generate present attractive possibilities for surveillance. However, measurement accuracy is indispensable when tracking PA variables to provide meaningful measures of PA. The purpose of this study was to examine the steps and...

As Robinson and Kellett (2004) point out, when children and young people become co-researchers and active agents in a project this can be genuinely empowering. This presentation will examine how a non-formal education program, which aimed to provide access to education and learning opportunities for refugee and immigrant adolescents in a refugee ca...

COVID-19 has already changed the world, not only because of the disease itself, but because of the long-term effects of the world's reaction to the pandemic. Many countries worldwide have imposed large-scale or national closures of schools and sports facilities, and the practice of outdoor physical activity in public parks and playgrounds was not a...

A growing body of literature examines the relationship between physical activity (PA) with executive functions (EF) and academic achievement in children and adolescents. The present study aimed at examining how multiple components in a whole-school PA policy intervention in a primary school setting affected the EF (i.e. working memory and inhibitio...

Rhythmic ability (RA) plays an important role in sports in which music accompaniment is used, such as artistic swimming (AS). The aim of the present study was to investigate RA's relationship with the athletes’ overall performance in AS, as well as the independent scores of AS performance (i.e., Execution, Artistic Impression and Difficulty), takin...

Purpose: The current study examined the factor structure and the internal consistency of the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence (SSREI) scale in two samples of Greek pre-service Physical Education (PE) teachers (Sample 1 n = 516; Sample 2 n = 335). Method: Data were collected through a pencil-paper survey. Multiple confirmatory factor analy...

The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has caused community-wide lockdowns, resulting in social isolation. Currently the routine physical activities (PA) of millions of people worldwide has been disrupted, while there is strong recommendation for individuals to remain physically active by taking short active breaks. The case study reported aims at providin...

Made2Move is a research informed physical activity (PA) intervention designed to provide trained mentor support to physically inactive students by encouraging them to increase their engagement in PA. It was developed using Chambers (2018) four-stage design thinking process and underpinned by Self-Determination Theory. In brief, the programme links...

Purpose: This study examined the validity of one research-based, one GPS and two consumer-based monitors, as well as six freeware Android apps (three pedometer- and three GPS-based apps) in a sample of healthy adolescents, during self-paced outdoor walking and running. Methods: Twenty-one adolescents (15.9 ± 2.0 years) participated in this cross-se...

Purpose: Research continuously reports a close connection between Physical Activity (PA) and its effect on pupils' Executive Functions (EF). Thus, the purpose of the present study was to expand previous knowledge and examine the acute effects on the EF-working memory and inhibition-in two primary level class cohorts (4th class: n = 20 students, mea...

The present study, using a sample of Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) representatives from five Higher Education European institutions (England, Finland, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal) sought to investigate the proposed measures of change required for programme delivery during the academic year of 2020-21. Each team completed a SWOT (str...

Content 1 Introduction to the Greek physical education setting 2 Historical background and development of compulsory PESS 3 Aims and objectives of current PESS curricula and teaching concepts of PESS 3.1 General information 3.2 PE domains 3.3 PE aims/objectives 3.4 PE assessment 4 Promotion of active learning with physical activity at school 5 Extr...

There appears to be a lack of existing data that comprehensively summarizes the evidence of children and adolescents' active travel in the Republic of Ireland. In lieu of this, a scoping review was conducted to map the existing literature (2000-2020) on children and adolescents' active travel in the Republic of Ireland. A scoping review design extr...

The aim of this study was to adapt a previously developed test to gain a detailed insight into the cycling skills of Greek children and examine the impact that sex, age and cycling experience have on cycling skills. Students (n=80) from a local elementary school in Attica region (Greece) took the adapted cycling skills test consisting of 12 test st...

Current research on physical education teacher education (PETE) has shown that pre-service teachers’ beliefs concerning the scope of physical education (PE) remain highly influential during their studies. However, undergraduate programmes seem to have a limited effect on pre-service teachers’ teaching priorities, and this situation is left unchalle...

The novel statistical approach 'equivalence testing' has been proposed in order to statistically examine agreement between different physical activity measures. By using this method, researchers argued that it is possible to determine whether a method is significantly equivalent to another method. Recently, equivalence testing was supported with th...

Introduction: A growing body of literature examines the relationship between physical activity (PA) with cognitive functions and academic achievement in children and adolescents (Donnelly et al., 2016). Centrally to this study, research supports models conceiving the executive functions (EF) as an explaining mechanism of the relationship between ch...

Recently smartphones have been considered a powerful tool with which to study large-scale population health on a global scale. Landmark Nature publications highlight the global uptake of mobile technology and the staggering potential for big data to promote large observational studies with big datasets from electronic health records. However, these...

Motor competence (MC) development is an essential aim of physical education (PE) (Herrmann, 2015), and is recognized as the ABC of physical activity and sport (Stodden et al., 2008). For example, children with limited development in MC (e.g. running, catching objects) are likely to have more difficulties in complex motor skills (e.g. running with o...

The 7 Minute Workout® app is an official science-based app designed by the Department of Exercise Physiology at the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute. The primary feature of the app is based on High Intensity Circuit Training (HICT), while the secondary is based on low volume High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). These combine aerobi...

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate Physical Education (PE) students’ belief systems toward the four important curricula outcomes goals (physical activity and fitness, self-actualization, motor skill development and social development) and to compare these beliefs according to gender and undergraduate Faculty program attended. Method: 690 S...

