PhD, Associate Professor A.V. Titovskiy¹
I.N. Antonova¹
I.N. Motorin¹
N.M. Nutsalov^1
1Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Moscow

Keywords: billiards, elective physical education course, educational competences building, students.

Background. Since the mid-2000ies, the relevant government agencies of the Russian Federation in charge of the national physical education and sports sector developmental policies and practices have adopted new regulations for the national higher education system to implement the Bologna standards [3]. The uniform academic curricula were abolished, and the academic Physical Education Departments got the right to freely develop and implement their own physical education courses customised to the individual needs and preferences of the trainees, available assets and equipment and compliant to the institutional development concepts and policies [1]. Since 2015, new FSHES (Federal State Higher Education Standards) were approved including elective academic physical education courses – optional for and welcomed by the students. As provided by the valid FSHES, the academic physical education teachers are encouraged to implement new education technologies in the academic Physical Education discipline. Presently the physical training options offered to the economics university students are geared to control the academic inactivity by the following disciplines: fitness course (indoor gyms) giving a special priority to the cardio-respiratory and muscular system development, bodybuilding and weight-control practices [10]; dancing, martial arts and body conditioning courses giving a high priority to a variety of physical qualities (speed, strength, endurance, dexterity, flexibility etc.); swimming course to train students keep up on water and master different swimming styles [9]; a special theoretical course for special health group students exempted from practical physical training [2]; and billiards course to give basic cueing skills and knowledge of the game to the students and improve their spatial control and strategic thinking abilities. In the context of the valid FSHES requirements, the academic billiards course is designed to address the health improvement [1], team-work, developmental, intellectual and psychological components of the academic physical education in different specialities and develop the relevant physical and mental qualities in students [8]. Standard test exercises may be unified on a gender-unspecific basis since the statistical test data does not show any significant intergroup and gender differences; and this finding creates additional motivations for the students diagnosed with health disorders. The academic billiards course is customisable for a variety of individual and group training systems. As presently reported by the Russian Statistics Agency, about 60% of the national student population is diagnosed with different health disorders and, therefore, is restricted in the choice of academic physical education and sport disciplines. Academic billiards is still widely applicable to any health group regardless of the above negative trend in the student health standards. However, presently the national and foreign research literature on the subject gives no systemic information on how the academic billiards-based physical education should be designed albeit one study reports meaningful benefits of billiards for the mental and physiological progress, wellbeing and activity of the trainees, with the stress indices reported to drop twice [4]. The author though does not provide information on the reasons for the effects that may be either due to the billiards course, its intensity and sport excellence stages design; or unspecific, e.g. inherited from the parents; or selective, i.e. explained by the criteria of selection to the billiards section. One of the possible solutions can be the billiards education and training model (BETM) of our design with its standardised and unified set of test exercises [5].  

Objective of the study was to substantiate benefits of the Russian billiards education and training model (BETM) offered as one of the elective courses under the academic physical education discipline in application to every health group of the economics university students.

Methods and structure of the study. Subject to the study were the economics university students majoring in finance and inexperienced in billiards. A group of 17-18 year old female students (n=24 including the basic health group of 16 people, preparatory group of 5 people and special health group of 3 people) was trained by the 130-hour BETM course including 100-hour education (90-minute sessions twice a week); 20 hours of progress tests; and 10 hours of introductions, safety rules and examinations [5]: see Table 1.

Note: L new material learning stage; M mastering stage; E excellence stage; PT progress tests

 The BETM course is designed to master, on a step-by-step basis, the key technical elements and to build up the due competency and skills in billiards. The BETM course exercises were designed to gradually increase their difficulty to facilitate the technical skills mastering process [5]. The BETM course and the relevant progress tests include the following modules: Module 1 with exercises 1 and 2; Module 2 with exercises 3, 4 and 5; Module 3 with exercises 6, 7 and 8; and Module 4 with exercises 9 and 10. Upon completion of each module, the students were tested with the relevant progress tests using a 5-point scale. The study data were processed using a standard Excel toolkit.

Study results and discussion. The empirical data obtained by the BETM model piloting process monitoring and progress rating gave the means to believe that the difficulty structure of the exercises was optimal. The further growth of difficulty was found to give no rise to the test rates albeit notably detrimental for the trainees’ motivations. The exercises that implied permanent and conscientious analysis and adjustments were found to increase the trainees’ motivations and interest in excelling. In 3-4 sessions, the trainees generally developed a stable focusing ability and determination in the exercise execution supported by expressed motivations followed by growing confidence and execution excellence in the next two training sessions. Later on the acquired motor skills were found to keep high till the nearest progress test, with the test rate being determined only by the trainee’s ability to concentrate on execution. 

In Module 1 and early Module 2, in the stance formation, visual and tactile sensitivity and cueing skills building stage, the trainees faced serious difficulties in mastering exercises 1, 2 and 3, with the execution stability being low enough as verified by the average test rates and their variation ranges. On average, the stance formation and the above qualities building stage took 9-10 weeks under the model. Later on and till the end of the academic year, the learning progress was more successful as verified by the progress test rates upon completion of Module 2 and semester 2: see Table 2. The progress tests showed no statistically significant intergroup differences, and this finding makes it possible to recommend the BETM model for every academic health group.

