Presentation: Researching Evidence-Based Training

Slide 1 of 7 · Settling starter · PE · Year 11

5 minutes

Researching evidence-based training: should sprinters stretch?

Tomos is in Year 11 and runs the 100 m for his school. His coach has told him to stop doing long static stretches before races, but his dad says stretching is what made him fast. Tomos typed does stretching make you faster into a search engine and got 8 results.

While the register is called: write your name, class and date on your worksheet, then read “What you are doing” and all 8 results on the stimulus sheet once, quickly.

Starter question: The search engine listed Result A first and Result B second. Which of the 2 would you trust more, and why?

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content No computers needed · the search results are printed

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Hand out: one worksheet per pupil and one stimulus sheet (Eight search results) per pupil or pair. Pupils need a pen and a calculator for Step 5. Every source, author, organisation and figure on the stimulus sheet is invented. The results are printed in the order a search engine showed them, which is not the order of trustworthiness: working that out is the lesson.

Say aloud: “Name, class and date at the top of your worksheet now. While I take the register, read the story about Tomos at the top of the worksheet, then skim all 8 results on the stimulus sheet. Answer the starter question in rough.”

Starter answer: Result B. It is a peer-reviewed systematic review of 38 studies with 1,120 participants, funded by a university grant with no conflicts of interest. Result A is a sponsored shop page selling straps with no author, no date and no sources. Position on the results page says nothing about quality.

Slide 2 of 7 · Today’s brief and key words · PE · Year 11

2 minutes

Your brief: search properly, judge every source, plan the research

You will sharpen Tomos’s vague question, build 2 search strings, score all 8 sources from 1 to 5, place them on the evidence ladder, compare a newspaper headline with the study it quotes, and write a recommendation where every claim has a source letter after it.

Search tools

“Quotation marks” for an exact phrase, OR for either word, a minus sign to remove a word, site: to search one kind of website such as ac.uk or gov.wales.

Systematic review

A research paper that searches databases and combines many studies. Add review to a Google Scholar search to find one.

Evidence ladder

6 rungs from strongest to weakest: systematic reviews, single experiments, expert guidance that cites research, reports about research, personal opinion, advertising.

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content Judge a source by who made it, why, what kind of evidence, and how recent

Slide 3 of 7 · Steps 1 and 2: sharpen the question, build the search · PE · Year 11

13 minutes

Step 1 & Step 2: pin the question down, then build 2 search strings

Step 1 (6 min): “Does stretching make you faster” is too vague. Fill in who, what and when, compared with what, measured how, then write your focused research question.

Who is it about?	Sprinters aged 15 to 17, like Tomos
What exactly is being done, and when?	Static stretches held for 60 seconds or more, as part of the warm-up just before a race

Step 2 (7 min): list your key terms with alternative words, then write search string 1 for an ordinary search engine (at least 2 tools from the box) and search string 2 for Google Scholar. Say which of the 8 results each string would keep out.

Steps 1 and 2 on your worksheet · 13 minutes “Faster” must become a measurement

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “The first 2 rows of the Step 1 table are on the board. Finish the table and write your focused question, then move to Step 2. Your first search string must use at least 2 of the tools in the box. Name the results each string would have kept out.”

Quick check, Step 1: compared with the same warm-up with dynamic drills only and no long static stretches; measured by 100 m race time (or 20 m sprint time in a test). Model question: “For sprinters aged 15 to 17, does adding static stretches held for 60 seconds or more to a dynamic warm-up change their sprint time, compared with the dynamic warm-up on its own?”

Quick check, Step 2: key terms such as static stretching (passive stretching, stretch hold), sprint (sprinting, speed, 100 m), teenage (adolescent, youth, young athletes). Model string 1: "static stretching" (sprint OR sprinting) warm-up site:ac.uk -buy, which keeps out A (shop page, minus buy) and D, F and G (not on ac.uk), but also loses E and H. Model string 2: "static stretching" sprint (adolescent OR youth) review, which only searches research so finds B and C and none of the others.

Slide 4 of 7 · Steps 3 and 4: judge the sources, then rank them · PE · Year 11

18 minutes

Step 3 & Step 4: score all 8 sources, then place them on the ladder

Step 3 (14 min): for each result: who made it and why, what kind of evidence, a trust score from 1 (useless) to 5 (strong) for Tomos’s question, and its biggest weakness.

Result	Who made it, and why?	What kind of evidence?	Score	Biggest weakness
A	A company, to sell straps	Advert; no evidence at all	1	Makes money if you believe it; star ratings are about the product, not speed
B	University researchers, to sum up all the research	Systematic review of 38 studies, 1,120 people, peer reviewed	5	Mostly adults aged 18 to 30, not 16-year-olds

Step 4 (4 min): write each letter on the rung of the evidence ladder where it belongs. Some rungs may have more than 1 letter; 1 may have none.

