2. Professors
  3. VASTOLA Rodolfo
  4. Teaching

RESEARCH METHODS IN SPORTS AND MOTOR ACTIVITIES

Rodolfo VASTOLA RESEARCH METHODS IN SPORTS AND MOTOR ACTIVITIES

1222700015
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STUDIES
EQF7
"MANAGEMENT OF SPORTS, PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING"
2024/2025

YEAR OF COURSE 2
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2021
AUTUMN SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
648LESSONS
RODOLFO VASTOLA T Curriculum
ExamDate
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT14/01/2025 - 10:00
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT14/01/2025 - 10:00
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT04/02/2025 - 09:00
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT04/02/2025 - 09:00
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT18/02/2025 - 09:00
LINEAM DI MET NELLA RIC MOT-SPORT18/02/2025 - 09:00
Objectives
The course aims to provide the student with fundamental theoretical and methodological knowledge of research in the motor-sports field for those who intend to dedicate themselves, in various capacities, to the progress of motor and sports sciences and to interdisciplinary knowledge connected to them. The course also intends to offer the possibility of developing the ability to apply the knowledge learned in the planning, management and evaluation of motor-sports research activities specifically and with a view to disseminating social well-being and motor-sports well-being .

Knowledge and skills. The aim is for students to demonstrate that they have acquired a fundamental knowledge of the main analytical perspectives and key concepts of research in the sciences of physical activity and sports disciplines, with specific reference to those involving the planning, management and evaluation and management of sports activities, as well as understanding skills that allow the development of original and innovative research paths which, starting from the analysis of the problems, lead to the definition of the objectives and the declination of the methods to present useful expected results inherent to motor-sports activities.

Ability to apply knowledge and skills. The aim is for students to demonstrate that they have acquired the ability to apply knowledge and integrate it into research methods, from the analysis of problems to the definition of objectives, the declination of methods and the presentation of useful expected results inherent to motor-sports activities, also for social well-being. Furthermore, we aim for students to demonstrate that they have acquired the ability to plan a complete research project and to carry it out through simulation and discussion of the results, also through presentations in seminars and conferences.
Prerequisites
NO PREREQUISITES
Contents
THE COURSE CONTENT ENCOMPASSES A BROAD RANGE OF TOPICS THAT WILL BE COVERED DURING THE THEORETICAL LECTURES, PROVIDING A COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF MOVEMENT ANALYSIS AND BIOMECHANICS. HERE IS THE BREAKDOWN OF THE COURSE MATERIAL:

