Staff Profiles

Dr Don Vinson

Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching

Email: dvinson@glos.ac.uk

I am an academic with a passion for sport.  Sport can be so exciting, unifying and intriguing; I’m passionate about learning how to develop sport as a force for societal and individual enrichment.  I love helping others to understand a little bit more about sport and the way in which we can learn more within this academic environment.  I’m a hockey coach and player, but I also love most ball sports, especially golf, volleyball and the racket sports.  I also enjoy a bit of Ultimate now and then.  From a student perspective, I love to help learners through their dissertation, as I believe this process represents the culmination of a programme of study and usually yields greater understanding and curiosity than any other.
 
Academic Qualifications:

PhD (2007); ‘Development of REFERQUAL; an Instrument for Evaluating Service Quality in GP Exercise Referral Schemes, University of Central Lancashire

PGCert (2006); ‘Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’, Liverpool John Moore’s University
BSc (Hons) (2001) ‘Physical Education and Sport Science with Mathematics’, University of Hull

I am also currently undertaking a Postgraduate Certificate in Data Analysis in the Social Sciences at the University of Essex Summer School.




Research interests:

• Continuing interest in the role of service quality in Exercise Referral Schemes. This work particularly focuses on the role of Primary Care and Exercise Referral Centres to provide an environment suitable for clients to uptake and maintain lifelong physical activity.
• Pedagogic research currently focusing on the promotion of student ‘Authorship’ through the use of plagiarism detection software as a teaching and learning tool.
• As part of the Sport Development team at Liverpool John Moore’s University; we recently trialled a five-week student transition project, aiming to enhance student engagement with the subject area, develop understanding of key topic areas and smooth students’ journeys into Higher Education
• Sport and Identity; continued investigation into why we participate in sport in relation to our identity and spiritual health; connecting sport and theological literature.
  

Subjects Taught: 

• Coaching
• Research methods
• Physical activity and health
• Sport Development

Recent Publications:

Cock, D., Adams, I. C., Ibbetson, A. B., and Baugh, P. (2008) The impact of the physical leisure environment on client adherence. In Gilchrist, P. and Wheaton, B. (eds) Whatever happened to the Leisure Society? Theory, debate and policy, Eastbourne: Leisure Studies Association. pp. 47-72.

Cock, D., Nixon, S., Walker, C., Mitchell, E., Walsh, B. and Zaitseva, E. (2008) Understanding student engagement: evaluation of an intensive five-week transition programme, Innovations in Practice, 1(1), pp. 36-43.

Cock, D., Adams, I. C., Ibbetson, A. B., and Baugh, P. (2006) REFERQUAL: A pilot study of a new service quality assessment instrument in the GP exercise referral scheme setting, BMC Health Services Research, 6(61).

Harrison, R., Cock, D. (2004) Increasing response to a postal survey of sedentary patients — A randomised controlled trial, BMC Health Services Research, 4(31).


Peer-reviewed publications

Cock, D., Nixon, S., Walsh, B., Walker, C., Zaitseva, E., & Mitchell, E. (in press) Investigating the relationship between students’ transition into university and the engagement with peers, staff and the discipline, Active Learning in Higher Education.

Peer-reviewed conference presentations

Cock, D., & Nixon, S. (2008) Re-thinking the concept of Induction — the student perception, European First Year Experience Conference, 7-9th May 2008.

Cock, D., Adams, I., Ibbetson, A. B., & Baugh, P. (2007) The impact of the physical leisure environment on client adherence, Leisure Studies Association, 3-5th July 2007.

Professional conference presentations

Cock, D., (2008), Patient perceptions and expectations of GP and Exercise Professional interactions in the Exercise Referral Process, Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure Faculty Research Conference, Liverpool John Moores University, 24th June 2008.

Cock, D., & Turner, J. (2008) The Sport, Dance and Outdoor Education Authorship Project, Liverpool John Moores Teaching and Learning Conference, March 2008.

Cock, D., Adams, I., Ibbetson, A. B., & Baugh, P. (2007) The impact of the physical leisure environment on client adherence, Informing the Curriculum: Celebrating the Importance of Research, Liverpool John Moores University, 29th June 2007.

Cock, D., & Turner, J. (2007) Positives of plagiarism: learning not cheating, Liverpool John Moores Teaching and Learning Conference, March 2007.

Professional publications

Cock, D., Nixon, S., Walsh, B., & Walker, C. (2008) ‘Using movies to stimulate learning in sport subjects’, Higher Education Academy Case Study, available from http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/case_studies/case119_feb08_movies.pdf

Cock, D., Nixon, S., Walsh, B., & Walker, C. (2008) Changing induction to transition for L1 students: a staff perspective, Higher Education Academy Case Study, available from http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/case_studies/case120_feb08_induction_transition.pdf

Cock, D., Nixon, S., Walsh, B., & Walker, C. (2008) A change from induction to transition; can this affect student engagement and learning?, Higher Education Academy Case Study, available from http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/case_studies/case121_feb08_transition.pdf