Dr.Hab., Professor G.I. Mokeev¹
PhD, Associate Professor K.V. Shestakov¹
Associate Professor V.M. Romanov¹
Associate Professor G.M. Maksimov¹
Dr.Med., Professor E.G. Mokeeva^1
1Ufa State Aviation Technical University, Ufa

Keywords: physical education and sports in curricula, research activity.

Ufa State Aviation Technical University (USATU) was established based on Rybinsk Aviation Institute founded back in 1932 and evacuated to Ufa city in 1941. In 1942 the educational establishment was renamed into Ufa Aviation Institute named after S. Ordzhonikidze. In 1992 it was transformed into Ufa State Aviation Technical University and soon was deservedly ranked among the leading Russian universities and national research and industrial centers.

USATU today includes the following five departments and two full-time institutes: Aviation Motors Department; Energy Technology and Transport Department; Avionics, Energy Technology and IT Communications Department; IT and Robotics Department; Aviation Technologies and Materials Department; General Research Department; Safety in Emergency Situations Departments; Economics and Management Institute; and Military Engineering Department; plus a part-time department under Ufa Motor Production Association; and two affiliates and six representative offices in some cities across the Bashkortostan Republic and Chelyabinsk region.

Presently the USATU student population is estimated at about 16 thousand and faculty at 1500 people including 170 Doctors of Science and Professors, 650 PhDs, more than 60 academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, AS of Bashkortostan Republic, sector academies and other state and public Russian and foreign academies.

The Physical Education Department of Ufa Aviation Institute was formally established in the early 1949 and since then has come through a few evolutionary stages, each of them rather specific in some aspects [1-3].

In 1950-60ies, a top priority was given to the training of a physically fit generation driven by the motto “Ready for labour and defence”. In 1970-80ies, this movement was complemented by the sport elite training goals with a growing priority given to mass physical trainings and sports viewed as the most productive leisure-time activity model for the young population. For the last few years, the ongoing political and economic reforms have resulted in the traditional models, methods and tools applied in the sector being revised with a growing emphasis made on the West-East interrelations in the cultural domain. The national sports have naturally contributed to these reforms with new sport disciplines including taekwondo, kickboxing, body shaping, powerlifting, darts etc.; with traditional sports complemented by or transformed into new disciplines like winter/ summer polyathlon etc. Many sport disciplines give a growing priority to the health, entertainment and commercial aspects that make them develop towards the modern mass show formats.

Efforts to customize university curricula to the university sport interests and preferences were taken since 1969, much earlier than in other national universities that embarked on the similar projects only three decades later. As things now stand, the academic physical education curriculum offers 25 sport disciplines covering four academic years.

The Physical Education Department service efficiency is secured by its top professional faculty serving the following four sport education divisions: Valeology; Competitive Martial Arts; Team Sports; and Strength Sports; with each Division (staffed by 14-16 specialists) headed by a highly skilled and experienced professional including Honourary Physical Education Specialists of Russia and Bashkortostan, Honourary Coaches of Russia, and Honourary Scientists of the Bashkortostan Republic. Some of the staff members have been repeatedly qualified the best coaches of the Bashkortostan Republic; leaded the Republican sport federations; and coached the Republican teams in the relevant sport disciplines.

The mass academic physical education and sports movement is spearheaded by the academic Sports Club that offers 28 sport groups specializing in 28 sport disciplines. In addition, the Sports Club provides support to the students specializing in the non-core sport disciplines including checkers, taekwondo, karate-do, tennis, alpine skiing, fencing, hand-to-hand fights, rowing, ice hockey etc. On the whole, the Sports Club normally organizes at least 150 popular sport events per year, with the academic athletes competing in some 300 tournaments hosted by universities and other physical education and sports institutions. Traditionally, the academic youth gives a top priority to the Bashkortostan Republican University Games in more than 30 sport disciplines, with the USATU athletes holding the lead in many of the competitive academic sports.

The USATU athletes have been highly successful in many top-ranking competitions. More than 30 World Class Masters of Sports have been trained on the USATU Physical Education Department for the last 30 years. the USATU athletes have won more than 20 titles in the World and European championships in different sports, with the following athletes deserving to be mentioned: boxer V. Limasov; pentathlonist R. Sabirkhuzin; speedskater Viktor Varlamov; World Class Masters of Sports and World and European champions F. Imashev, T. Yusupov, M. Popov, Y. Logunkova, N. Minigulova, S. Karimov and many others. In the new millennium, the academic kickboxers and boxers from the Savat Club won silver medals (in 2001) of the World Championship; and academic winter polyathlonists and other athletes won silver medals in the World Cup events.

