This quasi-experimental study examines the transition from acceptance before use to acceptance after use of mobile learning technology among teachers and evaluates the role of training in facilitating this transition. Using the Technology Acceptance Model framework, it explores how hands-on experience with an adaptive, collaborative, free mobile learning application (Artefac) shapes acceptance differently across pre-service and in-service teachers. A 2×2 quasi-experimental design involved 112 French teachers (57 pre-service, 55 in-service) assigned to either a 3-h Artefac Training condition or an unrelated Control condition. Participants completed questionnaires measuring perceived usefulness for teaching, perceived usefulness for students, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, and intention to use before and after the intervention. Results revealed contrasting patterns across acceptance dimensions. While perceived usefulness for students remained consistently positive across all conditions and Status groups, perceived usefulness for teaching significantly decreased among in-service teachers following Artefac training. Training improved perceived ease of use across both Status groups. Intention to use decreased significantly in the Training condition, while remaining stable in the Control condition. These findings suggest that distinguishing between student-centered and teacher-centered benefits in technology acceptance research may be a fruitful avenue worth exploring further, as training effects appear to unfold differently across career stages and acceptance dimensions. The study underscores the importance of measuring both acceptance before and after use, as hands-on experience with technology can reveal acceptance patterns that differ significantly from initial perceptions, providing a more complete understanding of technology acceptance processes.

IntroductionThis study investigates test anxiety among French and Swiss students. By combining variable-centered and person-centered approaches, it examines cross-cultural and gender differences to identify student profiles and guide tailored educational strategies.MethodsA sample of 538 students (269 girls; Mage = 13.43 years old) completed the French Revised Test Anxiety + Regulatory scale. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses were used to establish measurement invariance. Variable-centered analyses (t-tests, ANOVAs) and person-centered cluster analyses were conducted to assess differences by country and gender.ResultsMeasurement invariance across countries was confirmed. French and Swiss students showed similar overall anxiety levels, but Swiss students reported higher bodily symptoms. Gender differences were pronounced, with girls reporting higher levels of worry, tension, and bodily symptoms, and boys scoring higher in perceived control. Cluster analysis identified four profiles: Tense, Low-test-anxious, Mind-wandering, and High-test-anxious students. French students were more likely to fall into the “Tense” group, while Swiss students were overrepresented in the “High-test-anxious” cluster. Gender significantly influenced cluster membership, with girls more likely to be high in anxiety and low in control.DiscussionEducational context might influence the experience of test anxiety beyond cultural similarity. Early academic selection in Switzerland may increase stress responses. Integrating perceived control into the model of test anxiety enhances understanding of student profiles and supports the development of targeted educational interventions to improve emotional regulation and academic success.

In this study, we investigated the acceptance of a mobile telepresence robots (MTR) by teachers, based on the Technology Acceptance Model, for supervising adapted physical activity (APA) among isolated older adults. Previous research indicates that older adults generally accept the MTR well, but whether APA teachers exhibit hesitation following a first use is unknown, which might pose a challenge for the implementation of MTR in APA settings. The present study investigated acceptance among experienced and novice APA teachers both before and after use. It involved 20 APA teachers and 20 APA students and repeated-measures ANOVAs and one-sample t-tests were used to analyze the data recorded by questionnaires. Findings revealed that acceptance remained high after use, consistent with initial levels, with noteworthy increases in perceived ease of use and enjoyment post-use, with minimal variation between teachers and students. Additionally, MTR self-efficacy improved, while anxiety about robots decreased significantly after use. These results indicate a high level of acceptance of MTR among APA teachers and students for remotely supervising APA sessions with isolated older adults. It also underscores the necessity of assessing both pre- and post-use acceptance to fully comprehend the technology acceptance process.

Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Display (VR-HMD) is increasingly being used as a tool to improve sport performance. Recent studies showed that VR-HMD is well accepted by athletes, before a first use, to improve their sport performance. But if athletes accept the VR-HMD but their coaches do not, there is a risk that the VR-HMD will never be used despite its benefits. Consequently, the aim of the present study was to assess coaches’ acceptance of VR-HMD prior to first use, to highlight potential initial psychological blockages. The study sample included 239 French coaches training competitive athletes from different sports and different levels of competition (departmental-regional, national, international). Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), coaches filled out a questionnaire assessing perceived usefulness of the VR-HMD for coaching, perceived usefulness for athletes, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, job relevance, and intention to use. The results of the structural equation modelling highlighted that all the previous variables (except perceived ease of use) were positive predictors of coaches’ intention to use the VR-HMD. The results of the one-sample t-tests showed that VR-HMD was well accepted by coaches before a first use, with scores of all the TAM variables significantly higher than the mean of the Likert scale for the full sample and for each level of competition (except for departmental-regional coaches). Before a first effective use, no issues of non-acceptance have been identified for the use of VR-HMD by coaches for sport performance optimization purposes.

BackgroundImpaired gait adaptability is one of the major causes of falls among older adults owing to inappropriate gait adjustments in cluttered environments. Training programs designed to improve gait adaptability behavior in a systemic approach may prevent falls in older adults. Recently, virtual reality (VR) technology has been prominent as a relevant gait training tool because of its training implementation potential. ObjectiveThis study was designed to compare the effectiveness of a VR-based gait training program (VR group) for improving gait adaptability behavior and, thus, reducing the risk of falls relative to a conventional training program such as Nordic walking (NW; NW group). We hypothesized that the VR-based gait training program will lead to greater gait adaptability improvements. MethodsWe will be conducting a randomized controlled trial with pretests, posttests, retention tests, and follow-up. In total, 40 healthy independent-living community dwellers (aged between 65 and 80 years) will be allocated, after a general medical examination, to the VR or the NW group for a training program of 6 weeks. Primary outcomes related to gait adaptability capacities (ie, analysis of adjustments made in different locomotor tasks) and acceptance of the VR device (ie, analysis of acceptance) will be assessed before and after the intervention and 1 month after the completion of the training program (retention). A follow-up will be done during the 12 months after the completion of the gait training program. ResultsData collection will begin in September 2025, and the first results are expected in December 2025. ConclusionsThe findings of this study may demonstrate the relative relevance of a gait training program in VR versus a conventional one for improving gait adaptability behavior in healthy older adults and, thus, prevent the chances of a fall. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/57866

The use of virtual reality simulators for perceptual-motor training has increased in recent years. However, few virtual sport environments have been shown to be effective in transferring learning to the real world. From this perspective, concepts of validity and fidelity are known to be good predictors, highlighting the need to establish a method of testing them. This study measures the validity and fidelity of a relay simulator in the most comprehensive way by testing elements of physical, biomechanical, and psychological fidelity and construct validity. Twelve national-level athletes performed race initiation tasks during a baton handover in both virtual and real environment conditions. The athletes’ perceptual-motor behavior was compared on both group and individual scales (construct validity and biomechanical and psychological fidelity). These measures were complemented by measures of workload (psychological fidelity) and presence (physical fidelity). A group-scale analysis showed no significant difference in the initiation behavior of the athletes, and all of them reported high levels of presence. Moreover, individual-scale measures showed a clear maintenance of perceptual-motor behavior for most athletes. Despite few differences being found in workload, these results largely support the simulator’s validity and fidelity, which is an important step towards integrating the simulator into the training protocols of elite athletes.

BACKGROUND:Gait adaptability training programs to prevent falls in healthy older adults can be proposed in virtual reality. The development of training programs requires the characterization of the target population.RESEARCH QUESTION:Before proposing an innovative training program to develop gait adaptability behavior of healthy older adults in fully immersive virtual reality, we had to compare gait adaptability behavior between healthy older adults and young adults in virtual reality.METHODS:Twenty healthy older adults (with no fall history) and twenty young adults performed a goal-directed locomotion task in a totally secure virtual reality set-up. Gait adaptability behavior was investigated via a set of measures taking into account gait speed, pointing accuracy, and the evolution of the relationship between the participant and the environment through both inter-trial and trial-by-trial analyses. Mann-Whitney tests and linear regressions were performed to determine potential age differences.RESULTS:The results reveal some common and specific strategies in gait adaptability behavior between healthy older and young adults. In both populations, successive gait adjustments depend on the state of the agent-environment system. However, older adults walked more slowly than young adults (p < .001) with a greater coupling at the end of the target approach (p = .003).SIGNIFICANCE:In the context of fall prevention in healthy older adults, fully immersive VR appears as a relevant tool to propose relevant gait training programs to improve gait adjustments.

