Olga Kouli | Democritus University of Thrace (original) (raw)

Books by Olga Kouli

Papers by Olga Kouli

Early years, May 26, 2024

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2014

This article explores the links between neuroscience research, movement, and neurological dysfunc... more This article explores the links between neuroscience research, movement, and neurological dysfunction in relation to young children's learning and development. While policymakers have recognised the importance of early development the role of movement has been overlooked. A small scale study was undertaken in four early years settings in a London Borough in order to investigate whether an intervention resulted in improved movement experiences for children. This is the first study to assess the quality of movement-play using a newly developed measuring scale. Results showed that an intervention does result in improved movement experiences for young children. Consistently enhanced results were found in relation to the vital role of the adult at the two intervention settings. For Vygotsky the adult role is critical to the quality of play and learning for the child (Siraj-Blatchford 2009). There is scope for a larger scale piece of research spread across different sectors in order to further test the validity and reliability of the scale.

International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of an organized exercise program based on selec... more The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of an organized exercise program based on selected fitness indicators on adult learners in a multicultural environment of a Second Chance School (SCS). 62 learners from the SCS of Komotini (19-57 years) participated in the study, where they were equally divided into two groups (experimental, control). The intervention program was implemented for 5 months (2 times/week) with an intensity of 65%-85% of the HRmax. Each exercise session lasted 60 minutes and included aerobic exercise and muscular strengthening. Measurements were performed at the beginning and end of the intervention, and "ALPHA-FIT Test Battery for Adults Aged 18-69" tests were used, as well as the "Sit-Ups in 30 sec" and "Sit and Reach" tests. For statistical processing of the data, descriptive statistics, analyses of variance ANOVA and T-Tests were used using the SPSS program. The analysis of the data showed that a statistically significant major influence of the measurement factor (p<.001) in all tests between the two groups (experimental, control) was observed in fitness indicators. Gender differences were found, with men performing better in dynamic tests than women, and women performing better in flexibility than men. In conclusion, the intervention program has significantly improved the Physical Condition of learners in the multicultural SCS of Komotini. Finally, further research is proposed with interventions of exercise programs in more than one SCS to examine the degree of participation and any positive changes that will occur in the fitness in a larger sample.

Annals of Applied Sport Science

Background. Job satisfaction has been an issue of intense study interest during the last decades.... more Background. Job satisfaction has been an issue of intense study interest during the last decades. It could be defined a positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job situation and is linked to the characteristics and demands of one's work. Also that interest in the concept of job burnout has grown rapidly and the knowledge of burnout has increased considerably. Burnout is defined as a negative experience that is a reaction of people to jobrelated stress. Objectives. The present study seeks to investigate the levels of job satisfaction and burnout in Teachers and Physical Education Teachers of Minority and Public Sector Schools, as well as their relation to demographic characteristics. Methods. The Employee Satisfaction Inventory questionnaire, adapted for the Greek population, was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire was used, which has also been validated for the Greek population. Questionnaires were picked up by 297 Primary School Teachers and by 142 Physical Education Teachers, who serve at 186 Minority Schools and 253 Public Schools of Thrace. Results. The results of the study revealed a negative relation between job satisfaction and burnout; teachers experience relatively moderate burnout levels, their job satisfaction level is high. The results showed that Physical Education teachers experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout than Primary school teachers. Finally, concerning school, the type of school affects satisfaction in relation to the factor "job conditions". Conclusion. For the first time, burnout and job satisfaction of teachers in minority schools was studied and the results revealed that when job satisfaction increases, the perceived burnout decreases, where job satisfaction and burnout presented medium to high negative correlation.

Journal of Physical Activity and Rehabilitation, 2015

Causal relationships of sport and exercise involvement with goal

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of two types of tapering on the conc... more The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of two types of tapering on the concentration of plasma testosterone (T), cortisol (C) and testosterone to cortisol (T:C) ratio in elite male wrestlers after a period of incremental training. Thirty elite male wrestlers were selected randomly and divided into three equal groups: tapering 1 (50% reduction in training volume), tapering 2 (75% reduction in training volume) and control (regular training). Following four weeks of incremental training, one week of tapering was performed. Blood samples were collected from all participants at the beginning of the 1st week and at the end of the 4th and 5th weeks. Plasma levels of C and T were assayed using standard commercial ELISA kits (Quantikine; R & D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). Data were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. The results showed that after one week of tapering, the plasma levels of C significantly decreased (P>0.05). Despite increases in plasma levels of T, it was ...

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020

Over the last decade, the lives of children in several countries, including Greece, have been aff... more Over the last decade, the lives of children in several countries, including Greece, have been affected by recession. The aim of the present study was (a) to examine time trends in physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) of Greek preschool children, together with their family affluence (FA), from 2009 until 2018, and to explore the associations among them; and (b) to investigate the connections of parental educational level and children’s BMIs to their achieving ST (<1 h/day) and PA (11,500 steps/day) guidelines. A total of 652 children from four cross-sectional cohorts participated. PA was recorded with Omron HJ-720IT-E2 pedometers, whereas ST, family affluence (FA) and parental educational level were reported by participants’ parents. The results of the one-way ANOVAs that were computed revealed statistically significant differences among cohorts, albeit of no practical importance, in PA, ST and FA. According to the regressions calculated, neither BMI nor the educational lev...

