Sam Cooley

 

Doctoral Researcher

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Contact details

Telephone +44 (0)121 414 7510

Email sjc829@bham.ac.uk

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

About

PhD Title: The use of outdoor team skill courses to develop transferable skills for students in higher education

Supervisors: Dr Jennifer Cumming and Dr Victoria Burns

Sam’s PhD explores the development of groupwork skills through outdoor team-skill courses, including how these skills are transferred to academic and employment settings. This research also involves designing effective measurement tools and evaluation strategies for investigating course outcomes and skill transfer.

The understanding gained from this research is currently being used to design, implement and evaluate interventions aimed at facilitating the development and transfer of skills during outdoor team-skill courses.

Qualifications

Access to HE Sciences (Leicester College)

Class 1 Degree with Honours in Sport and Exercise Sciences (University of Birmingham)

Biography

After spending a number of years as a swimming teacher, coach and lifeguard in Leicester, Sam completed an access course to Higher Education Science, before studying for an undergraduate degree in Sport and Exercise Sciences. After graduating with first class honours and receiving awards for academic achievement and contribution to the School, Sam went on to achieve a Scholarship PhD placement, funded by University of Birmingham Sport and the College of Life and Environmental Sciences.

Research

Research groups:

  • Sport and Exercise Psychology
  • Birmingham Evaluating Skill Transfer (BEST)
  • Birmingham Research in Imagery and Observation (BRIO)

Sam’s specific research interests fall within the broader areas of sport and exercise psychology, educational psychology, social psychology, outdoor education and the transfer of training. Alongside his PhD, Sam is also involved in research surrounding mental imagery, including how it can be used to benefit athletes, exercisers and sedentary individuals.

Other activities

Sam is an active member of the Birmingham Research in Imagery and Observation Group (BRIO) and the University of Birmingham’s Sport Psychology Journal Club.  He has also been appointed as a postgraduate student representative for the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

Publications

Publications

Cooley, S. J., Burns, V. E., & Cumming, J. (in prep). A review of outdoor adventure education when used to develop transferable groupwork skills for students in higher education.

Cooley, S. J., Holland, M. J. G., Cumming, J., Novakovic, E. G., & Burns, V. E. (under review). Introducing the use of a semi-structured video diary room to investigate students’ learning experiences during an outdoor adventure education groupwork skills course.

Cooley, S. J., Williams, S. E., Burns, V. E., & Cumming, J. (under review). Methodological variations in sport based, guided imagery interventions using movement imagery scripts: A systematic review.

Cumming, J., Woodcock, C., Cooley, S. J., Holland, M. J. G., & Burns, V. E. (under review). Development and validation of the Groupwork Skills Questionnaire (GSQ) for higher education.

Williams, S. E., Cooley, S. J., Newell, E., Weibull, F., & Cumming, J. (under review). Seeing the difference: Advice for developing effective imagery scripts for Athletes.

Burns, V. E., Cumming, J., Cooley, S. J., & Holland, M. J. G. (2012). Developing skills for successful international groupwork.  Report for the Higher Education Academy Connections Scheme.

Cumming, J., Burns, V. E., Cooley, S. J., & Holland, M. J. G. (2012). Messing about on the river: Evaluating the transfer of skills developed in the outdoors into academia and employment.  Report for the Higher Education Academy Teaching Development Grant Scheme.

Williams, S. E., Cooley, S. J., & Cumming, J. (2013). Enhancing an individual’s imagery ability: Can layering images facilitate ease of imaging? Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 35, 60-71.

Conference presentations

Cooley, S. J, & Cumming, J. (2011). Variations in imagery training interventions: A systematic review.  Research in Imagery and Observation Group, Manchester Metropolitan University, Crew Campus.

Cooley, S. J., Williams, S. E. Burns, V. E., & Cumming, J. (2012). Variations in imagery training interventions: A systematic review. British Psychological Society Annual Conference, London.

Cooley, S. J., Cumming, J., Deery, L., Horgan, T., Novakovic, E., & Burns, V. E. (2012). The use of a video diary room for collecting students’ self-reflections during outdoor education team skills courses. The Higher Education Academy Annual Conference, University of Manchester.

Cooley, S. J. (2012, invited presentation). The semi-structured video diary room methodology. TeachMeet conference held at the Higher Education Academy Annual Conference, University of Manchester.

Cooley, S. J. (2012). The use of a video diary room for collecting students’ self-reflections during outdoor education team skills courses. Graduate School Annual Poster Conference, University of Birmingham.  

Cooley, S. J., Cumming, J., & Burns, V. E. (2012). The use of a video diary room for collecting students’ self-reflections during outdoor education team skills courses. Teaching and Learning Conference, University of Birmingham.

Back to top