Dr Nathan Cobb, lecturer in sport at the college, is helping develop the education program in partnership with the Stags.
How has the use of Dartfish changed your teaching?
I am the module leader for our Analysis of Sports Performance Module on the BA (Hons) Sports Studies program, and Dartfish has enabled me to modernize the college’s previous approach to delivering this module. We are now in a position to equip our students with industry-level knowledge, delivered in an engaging manner whereby the students are regularly ‘hands-on’ with the software. I was familiar with Dartfish and it’s capabilities from my previous role at Stoke City FC as an Academy Match Analyst. This has enabled me to structure the delivery of the Analysis of Performance module in a way that develops student’s skills across all aspects of the software. Additionally, the module assessment is built around the use of Dartfish as an analysis tool. Students create their own tagging panel for a sport of their choosing, analyze match performance, and then present statistical and video-based analysis using the ‘report’ and ‘montage’ features of Dartfish. I’ve been really impressed with how easy students have found using the software, and this has led to them being able to produce some outstanding work. Student feedback for this module has been overwhelmingly positive since we started using Dartfish.
Outside of the classroom, the use of Dartfish has enabled me to establish a placement opportunity for our students to work with Sean O’Callaghan (Head Performance Analyst) at Peterborough United FC on a remote basis by conducting opposition analysis. We also have a student who is a full-time coach at Mansfield Town FC in the final year of his degree program who utilizes his allocated Dartfish license to conduct an analysis of his team’s games to supplement his coaching.
What subject areas do you cover with Dartfish?
Currently, Dartfish supports the HE Sport department across a number of modules. As mentioned previously, Dartfish has made the biggest impact on the delivery of the Analysis of Sports Performance module. We also use Dartfish in support of our Training and Performance module, where students have the option to conduct some technical analysis (either tagging or technique-based) as part of their assessment. We have also begun to use Dartfish as a tool for assessing coach behaviors within our coaching and sport leadership-based modules.
What is your technology set-up at the College and the corresponding workflow(s)?
We currently have Dartfish installed on classroom computers, which enables me to demonstrate key features of the software to students. This combines to great effect with our touchscreen presentation boards – enabling staff and students to present their analysis in a more engaging manner than sat behind a screen and relying on the use of a mouse. We also have a bank of 20 laptops that are dedicated to the use of Dartfish, enabling students to come onto campus and conduct their analysis work at any time.
Are you benefitting from controlling (assigning and re-assigning etc.) your own Dartfish licenses and are your students benefiting from the increased flexibility (using the Dartfish licenses outwith the computer labs at the college etc.)?
This has been one of the best features of working with Dartfish. Students are assigned a laptop on campus and tend to install Dartfish on their personal devices. This has enabled students to come onto campus and work on their projects and then pick them up at home outside of college hours. This flexibility has allowed our students to spend more time on their projects, thus producing analysis in great detail rather than having to rush based on their timetabled hours on campus.
From my perspective, I tend to register the whole class at the start of the module, and then deactivate upon completion, making space for the next cohort etc.
What advice would you give a teacher/lecturer who is considering integrating video analysis solutions in their educational institutions?
Go for it! Our teaching has improved considerably by being able to make use of Dartfish. Build your modules around the software rather than making the software fit your delivery. This enables students to see directly how the software works in industry. Try to partner with a local team/organization to get students supporting coaches and athletes with the software on a regular basis so that you have more real-world examples to bring to the classroom for discussion.
In three words, how would you summarise your experience with Dartfish?
Supportive, progressive, and easy
You can read more about the new partnership between West Nottinghamshire College and Mansfield Town here.
Details on how talented footballers aged 16-18 can apply for the BTEC program can be found here.
And details on the exciting new degree programme in partnership with Nottingham Trent University based at West Nottinghamshire College can be found here.
All programmes are supported by the use of Dartfish software as outlined by Nathan, giving students (regardless of their affiliation to the football club), the opportunity to use industry-standard software in an applied setting.
