Article Engineering in General

Evaluation of Revitalization Measures for Central City Areas Considering Changes in Human Flows

In recent years, a declining population and an aging and decline have led to a reduction in the vibrancy and economic activity of the city. Various regional cities have taken measures to revitalize their central city areas. However, they have yet to develop a method to quantify the effects of these measures. In this study, using a device equipped with Internet of Things (IoT), we obtained basic data on the number of visitors before the COVID-19 to quantify pedestrian traffic along Kokusai Street. Our findings revealed that the implementation of revitalization strategies led to a notable increase in the number of individuals visiting the area, as well as in the average duration of their stay. This suggests that the implemented measures have the potential to contribute to the revitalization of the area, thereby fostering the creation of a vibrant town center.

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Article Education Information Sciences Psychology and Education

An Inquiry-Based Learning Support System for Children in Sports Acquisition Processes

This study examined an inquiry-based learning support system for children in sports acquisition processes and describes the characteristics of a case study on the long-term collaborative process of children’s forward and backward cycle practices on horizontal bars. We analyzed 18 horizontal-bar practices for two elementary schoolchildren who had not succeeded in their backward cycle for approximately half a year. They were required to make practice plans collaboratively to succeed in their forward and backward cycles. To support their practices, we provided them with “HDMi (HDMi is the name of a system we developed in the past.),” which was developed to support reflecting on one’s physical movements using movies. The movies were also used for discourse analysis to determine where the children focused, and OpenPose software was used for motion analysis to examine how the children’s actions improved on a horizontal bar. Both the HDMi and the discourse analysis suggested that two children selected their focusing points for their practice and they gradually became referring to “move toes toward opposite side of the bar” in the periods of practices. However, the motion analysis revealed that the focused points and actual movement of the body did not match completely.

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Article Information Sciences Others Psychology and Education Sociology

Clarifying the Sharpened network diversity in French flair rugby

This study aimed that open rugby, known as flair rugby, drives the modern game by analyzing the 2022-2023 international test matches of France representative team. We examined the superiority of a spatial tactic called French flair rugby. First, the advantage of creating a relatively large number of networks was demonstrated. From the transitivity analysis of the network (CUG test; Conditional Uniform Graph test), the cooperation occurs at a higher level than in other networks. The network graph structure showed which players functioned centrally at which time of match as unusual positions, i.e., multi-position and multi-skill. In this study, we operationally defined this diversity as the sum of the standardized eigenvector centralities. We found that the increase in the time-series score balance tended to reduce and sharpened the diversity. As a result of examining a scale-free model in network theory, Sharpening the diversity (central and transitive role players) tended of the network power law scaling.

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Article Education Interdisciplinary Sciences Psychology

Review matching task to diagnose basic review ability

Software development begins with writing a requirement definition document (RDD) specifying what software is to be built, and the RDD should define the necessary and sufficient conditions the software must satisfy. Preferably, the RDD is reviewed to guarantee its quality. However, the quality of reviews of such documents is not easy to evaluate, due to various review styles and the logical complexity of RDDs. Therefore, we regarded the review ability as the ability to match an RDD with a software and developed a game to make a matching task that can assess review quality. The task has four types of relationships, two-by-two classes of necessity (i.e., the RDD has no irrelevant sentences to define the given software) and sufficiency (i.e., the RDD covers all the parts of the software), between requirements and software, which are expressed in verbal and nonverbal forms. Results suggest that the game likely sufficiently simulated the process of making/reviewing RDD in the requirement definition process. Therefore, it is suggested that the matching task created through the game can be adequate to assess the review ability.