The research activity of the Department has been focused mostly on the problems arising in the athletic training, academic physical education and health processes, with the following research projects deserving to be mentioned: “Athletic training process optimizing in the long-term training cycles”; “Mental control in the physical education and sports process”; “Studies of students’ psycho-physical state dynamics”; “Automation of athletic education and training process”.

For the last 25 years, the USATU Physical Education Department faculty has published more than 1500 theoretical and practical study reports and other materials including monographs, teaching aids, academic curricula, practical recommendations, reports in the education and practical workshops, anthologies, and 14 theses including 3 doctoral and 11 PhD theses.

The Department works in close cooperation with the Automated Control Systems Division and Outpatients Therapy Division of Bashkortostan State Medical University, Republican Physical Therapeutic Clinic in the long-term education and research experiment to assess the physical education and training effects on the students’ immune statuses and psycho-physicality.

The ongoing research projects on governmental orders are contributed by the Physical Education Department and Automated Control Systems Division faculty, students and post-graduates. Two reports by the IT and Robotics Department masters on the international student conference on sports matters were awarded by diplomas. The Physical Education Department encourages progress of its young researchers. Since 2002 it offers a post-graduate course in academic 13.00.04 Physical Education, Athletic Training, Health and Adaptive Physical Education discipline.

For the last 15 years, the University has hosted, on a yearly basis, the International Research and Practical Conference “Priority Problems of Physical Education, Sports and Tourism” with contributions from the leading national and foreign experts and researchers. The Physical Education Department offers, on a scheduled basis, a variety of research and practical workshops in different fields including Remote Education Methods and Technologies in the Physical Education and Sports Sector; Information Technologies Applied in Sports; and Mathematical Modeling Methods Applicable in the Training Process. It was back in 1990ies that the Physical Education Department developed an Integrated Health Improvement Program and recommended it for implementation in the Russian Trade Unions system, with the Program still ranked high by the beneficiaries.

Conclusion. In the context of the modern challenges, accomplishments of the national science and sports sector and modern technologies, due priority must be given to the efforts to reverse the health sagging trends and improve the physical health and fitness standards of the national population on the whole and young generation in particular. Physical education departments of the national universities may and shall evolve into the health ideology and practice promotion and cultivation centers to shape up and implement in practice a youth leisure time management concept, with the academic sports promoted as drivers for the health progress being naturally appealing for the young people and, hence, beneficial for education and health improvement process.

References

1. Mokeev G.I., Romanov V.M. Garmoniya sporta I zhizni [Harmony of sport and life]. Ufa: Slovo publ., 2004, 144 p.
2. Mokeev G.I., Romanov V.M., Mokeeva E.G. I ne tolko o sporte… [And not only about sports...]. Ufa: ADI publ., 2008, 160 p.
3. Mokeev G.I., Filippovykh N.N., Romanov V.M. Polveka so sportom [Half a century in sport]. Ufa: USATU publ., 1999, 107 p.

Corresponding author: mokeevgi@mail.ru

Abstract

The report analyzes the key progress avenues in the academic physical education and sports services of Ufa State Aviation Technical University with a special emphasis on the role and contribution of its Physical Education Department and sport clubs in the specialist training process. The physical education and sports progress is considered in the historical context. Thus in 1950-60ies a top priority was given to the physicality building goals as required by the Ready for Labour and Defence movement; in 1970-80ies this policy was complemented by the high-quality specialist training agenda; and in 1990ies the faculty developed and implemented a target integrated Health Program at the University. Lately the academic community has taken special efforts to update the educational service methods, curricula and models to respond to the new political and economic challenges. The report highlights the key accomplishment of the University in the academic physical education and sports domain, including the successes of its students in many sport events of different levels. For the last 30 years more than 30 World Class Masters of Sport have been trained in the Physical Education Department and the university students have won championship titles in the World and European championships in different disciplines more than 20 times. For the last 25 years the Physical Education Department faculty has published more than 1500 theoretical and practical study reports.