Development of specific competencies in gymnastics in specialized higher education

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. The modernization of the curriculum in higher education, through its importance and significance, aims to ensure optimal conditions in the creation and continuous improvement of the personality of the student/future teachers of physical education. The purpose of the study was the comparative analysis of the academic programs for development of specific competencies in the specialized higher education. Material and Methods. Three groups of subjects participated in the research: group A (Grade - A1, A2, A3) with a number of 83 students (the class of 2017-2020) from the Physical and Sports Education study program of the Physical Education and Sport Faculty (ROU). Group B (Grade – B1, B2) is formed of 18 students (the class 2017-2020) while group C (Grade – C1, C2) is formed of 20 students (the class 2018-2021). The subjects of groups B and C are students of the Faculty of Pedagogy (MD). The research was carried out depending on the status of the discipline ”Gymnastics” within the curriculum of both study programs. Grade A1: first year – fundamental discipline  ”Basic Gymnastics”. Grade A2: second year – bachelor’s degree discipline  ”Theory and practice in the branches of gymnastics – Artistic gymnastics”. Grade A3: third year -  specialization discipline ”Methods of teaching gymnastics in school”. Grades B1 and C1: ”Didactics of gymnastics I” (first semester). Grades B2 and C2: ”Didactics of gymnastics II” (second semester). Each discipline provides data about the subject matter, estimated total time, total of study hours per semester and individual study, conditions of carrying out and weighting of the evaluation criteria. The Single Factor Analysis of Variance was used to compare the average differences between groups. The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis Test was used for the differences between groups. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results. The comparative analysis of the study programs reveals differences in the status of disciplines (fundamental, bachelor’s degree and specialization – ROU and component of orientation towards a specialty - MD). The results of the comparative analysis between grades in the program ROU highlights the decrease of the mean by 0.24 points at Grade A2 and 0.36 points at Grade A3. There are significant differences at p<0.001 and at ANOVA Factor insignificant differences p>0.05. The results of the difference between groups in MD highlights the increase of performances in Grade C1 by 0.73 points and by 0.41 points at Grade C2. As for the comparison of the performances between grades, significant differences were observed between Grade C1 with Grade A2 and Grade A3, p<0.05. Regarding the other comparisons, the differences are insignificant at p>0.05, which shows that there are the same curricular approaches between contents and performances. Conclusions. The comparative analysis carried out between the training programs of gymnastics specific competencies revealed different contents, different weightings of the number of hours and number of credits. The insignificant differences between programs in terms of grades highlight the same curricular approaches between contents and achieved performances.