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Special Issue

Preface to the Special Issue

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Special Issue Education Psychology and Education

Japanese elementary teachers’ problem-based learning through online professional development on teaching Japanese language learners in physical education  

Public schools in Japan have become increasingly linguistically, ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse (Furuta et al., 2022). In rural regions, the number of Japanese-national students is declining in schools, and education services are shrinking (Mantanle, 2014) because of the aging population and low birth rate. This has led to serious economic concerns such as a smaller workforce and fewer taxpayers. This means that school districts in Japan will need new immigrant residents who can contribute to the sustainable future of education in Japan. However, in order to adequately serve this new population, Japanese teachers will need to receive training and demonstrate pedagogical knowledge and skills in relation to social justice and diversity, and facilitate inclusive and effective learning opportunities for all students. Our research team conducted two exploratory studies focusing on (a) Japanese elementary school teachers’ positioning in teaching physical education to Japanese language learners (Furuta et al., 2022) and (b) Japanese elementary classroom teachers’ experiences with the involvement of immigrant parents regarding physical education (Tomura et al., 2024a). Based on the findings of these studies, our research team developed online professional development modules for teachers using a problem-solving approach as part of a project funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Special Issue Others

A case study of the use of match video analysis tools in Judo: Attempts of visualizing the competition realities of an athlete

In this study, we analyzed match videos of a university Judo Player (Player A) utilizing the SPLYZA TEAMS matched video analysis tool. This is the first case study of Judo match analysis using the SPLYZA TEAMS software. A total of 13 matches involving Player A were analyzed in this study. Prior to the analysis, Player A formulated three hypotheses for the matching implementation. The analysis rejected two of the three hypotheses established at the beginning of the study. However, a notable trend emerged, revealing a proclivity for the Kumite situation for initiating Nage-waza from disadvantaged positions in matches that resulted in a loss. This novel finding was obtained by analyzing the data using the SPLYZA TEAMS software.

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Special Issue Environmental Sciences Psychology and Education Sociology

The Effects of Positive and Negative Ions on esports Performance and Arousal Levels Part 2 -Testing Higher Ion Density-

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological effects of higher positive and negative ion conditions on the arousal levels of esports players during a racing game. Participants (10 males) from a collegiate esports team were the participants in the study. The effects of higher concentrations of positive and negative ions were evaluated in a randomized crossover. Each participant performed two experiments four weeks apart; two experimental environments were used: positive and negative ions filling the atmosphere (PNI) condition and a control (CON) condition. A car racing game was employed as the performance task. Arousal was measured by the two-dimensional mood scale (TDMS) and electroencephalogram (EEG). EEG was used to measure arousal. The results showed that the level of arousal in the subjective assessment and the level of arousal in the EEG were significantly higher in the CON condition for PNI. In addition, PNI performed significantly better on the game task than in the CON condition. The present study demonstrated in positive and negative ion environments with higher concentrations than in the previous study, and the results showed higher arousal levels in subjective assessments, indicating that higher concentrations of ionic environments are beneficial for esports players.

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Special Issue Psychology and Education

Practical research on the use of digital pens in high school rugby club activities

Tactics play a crucial role in sports; however, coaching presents various challenges. This study examined the impact of utilizing practice notes created with a digital pen capable of simultaneously recording and playing back both audio and texts/drawings on tactical understanding. The participants were high school rugby team members and coaches. The results of a four-month practical investigation revealed that the learning experiences of tactical understanding in high school rugby teams manifested through four categories: awareness of the difficulty of tactical understanding, exploration of experiential facts, contemplation, and integration into practice. It is speculated that the utilization of the digital pen not only encouraged a deeper understanding of tactics through the formation of a meta-perspective but also led to learning strategies aimed at activating knowledge.

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Special Issue Psychology

Transferability of Multiple Object Tracking Skill Training to Professional Baseball Players’ Hitting Performance

This study aimed to determine the effects of multiple object tracking (MOT) skill training on elite baseball players. Baseball demands athletes to exhibit a high level of dynamic movement and quick and accurate situational judgment in multiple situations, including offense, defense, and base running. However, current research has not clarified whether the effects of MOT skills training are transferable to baseball performance. We investigated whether MOT skill training influenced baseball hitting performance before and after the intervention. Twelve players from a Japanese professional baseball team participated, and the intervention spanned approximately five months. The MOT skills of all players significantly improved (n=12). Additionally, we assessed the changes in hitting performance following MOT skill training. The results revealed a significant trend toward an improvement in the zone contact rate, zone swing strike rate, and outside swing strike rate in the breaking ball condition, such as the curveball and slider, indicating a large effect size (n=6). Further research across various competition levels is necessary to explore the transfer effects of MOT training on baseball-specific parameters.

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