Steps 3 and 4 on your worksheet · 18 minutes One small study is weaker than 38 studies combined

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Results A and B are done on the board. Judge C to H the same way: purpose, type of evidence, date, score, weakness. After 14 minutes, write every letter on the ladder in Step 4.”

Quick check, Step 3: C researchers testing one idea; one controlled experiment, peer reviewed; 3; only 16 people, only university sprinters, only 20 m. D an influencer, partly to sell a drink; one person’s experience; 1; no measurement and a paid promotion. E a government-funded health site, general advice; dated and reviewed guidance; 2; not about sprinting or performance, and its review date has passed. F a parent sharing an opinion; one anecdote from 2009; 1; one runner, no comparison. G a newspaper, to attract readers; a report about Result C; 2; exaggerates the study, no expert named. H a coaching association, to guide coaches; expert guidance with 12 research references; 4; it is advice, not research itself.

Quick check, Step 4, top to bottom: B; C; H; E and G; D and F; A. Point out that the search engine listed A first and B second.

Slide 5 of 7 · Steps 5 and 6: the headline, the plan and the answer · PE · Year 11

13 minutes

Step 5 & Step 6: check the headline against the study, then advise Tomos

Step 5 (4 min): Result G says it is reporting Result C. List 3 things the headline claims that the study did not find or test. Then: the study found runners 0.04 seconds slower over 20 m. What percentage of 3.00 seconds is that? Big or small for a sprinter?

Step 6 (9 min): (a) Result B says most studies tested adults aged 18 to 30; Tomos is 16. Write your next 2 searches, where, and what you are looking for. (b) Write Result B as a reference. (c) 4 or 5 sentences telling Tomos what his warm-up should include and leave out, with a source letter after every claim, ending with 1 thing the evidence cannot yet tell him.

Reference format: Author(s) (year) Title. Type of source. Date you read it.

Model (b): Pryce, E. and Okafor, T. (2021) Acute effects of static stretching on sprint and jump performance: a systematic review. Peer-reviewed sports medicine journal article. Read 28 September 2026.

Steps 5 and 6 on your worksheet · 13 minutes, in silence A claim with no letter after it has not used the evidence

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “4 minutes for Step 5, calculators out for the percentage. Then 9 minutes for Step 6. The reference format and a model reference are on the board. In part (c), every claim must be followed by a source letter in brackets, such as (B).”

Quick check, Step 5: the headline says stretching is “pointless” for all exercise, but the study only tested 20 m sprints; it says “skip it for good”, but injury was not studied; it says “everything you’ve been told about warming up is wrong”, but both groups did a dynamic warm-up and only the 90-second stretches were added. It also treats 16 university sprinters as proof about everybody. 0.04 ÷ 3.00 × 100 = 1.3%: small, but in a 100 m race of about 12 seconds that is roughly 0.16 seconds, often the gap between first and third.

Quick check, Step 6: (a) a Google Scholar search such as "static stretching" sprint (adolescent OR youth OR "young athletes") looking for studies of under-18s, and an ordinary search such as warm-up young sprinters site:ac.uk OR site:gov.wales looking for guidance for school-age athletes. (c) Warm-up built on easy running, dynamic drills such as leg swings, high knees and walking lunges, then short fast efforts up to race pace (H); leave out static stretches of 60 seconds or more (B), which made sprinters 1.3% slower over 20 m when held for 90 seconds (C); short stretches under 60 seconds are unlikely to harm (B); long stretches after training (H); the evidence cannot yet say whether the same is true for 16-year-olds (B). The dad’s view (F) should not be used.

Slide 6 of 7 · Self and partner check · PE · Year 11

2 minutes

Check your work against the success criteria

Tick each criterion you have met. Then correct 1 thing: find a claim in your recommendation with no source letter after it and add one.

I can turn a vague question into a focused research question that says who, what, compared with what, and measured how.
I can build search strings with exact phrases, alternatives, exclusions and site: limits, and explain what each one filters out.
I can judge a source by who made it, why, what kind of evidence it is and how recent it is.
I can rank evidence and spot where a news report goes further than the research it quotes.
I can write a recommendation where every claim is linked to a source, and say what the evidence still cannot tell us.

2 minutes · self check Finished early? Try the tasks under “If you finish early”

Slide 7 of 7 · Plenary review · PE · Year 11

2 minutes

Quick-check answers before handing in

Check your main answers before your worksheets are collected.

Question	Correct answer
Which result belongs on the top rung of the ladder, and which on the bottom?	Top: B, a systematic review of 38 studies. Bottom: A, an advert.
0.04 seconds slower over a 3.00-second sprint is what percentage?	1.3%: small, but roughly 0.16 seconds in a 12-second 100 m race.
What is the 1 thing the evidence cannot yet tell Tomos?	Whether the same is true for 16-year-olds, because most studies tested adults aged 18 to 30 (B).

Check your name and class are on your worksheet Leave stimulus sheets neat on the desk