One marker of expertise in sport is athletes' ability to anticipate future events. In the 4 × 100 m relay, these anticipation skills are an essential asset for initiating their run at the right time. However, no study has focused on describing the underlying perceptual-motor processes involved. Virtual reality provides powerful tools to describe and understand these processes, overcoming the drastic constraints encountered in the real world. Nineteen athletes from the French national teams were immersed in a digital replica of the Stade de France and confronted with digital twins of potential partners based on motion capture. Their task was to initiate their run exactly when their virtual partner passed over a go-mark placed on the ground. The timing of different body motor events and visual behavior were measured and analyzed. Results showed that the execution of this highly constrained task is the result of a significant reduction in the variability of motor events preceding the start. These findings reveal the implementation of a perceptual-motor dialog until the initiation of the run. This study is a first step toward understanding the mechanisms underlying anticipation skills in the 4 × 100 m relay; it constitutes a preliminary step to the deployment of VR training protocols.

This study aimed to investigate the acceptance of adapted physical activity (APA) by teachers and students before the use of a mobile telepresence robot (MTR), used to remotely supervise isolated older adults’ physical activity. While previous studies have shown MTR to be fairly well accepted by older adults, nothing is known about its acceptance by APA teachers themselves. However, if they did not accept it, the MTR would not be used in the end. This would be a public health issue because isolated older adults would not benefit from supervised APA, yet beneficial to their health. To this end, 334 participants answered a survey that measured different psychological variables, based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). Student’s t-tests and structural equation modeling were used for data processing. Results showed that, before use, there was not any significant difference between teachers’ and students’ acceptance of the MTR. Then, perceived usefulness for teaching APA, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, and intention to use the MTR were lower than the mean of the scale, while perceived usefulness for older adults was higher than the mean of the scale. Finally, this study has validated an extended version of the TAM (including the need for competence and MTR self-efficacy), which allowed it to explain 84.3% of the variance of the students’ and APA teachers’ intention to use the MTR for teaching APA to isolated older adults. Initial obstacles to the use of the MTR seem to exist on the part of APA teachers, prior to their first use, whereas this is not the case for older adults. APA teachers’ acceptance should therefore be investigated in future studies to examine whether this trend is confirmed after the effective use of the MTR.

The ambition of our contribution is to show how an interdisciplinary framework can pave the way for the deployment of innovative virtual reality training sessions to improve anticipation skills in top-level athletes. This improvement is so challenging that some authors say it is like “training for the impossible”. This framework, currently being implemented as part of a project to prepare athletes for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, based on the ecological-dynamics approach to expertise, is innovative in its interdisciplinary nature, but also and above all because it overcomes the limitations of more traditional training methods in the field designed to optimize anticipation skills in top-level athletes. The ambition is to tackle successive challenges ranging from the design of virtual partners and opponents to the deployment of training programs in virtual reality, while ensuring the acceptability and acceptance of such innovative virtual reality training protocols and measuring associated workloads.