LOCOMOTION: WALKING AND RUNNING - STUDY OF BASIC LOCOMOTION MECHANICS INCLUDING THE NATURAL MOVEMENTS OF WALKING AND RUNNING.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF BIOMECHANICS - REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS AND THE PRACTICAL USE OF BIOMECHANICAL PRINCIPLES IN SPORTS AND REHABILITATION.
MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS - OVERVIEW OF THE TOOLS USED TO MEASURE BIOMECHANICAL DATA.
RANDOM AND SYSTEMATIC ERRORS - UNDERSTANDING TYPES OF MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ON DATA ACCURACY.
THE SIGNAL - INTRODUCTION TO THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF SIGNALS IN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS.
ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNALS - DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANALOG AND DIGITAL SIGNALS, AND THEIR RELEVANCE IN DATA PROCESSING.
SAMPLING AND ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION OF A SIGNAL - TECHNIQUES AND PROCESSES INVOLVED IN CONVERTING ANALOG SIGNALS TO DIGITAL FORMAT.
SIGNAL PROCESSING - METHODS AND TECHNOLOGIES USED FOR PROCESSING BIOMECHANICAL SIGNALS.
INSTRUMENTAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT - TOOLS AND METHODOLOGIES FOR DETAILED BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS.
INTEGRATED MULTIFACTORIAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT - COMBINING MULTIPLE FACTORS AND DATASETS FOR A COMPREHENSIVE MOVEMENT ANALYSIS.
TOOLS FOR ESTIMATING THE KINEMATICS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT - UTILIZATION OF OPTOELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AND INFRARED TECHNOLOGY IN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS.
MARKER RECOGNITION - TECHNIQUES FOR IDENTIFYING AND TRACKING MARKERS USED IN MOTION CAPTURE SYSTEMS.
TOOLS FOR MEASURING FORCES EXCHANGED WITH THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT - INSTRUMENTS LIKE FORCE PLATFORMS USED TO MEASURE GROUND REACTION FORCES.
FORCE PLATFORM - SPECIFICS ON THE OPERATION AND UTILITY OF FORCE PLATFORMS IN BIOMECHANICAL ASSESSMENTS.
SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY - UTILIZATION OF EMG TO MEASURE MUSCLE ACTIVITY DURING MOVEMENT.
CAMERAS FOR QUALITATIVE MOVEMENT ANALYSIS - APPLICATION OF VIDEOGRAPHY IN THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF MOVEMENT.
SOFTWARE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PROCESSING - OVERVIEW OF SOFTWARE TOOLS USED IN THE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF BIOMECHANICAL DATA.
CAMERA SETUP - GUIDELINES FOR SETTING UP CAMERAS FOR OPTIMAL DATA CAPTURE IN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS.
BASICS OF RECONSTRUCTION AND TRACKING - TECHNIQUES FOR RECONSTRUCTING MOVEMENT PATHS AND TRACKING MOTION.
LOCAL AND GLOBAL REFERENCE SYSTEMS - DISCUSSION ON THE DIFFERENT COORDINATE SYSTEMS USED IN ANALYZING MOVEMENT DATA.
ANATOMICAL REFERENCE SYSTEM - UNDERSTANDING THE ANATOMICAL FRAMEWORK USED AS A REFERENCE IN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS.
TRANSLATION AND ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE ROTATIONS OF BODY SEGMENTS - EXAMINATION OF HOW BODY PARTS MOVE AND ROTATE IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER.
INVERSE DYNAMICS - ESTIMATION OF JOINT DYNAMICS USING INVERSE DYNAMICS METHODS.
MOVEMENT ANALYSIS PROTOCOLS - STANDARD PROTOCOLS USED IN THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF HUMAN MOVEMENT.
GAIT ANALYSIS PROTOCOLS: DAVIS PROTOCOL - SPECIFIC PROTOCOLS FOR ANALYZING THE WALKING CYCLE.
THE STEP CYCLE - DETAILED STUDY OF THE STEP CYCLE IN NORMAL WALKING.
NORMAL WALKING - CHARACTERISTICS AND DYNAMICS OF A TYPICAL WALKING PATTERN.
SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WALKING - TIMING AND SPATIAL FACTORS OF NORMAL WALKING.
KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS OF NORMAL WALKING: ANKLE, KNEE, HIP, AND PELVIS - DETAILED BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LOWER BODY DURING NORMAL GAIT.
THIS COURSE CONTENT IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE STUDENTS WITH A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH THE THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF BIOMECHANICS AND MOVEMENT ANALYSIS, PREPARING THEM FOR ADVANCED APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS FIELDS SUCH AS SPORTS SCIENCE, REHABILITATION, AND ERGONOMIC DESIGN.







Teaching Methods
THE COURSE IS STRUCTURED INTO THEORETICAL LECTURES AND PRACTICAL EXERCISES, PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING IN MOVEMENT ANALYSIS, WITH A PARTICULAR FOCUS ON GAIT ANALYSIS. DURING THE THEORETICAL LECTURES, CONCEPTS AND INCREASINGLY COMPLEX PROBLEMS ARE GRADUALLY INTRODUCED. THIS PROGRESSION ALLOWS STUDENTS TO DEVELOP A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERLYING THEORY AND PRACTICAL CHALLENGES IN THE BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT.