The pilot BETM course was found beneficial as it made possible to meet the FSHES requirements; ensure high group staffing and attendance rates; involve every health group in the training process; standardise the progress standards for the students irrespective of their primary fitness rates; and reduce the numbers of educators due to merger of the academic health groups.

Conclusion. Further increase of the training load was found ineffective for further progress being detrimental for the students’ motivations for the training. The study data do not show any statistically significant intergroup differences in the subject academic health groups and, hence, give grounds to recommend the billiards education and training model for every academic health group. The billiards education and training model helped effectively implement the relevant FSHES in the physical education curriculum to ensure high progress in every health group irrespective of the primary fitness rates.

References

1. 1. Alaev M.V., Titovskiy A.V., Lavrinenko V.V. Klasterizatsiya metodicheskikh zadach uchebnoy distsipliny «Fizicheskaya kultura» v vysshem obrazovanii [Clustering of methodological tasks of academic Physical Education discipline in higher education]. Izvestiya Tulskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Fizicheskaya kultura. Sport, 2015, no. 3, pp. 3-10.
2. 2. Beletskiy S.V., Antonova I.N., Kondratyev P.A. Obuchayushchee kompyuternoe testirovanie v prepodavanii fizicheskoy kultury sovremennogo vuza [Educational computer-based testing for modern university Physical Education process]. Interaktivnaya nauka, 2016, no. 1.
3. 3. Vishnevskiy V.A. Bilyard kak vid adaptivnogo sporta [Billiards as adaptive sport]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 3, pp 86-88.
4. 4. Strategiya razvitiya fizicheskoy kultury i sporta v Rossiyskoy Federatsii na period do 2020 goda. Rasporyazhenie Pravitelstva Rossiyskoy Federatsii ot 7 avgusta 2009 g. no. 1101-r [Strategy of development of physical culture and sports in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020. RF Government Order dated August 7, 2009 no. 1101-r.].
5. 5.  Titovskiy A.V. Uchebno-metodicheskiy kompleks napravleniya «Bilyard» v uchebnom protsesse po fizicheskoy kulture» studentov ekonomicheskogo universiteta [Billiards education and training module in physical education curriculum of university of economics]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2017, no. 6, P. 30.
6.   Titovskiy A.V., Gadzhiev D.M., Nutsalov N.N., Averyasov V.V. Formirovanie sorevnovatelnykh kompetentsiy u studentov v protsesse organizatsii bilyardnykh turnirov [Forming students' competitive competences via billiards tournaments]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 9, pp. 39-41.
7.  Titovskiy A.V., Mamonova O.V. Bilyard v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov-ekonomistov [Billiards in physical education of economics students]. Izvestiya Tulskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Fizicheskaya kultura. Sport, 2015, no. 4, pp. 59-65.
8.  Tochigin M.Y., Shutova T.N. Ozdorovitelnoe vozdeystvie i funktsionalnye vozmozhnosti plavaniya v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov [Therapeutic effects and functionality of swimming in academic physical education]. Mater. IV Mezhdunar. nauch.-prakt. zaochnoy internet-konferentsii "Gumanitarnoe obrazovanie v ekonomicheskom vuze" [Proc. IV Internat. res.-pract. internet conf. "Humanities Education in University of Economics"], 2016, pp. 570-576.
9.  Shutova T.N. Traditsionnye vidy sporta i fitnes v fizicheskom vospitanii studentov [Traditional sports and fitness in physical education of students]. Izvestiya Tulskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Fizicheskaya kultura. Sport, 2016, no. 4, pp. 96-102.

Corresponding author: AVTitovskiy@yandex.ru 

Abstract

The article reports the Russian billiards education and training model (BETM) application experience under the academic Physical Education discipline. Subject to the study were the economics university students majoring in finance and having no prior experience in billiards. A group of 17-18 year old female students was trained by the 130-hour BETM course including 100-hour education (90-minute sessions twice a week); 20 hours for progress tests; and 10 hours for introduction, safety rules and examinations. The students’ progress in the BETM course had been tested by qualitative and quantitative progress rating tests for 3 academic years; with the tests applied to finalise and systematise the model. The model was supplemented by practical guides to duly schedule the students’ learning and training process and help the instructor effectively design the training system. 

The authors come to the conclusion that the proposed final model offers a set of optimal, feasible and accessible practices. It should be noted that further increase of the training load was found ineffective for further progress being detrimental for the students’ motivations for training. The study data does not show any statistically significant intergroup differences in the subject academic health groups and, hence, gives grounds to recommend the billiards education and training model for every academic health group. The billiards education and training model helped effectively implement the relevant FSHES in the physical education curriculum to ensure high progress in every health group irrespective of the primary physical fitness rates.