L’intérêt de la dimension tactique des apprentissages en sports de raquette a été maintes fois démontré scientifiquement : au stade conatif « contextuel » en badminton (Dieu, 2012), lors de la phase « exploratoire » en tennis de table ( e.g ., Sève et al. , 2003). Professionnellement, les textes officiels (AFC, Programme lycée, 2019) comme la littérature spécialisée ( e.g ., Joing & Jospin, 2013) insistent sur la notion de choix tactique. Les rares études en badminton montrent une préoccupation principalement affective plutôt que tactique en lien avec l’histoire de match (Guillou & Durny, 2008). Il est également démontré divers décalages entre les prescriptions des enseignants et l’activité réelle des élèves lors du jeu du « Banco » (Rossard, Testevuide & Saury, 2005) ou en situation coopérative (Guérin et al. , 2004 ; Rossard & Saury, 2009). L’enjeu de notre étude compréhensive est d’analyser l’activité typique d’étudiants non spécialistes dans le dispositif scolaire d’apprentissage tactique en badminton « Les maîtres du jeu » (Deutz D’Arragon, Mascret & Vors, 2020) selon le programme de recherche du « cours d’action » avec l’objet théorique « cours d’expérience » à partir du signe tétradique (Saury et al. , 2013 ; Theureau, 2015). Les trois participants de niveaux différents de 18 ans sont des étudiants non optionnaires de badminton, en première année de STAPS. Le recueil de données s’est fait en début et en fin de séquence (leçons 1 et 12) avec les données remplies par l’observateur sur la fiche d’observation, l’espace de jeu où les volants sont envoyés et les données de verbalisation des joueurs lors de six séances d’entretiens d’autoconfrontation explicitant le point de vue des joueurs lors de 12 sets. Notre étude compréhensive a visé à analyser la dynamique des apprentissages tactiques d’étudiants placés dans le dispositif « Les maîtres du jeu » au travers de l’analyse de leur cours d’expérience. Les apprentissages tactiques ont été identifiés au travers du cours d’expérience des joueurs. Notre discussion portera sur une réflexion sur les usages des dispositifs d’apprentissage tactique et sur des pistes professionnelles.

While the benefits of physical activity are well known, many older adults do not have any physical activity because they do not have access to adapted physical activity (APA) structures and teachers. The use of a telepresence robot to remotely supervise older adults’ physical activity may be a suitable solution to break with lack of physical inactivity of older adults. The aim of the present study was to investigate effectiveness, acceptance, and perception of a mobile telepresence robot (MTR) that is remotely controlled by an APA teacher. Forty older adults (70.7 ± 4.3 years, 21 women, 19 men) were randomly divided in two groups of 20 participants who took part in a single individual learning session of a cognitive-motor task either conducted face-to-face with an APA teacher or with the same APA teacher using the MTR. Task performance, acceptance of the MTR, and perception of the APA teacher were assessed with quantitative and qualitative measures. The results showed that using MTR was as effective as a face-to-face intervention to help older adults learning a cognitive-motor task during a single session. The MTR was well-accepted by older adults and the APA teacher using the MTR was perceived warm, competent, adaptive, and sociable. The participants forgot that they were talking to a robot and they clearly put forward the added values of the MTR, especially its specific functionalities that does not exist in other types of devices such as static videoconference. APA sessions supervised by qualified teachers using the MTR may be implemented for isolated older adults who do not benefit from the services dedicated to supervised physical activity.

Abstract Background Impaired gait adaptability is one of the major causes of falls among older adults by producing inappropriate gait adjustments in cluttered environments. Training programs designed to improve gait adaptability behavior in a systemic approach may prevent falls in older adults. Recently, the technology of virtual reality has appeared as a relevant gait training tool based on its training implementation potential. The present study was designed to compare the effectiveness of a virtual reality gait training program (VR group) for improving gait adaptability behavior and thus, reducing the risk of falls relative to a conventional training program of Nordic walkway (NW group). We hypothesize that the virtual reality gait training program will lead to greater gait adaptability improvements.Methods The protocol describes a randomized controlled trial with pre-tests, post-tests, retention tests and follow-up. Forty healthy independent living community dweller participants (65–80 years) will be allocated, after a general medical examination, to the VR or the NW group for a training program of six weeks. Primary outcome related to gait adaptability capacities and acceptance of the virtual reality device will be assessed in pre- and post-intervention and one month after the completion of the training program (retention). A follow-up will be done during the 12 months after the completion of the gait training program.Discussion This study will demonstrate the relative relevance of a gait training program in virtual reality versus a conventional one for improving gait adaptability behavior in healthy older adults and thus preventing falls.Trial registration CERSTAPS (IRB00012476-2022-14-10-200, 14 October 2022)

