The Dramaturgy of Education: Digital and Textual Avenues for Stratford Festival Student Enrichment

The post-doctoral fellow will act as an academic liaison between the Stratford Festival’s Education Department and the University of Waterloo, including contributing to the Games Institute’s joint project on a series of Shakespeare-themed video games and apps, academic support for future Festival artistic endeavours, and development of the Education Department’s distribution materials. The Festival will benefit from a development of new games, collection of metadata, and dramaturgical support.

The Effect of a Gait Modification Program on Impact Loading and Injury Rates among Runners

The proposed research project aims to investigate the effect overstriding of running gait modification during running has on the incidence of running-related injuries. A comparison of key variables will be performed on an instrumented treadmill and overground. Correlation between overstriding and other biomechanical and muscle activationkinematic and spatiotemporal variables with kinetic and injury incidence outcomes will be measured and a gait retraining program will be developed and implemented to address these known injury risk factors.

Development of advanced tools to measure and train neuromechanic aspects of movement technique in rhythmic sports: use of technology to optimize performance

This research proposal involves a series of investigations that use advanced techniques to evaluate human movement and muscle activity in elite sports in an attempt to create feedback tools useful to athletes and coaches to improve performance. It has been difficult to collect human movement data on elite cyclists and rowers in training and competition. However, recent advances in wireless technology and analysis techniques have provided substantial useful information for elite cycling in real world environments.

Efficacy of Self Myofascial Release Techniques

Roller-massager is a convenient tool that uses upper body strength (rather than body weight) to move the roller across a muscle to imitate massage effects. Massage has been used to remove the knots and tensions sometimes found in muscle that can lead to pain and stiffness. It is not known if a roller massager can on its own or when used with massage can help alleviate the pain and stiffness associated with these muscle restrictions (knots or cramps). To date there are no published studies to validate the effectiveness of the roller massager.

Growing healthy bodies: The development of a healthy body score-card for Canadian children and youth

This project represents the initial step in a larger project, the development of a “Healthy Body Scorecard” which will allow for more comprehensive and holistic approach to measurement and classification of health in children. This particular project will involve an in depth review of current literature in order to identify the various forms of health measurement and the factors and behaviors associated with each. This project as a whole will be of significant benefit to the Sandbox Project and McDonalds Restaurants of Canada, the industry partner for this research.

Athlete and Coach Perceptions of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport

Currently, the staff of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) is uncertain of how Canadian athletes, coaches, and members of the Canadian sport community perceives their efforts and programs. This research will identify if the current policies and procedures for anti-doping rule violations reflect the CCES in a positive (advocate for athletes and Canadian sport) or negative (enforcer of rules) role. This proposed research looks to examine how stakeholders view the role of CCES and whether or not their perceptions of the CCES are positive or negative.

Measuring Young Piano Student's Degree of Motivation and their Interest in Piano-Related Activities

One of music education's major concerns is the challenge of motivating students to continue learning the piano. A high percentage of young students stop piano lessons within the first 18 months, before they begin to master the instrument (Sloboda and Howe, 1991). This research will measure young piano students' degree of motivation and their interest in piano-related activities by using the Survey of Musical Interest. Participants will be from the Merriam School of Music, which has agreed to be involved in this research project.

Monitoring and Characterizing Driver Behaviour Among Ski Resort Fleet

This research intends to acquire a better understanding of driver behaviour, fuel consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the operation of ski resort fleet. Twenty‐six light and medium duty vehicles at ski resorts will be equipped with an onboard logging device that records electronic engine data (i.e.: idle time, distance travelled, highest speed, fuel efficiency, fuel cost, hard braking and acceleration thresholds) over an 8 month period.

Development of game schedules for university sports in Quebec

This project aims to develop mathematical models, resolution algorithms, and a decision support tool for the development of game schedules for university sports in Quebec such as football, soccer, volleyball and basketball.

Performance Modelling of Professional Cyclists Using Self-organizing Maps

This project aims at performance modelling of athletes and involves the collection of detailed data that affects rider performance in professional cycling. This data is utilized for assessment of training and performance and for supporting individual training schedules through modelling and profiling of individual athletes. The methodology is based on pattern discovery and recognition using Self Organizing Maps, an exploratory data analysis model of demonstrated success in automated monitoring tasks involving multiple parameters.

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