IN THE PRACTICAL EXERCISES, GUIDED BY THE INSTRUCTOR, STUDENTS DIRECTLY APPLY THE TECHNIQUES LEARNED TO ANALYZE AND SOLVE CONCRETE PROBLEMS, SUCH AS THOSE RELATED TO GAIT ANALYSIS. THIS INCLUDES A DETAILED STUDY OF THE STEP CYCLE SEQUENCE, ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE ANKLE, KNEE, HIP, AND PELVIS, AS WELL AS EXPLORATION OF THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BODY SEGMENTS.

DURING THESE PRACTICAL SESSIONS, STUDENTS FURTHER DEVELOP THEIR ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE MOST EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS AND TO PRODUCE CLEAR AND PRECISE DOCUMENTATION OF THE RESULTS OBTAINED. THIS INTEGRATED APPROACH BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE AIMS TO ENHANCE THE STUDENTS' THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVE THEIR PRACTICAL SKILLS, MAKING THEM CAPABLE OF APPLYING THE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE IN REAL SCENARIOS WITH COMPETENCE AND ACCURACY.
Verification of learning
THE EXAM IS STRUCTURED AS AN ORAL INTERVIEW DIVIDED INTO TWO DISTINCT PHASES.

IN THE FIRST PHASE, THE STUDENT MUST DEMONSTRATE A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF THE THEORETICAL CONCEPTS RELATED TO MOVEMENT ANALYSIS. THE STUDENT IS EXPECTED TO SHOW A DEEP COMPREHENSION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF MOVEMENT ANALYSIS, INCLUDING THE IMPORTANCE OF BIOMECHANICAL INTERACTIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE OVERALL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN MOVEMENT.

IN THE SECOND PHASE, THE STUDENT MUST DEMONSTRATE THEIR ABILITY TO REASON AND APPLY THE THEORIES LEARNED PRACTICALLY. THIS CAN BE DONE THROUGH THE PRESENTATION OF PAPERS OR CASE STUDIES WHERE THE STUDENT HAS SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF MOVEMENT ANALYSIS. A PARTICULAR FOCUS WILL BE ON PRACTICAL TESTS OF GAIT ANALYSIS, SHOWING HOW THE STUDENT HAS INTEGRATED THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE INTO DETAILED ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT OF HUMAN GAIT, CONSIDERING INDIVIDUAL, TASK-SPECIFIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS.

THE FINAL GRADE IS GIVEN OUT OF THIRTY POINTS AND RESULTS FROM THE AVERAGE OF THE EVALUATIONS OBTAINED IN THE TWO PHASES. THE EXAM IS CONSIDERED PASSED WHEN THE SCORE FOR EACH OF THE TWO PHASES IS GREATER THAN 15/30 AND THE OVERALL GRADE IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 18. THE MINIMUM EVALUATION LEVEL (15) IS ASSIGNED WHEN THE STUDENT DEMONSTRATES FRAGMENTARY THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE OR LIMITED PRACTICAL APPLICATION CAPABILITIES. THE HIGHEST SCORE (30) IS RESERVED FOR STUDENTS WHO DEMONSTRATE A COMPLETE AND THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT AND SIGNIFICANT ABILITY TO APPLY THEORIES TO PRACTICAL SCENARIOS. HONORS ARE AWARDED TO STUDENTS WHO EXHIBIT EXCEPTIONAL MASTERY OF BOTH THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL CONTENT AND SHOW THE ABILITY TO PRESENT AND DISCUSS TOPICS WITH LINGUISTIC PROPRIETY AND INDEPENDENCE OF THOUGHT, EVEN IN CONTEXTS NOT DIRECTLY ADDRESSED DURING THE COURSE.
Texts
ADOPTED TEXTBOOKS
COURSE NOTES
WHITTLE'S GAIT ANALYSIS. FIFTH EDITION. DAVID LEVINE, JIM RICHARDS, MICHALE WHITTLE. ELSEVIER.
ELEMENTI DI BASE DI ANALISI DEL MOVIMENTO. RODOLFO VASTOLA. PENSA EDITORE
CRAM'S INTRODUCTION TO SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY. SECOND EDITION. ELEANOR CRISWELL, EDD

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