Many older adults remain sedentary because they do not have access to specialized facilities or adapted physical activity (APA) teachers. To solve this health issue, mobile telepresence robots (MTRs) could allow APA sessions to be supervised by a teacher from a distant location. However, their acceptance has never been investigated in the context of APA. A sample of 230 French older adults filled out a questionnaire assessing the variables of the Technology Acceptance Model and their expectations for aging. The results showed that the more the older adults found the MTR useful, easy to use, enjoyable, and recommended by their entourage, the more they intended to use it. Moreover, older adults who expected higher health-related quality of life with aging are those who found the MTR more useful. Finally, older adults significantly found the MTR useful, easy to use, and pleasant to use for remote supervision of their physical activity.

Investigating psychological characteristics and dynamic behaviors can provide insight in the behavior of at-risk drivers. Achievement goals in driving have recently been studied to assess driver motivation. The four achievement goals in driving are mastery-approach, performance-approach, mastery-avoidance, and performance-avoidance. Three dynamic criteria have been developed to objectively characterize driver behavior: time spent above acceleration thresholds; driving incidents; the extent of dynamic loading. The aim of this study was to examine the predictive role of achievement goals on objective driving behaviors. During 8 months, 4,626,379 km of 299 drivers was recorded, and simultaneously, the Achievement Goals in Driving Questionnaire was completed. Mastery- approach goals seem to be the most protective goals in driving, as opposed to performance-approach goals.

The benefit of the tactical dimension in racket sport has been demonstrated by numerous scientific studies: at the "contextual" level in badminton (Dieu, 2012), and at the "exploratory" level in table tennis (e.g., Seve et al., 2003). Professionally, official texts (AFC, High School Program, 2019) and specialized literature (e.g., Joing & Jospin, 2013) emphasize the notion of tactical choice. The few studies available on badminton show a predominantly emotional concern as opposed to a tactical one in relation to the dynamics of the match (Guillou & Durny, 2008). There is also evidence of various discrepancies between the teachers' instructions and the actual activity of students in the game "Banco" (Rossard, Testevuide & Saury, 2005), or in cooperative situations (Guerin et al., 2004; Rossard & Saury, 2009). The aim of this comprehensive study is to analyze the typical activity of non-specialist students in the badminton tactical task " Les maitres du jeu" (the Game Masters) (Deutz D'Arragon, Mascret & Vors, 2020) according to the "course of action" based research program (Saury et al., 2013; Theureau, 2015). The three participants, all aged eighteen and of varying levels of ability, are non-specialist badminton students, in the first year of their Sciences et Techniques des Activites Physiques et Sportives (STAPS) (Science and technology of physical activities and sports) university diploma. The data was collected at the beginning and at the end of the sequence (lesson 1 and 12) using the data drawn from the observation sheet, the playing area, and the player's self-confrontation interviews. This comprehensive study aimed to analyze the dynamics of the tactical learning of students during the "Les maitres du jeu" task through the analysis of their experiences. Tactical learning was identified by analyzing the players' experiences. The discussion in this article will focus on the uses of tactical learning tasks, and on avenues for professional development.

IntroductionThe objective of the present study was to test two Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS) designed to help older drivers to intercept a moving inter-vehicular space.MethodOlder and younger drivers were asked to intercept a moving inter-vehicular space within a train of vehicles in a driving simulator. Three ADAS conditions (No-ADAS, Head Down, Head Up) as well as five distinct speed regulation conditions were tested. Vehicle trajectory, gaze behavior and acceptance were analyzed.ResultsOur results reveal that the ADAS tested make it possible to perform the interception task but also to reduce the variability of the behavior produced. They also indicate that the location of the augmented information provided by the ADAS directly impacts the information-gathering strategy implemented. Finally, whereas younger divers reported mixed levels of ADAS acceptance, older drivers reported a good level of acceptance.DiscussionAll these results could be particularly useful with a view of designing ADAS for older drivers.