Early years, May 26, 2024

European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2014

International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences

Annals of Applied Sport Science

Journal of Physical Activity and Rehabilitation, 2015

Causal relationships of sport and exercise involvement with goal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020

International Journal of Instruction, 2019

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a dance aerobic intervention progra... more The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a dance aerobic intervention program on intrinsic motivation and perceived motivation climate in 7th grade middle school students. The sample of the study consisted of 160 healthy students, of the first grade of middle school. Of these, 91 students was the experimental group and the remaining 69 was the control. The experimental group followed an aerobic dance intervention program for ten weeks, three times per week, with 45-minute sessions while the control group only followed the typical physical education program of the school. In order to conduct the study the following instruments were used: a) the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (ΙΜΙ-McAuley, Duncan & Tammen, 1989) and the Perceived Oriented Climate (LAPOPECQ; Papaioannou, 1998).

cultura_ciencia_deporte, 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education... more The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences and relations in Physical Education (P.E.) teachers' perceived job satisfaction and burnout, in relation to educational sector (private vs public), educational level (primary vs secondary) and gender. Two hundred and eighty two P.E. teachers, aged from 24 to 65 years old (M = 43.6, SD = 5.45), both from elementary and secondary schools, participated in the study. One hundred of them served in private schools and 182 in public ones. Their working exprerience ranged from one to 37 years (M = 14.5, SD = 7.23). The Employee Satisfaction Inventory (Koustelios & Bagiatis, 1997) was employed to assess job satisfaction. For the measurement of burnout, Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1986), which has been validated for the Greek population, was used. The results revealed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and burnout. Private sector P.E. teachers seem to experience higher job satisfaction and lower burnout compared to their public sector colleagues. Furthermore, P.E. teachers who serve both in elementary and secondary schools, appear to experience higher job satisfaction. Finally, secondary P.E. teachers seem to experience lower burnout compared to their primary education colleagues. No statistically significant differences were found in relation to gender for both job satisfaction and burnout. Overall, it seems that P.E. teachers who work in private schools and/or in secondary education seem to be more satisfied and less burned-out. Implications of the aforementioned observed relationships are discussed.

International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2016

Usage of any items from the University of Cumbria's institutional repository 'Insight' must confo... more Usage of any items from the University of Cumbria's institutional repository 'Insight' must conform to the following fair usage guidelines. Any item and its associated metadata held in the University of Cumbria's institutional repository Insight (unless stated otherwise on the metadata record) may be copied, displayed or performed, and stored in line with the JISC fair dealing guidelines (available here) for educational and notforprofit activities provided that • the authors, title and full bibliographic details of the item are cited clearly when any part of the work is referred to verbally or in the written form • a hyperlink/URL to the original Insight record of that item is included in any citations of the work • the content is not changed in any way • all files required for usage of the item are kept together with the main item file. You may not • sell any part of an item • refer to any part of an item without citation • amend any item or contextualise it in a way that will impugn the creator's reputation • remove or alter the copyright statement on an item. The full policy can be found here.

Early Child Development and Care, 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine whether kindergartens and childcare centres differ in te... more The purpose of this study was to examine whether kindergartens and childcare centres differ in terms of educational and caregiving components. More specifically, two aspects of the process quality of the early childhood education and care were examined regarding the ‘Activities’ and the ‘Programme Structure’. A multi-stage sampling technique was applied to recruit a national representative sample from the Greek early childhood education system. A total of 535 early childhood classrooms from kindergarten and childcare programmes participated in the study, together with 4158 children. The quality of the participating classrooms was evaluated with the use of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) edition. Results showed a medium-quality picture from both the kindergarten and childcare classrooms. Explanations are provided regarding the statistically significant differences between the two types of preschool programmes. This study attempts to initiate a discussion about the need to build a strong and equal partnership between kindergarten and childcare programmes and to move towards a more coherent approach in the Greek early childhood education system.

International Journal of Sport Management, Recreation & Tourism, 2013

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the role of fan involvement with volleyball in their... more The purpose of this paper was to investigate the role of fan involvement with volleyball in their behavior (as expressed by loyalty) towards their team in professional men's volleyball League in Greece. The sample that was used included 521 fans that watched volleyball games in five venues in Athens and completed questionnaires that were handed to them. The questionnaires items were the Leisure Involvement Scale (5 Likert scale) which was used by Nassis and Theodorakis (2008) and, for the evaluation of fan loyalty, the questionnaire (8 Likert scale) by Theodorakis and Wann, (2008) both were used in Greek population. Correlated regression analyses were used. Results showed that volleyball fans had a high level of involvement as expressed by three factors, namely Attraction, Centrality and Self-Expression and loyalty as expressed by behaviors such as frequency of watching games/TV/radio and participating in conversations with friends revolving around sports. The correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between the involvement factors and the loyalty dimensions. Additionally, the linear regression analyses showed that the three factors of involvement predicted in different degrees a statistically significant percentage of specific indicators that express the loyalty of volleyball fans to their teams. The results can be utilized by professional teams' executives for the creation of the profile of fan involvement with volleyball, thus aiming at discovering more efficient forms of communication with them.

Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and job securi... more The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and job security in a sample of Greek fitness instructors. The sample consisted of 97 fitness instructors, 18 to 42 years of age. Findings show that there are significantly statistically positive correlations between job security and job satisfaction (p<.002). Particularly, job security is significantly statistically positive correlated with pay (.54), promotion (.43), job itself (.41) and organizational as a whole (.43).