Teachers’ beliefs toward curricular outcomes are important because they contribute significantly in the implementation of the national curriculum. Previous research suggested that Physical Education (PE) courses and field-based experiences might help student teachers demonstrate their beliefs about various aspects of teaching PE courses and have a...

Recreational cycling provides opportunities for regular exercise and is a feasible activity for most people. However, bicycle-related accidents are among the most common causes of children’s physical injuries. Various cycle training courses have been developed and in order to measure the outcomes of these courses, accurate monitoring and evaluation...

Up to date data from TGfU practice show that PE teachers encounter multiple dilemmas that either prevent them from designing questioning learning environments or restrict their use of questioning to the enactment of low-order thinking responses. Therefore, the aim of the third presentation is to provide an empirical example for shaping the discussi...

Friedrich W. Nietzsche is one of the few important philosophers that often mention the art of dance in his works, especially in the Birth of Tragedy and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The purpose of this study is to analyze Nietzsche’s contribution to the philosophical foundation of dance. In addition, it will be attempted to present, through dance’s appr...

Nike+ Training Club is an app for the deliverance of workouts and personalised adaptive training plans for a variety of physical activity levels. This paper describes the app and its usability in clinical practise, as well as its pros and cons.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of age and gender on Greek primary schoolers’ fundamental motor skills. 146 first (n=50) and second graders (n=96) (73 boys, 73 girls, age=7.26±.53 years, BMI=17.05±2.23) participated in the study. The MOBAK-1 test instrument was used to assess participants’ locomotion competence (balancing, rolli...

This study aimed to examine the criterion validity of resting energy expenditure (REE) estimates from three wearable activity monitors (SenseWear Armband, Garmin Vivofit, Medisana Vifit). Twenty-one (15.9±2.0 yr) boys (n=10) and girls (n=11) wore three activity monitors simultaneously while completing a 15-min REE protocol in laboratory settings. T...

Within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) programs, the Spectrum of teaching styles (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002) is used as a theoretical framework that is compatible with conceptions of effective Physical Education (PE) teaching. The Spectrum is comprised of two clusters of teaching styles: reproductive and productive, presented along a con...

ΝΕΕΣ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΕΣ ΣΤΗ ΦΥΣΙΚΗ ΑΓΩΓΗ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΟΝ ΑΘΛΗΤΙΣΜΟ

Background: The last decade's technological advances have spurred a continuously increasing interest in objective monitoring of physical activity with the use of wearable devices. Even though an increased accuracy is important in some lines of research, a balance between precision, feasibility and low-cost monitoring technologies is clearly needed....

In physical education and sport, an important factor in order to achieve the goals set by the professionals is the evaluation of regular physical activity levels of children and adolescents. In order to achieve this objective, new and more technologically sophisticated monitors have been developed, which have the potential to replace older methods...

Background: A recent approach to increasing physical activity levels, managing weight and improving health has been via technological advances, such as the Web 2.0 technologies, wearable activity trackers and smartphones. These approaches might be effective due to reduced cost, userfriendly environment and real-time feedback provided. Many of these...

Accurate measurement of energy expenditure and estimate physical activity is extremely important in terms of health outcome and effectiveness of intervention programs. However, total energy expenditure, apart from physical activity, includes basal energy expenditure and food thermogenesis. Energy expenditure can be determined objectively by criteri...

Recreational cycling provides opportunities for regular physical activity and is feasible for many population subgroups (Bauman et al., 2012). In addition regular cycling is a successful way to meet the health-enhancing physical activity guidelines (Titze et al., 2014) and respective health benefits outweigh the injury risks (de Hartog et al., 2010...

Σύμφωνα με τους βασικούς νόμους της φυσικής, για τη μετατόπιση συγκεκριμένης μάζας σε καθορισμένη απόσταση απαιτείται ενέργεια. Προηγούμενες έρευνες βρήκαν ότι η απαιτούμενη ενεργειακή δαπάνη (ΕΔ) για να διανυθεί μια απόσταση με τρέξιμο είναι μεγαλύτερη από την αντίστοιχη που χρειάζεται κατά τη βάδιση. Κύριος σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταν να δι...

Physical activity (PA) is important for the maintenance of an appropriate health level. Every health organization recommends an accumulation of at least 30 minutes of PA at moderate-to-high intensity most, if not every day of the week. Measuring PA parameters and energy expenditure have more potential value for some people than just to measure heal...

Most national Physical Education (PE) curriculums worldwide are based on a variety of outcome goals. The most important are physical activity and fitness, self-actualization, motor skill development and social development. Capturing PE Teacher Education pre-service teachers’ beliefs toward these outcomes may offer a useful insight into the process...

Physical activity (PA) monitors, which capture activity patterns, require a balance between precision, feasibility and low-cost technologies. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of total energy expenditure (EE) estimates from a variety of consumer-based PA monitors and smartphone applications (apps). Twenty-one (15.90±2.05 years)...

The assessment of physical activity (PA) is more important for some individuals and researchers than just measuring health benefits and maintenance. Even though increased accuracy is a prerequisite in some lines of research and practice, a balance between precision, feasibility and low-cost monitoring technologies is clearly needed. A recent strate...

Keywords: pedometers, validity, mobile applications The last decade’s technological advances have spurred a continuously increasing interest in objective monitoring of physical activity with the use of wearable devices. Even though an increased accuracy is important in some lines of research, a balance between precision, feasibility and low-cost m...