PhD, Professor A.V. Karavan¹
Dr. Hab., Professor R.M. Kadyrov^1
1St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg

Keywords: elective physical education, training, skills, competence, design.

Background. An elective physical education service design project will include: training tools, training system and training process design competences [5, 6]. It should be emphasized that the elective physical education service design process will be based on the due institutional and methodological provisions and design concept. Such institutional and methodological provisions shall be in place before one or another version of the elective physical education service project may be offered. Physical practices need to be designed to secure optimal physical activity within the relevant health/ physical fitness systems.

Objective of the study was to analyze benefits of an elective physical education service design course for university students.

Results and discussion. When developing the elective physical education service design course, we first analyzed the specific knowledge components (competences) for each of the training course elements – followed by the competences being structured and integrated in the elective physical education system. The competences for this purpose were ranked by an expert group – with every elective physical education course being constructed from the ranked competences. The students were expected to rank competences for their elective physical education service design projects as required by the prior instructions on the project goals and target skills [3]. With the elective physical education service design competences ranking purpose, we surveyed physical education and sport service specialists and instructors (n=23) from the national academic physical education and sport departments: see Table 1 hereunder.

Table 1. Ranking of the elective physical education service design competences by experts

The expert team gave a highest priority to the training system designing and progress forecasting, and physical fitness self-rating competences, with the other competences believed to refer to the training technologies determined by the more important competences and skills. On the whole, the elective physical education service elements may be categorized into (1) the functional progresses as a result of the new physical activity models; and (2) training system design skills. These interrelated elements will be geared to secure due versatility and customization of the training system as required by the individual health/ physical progress goals. Therefore, the elective physical education service design course for university students should prioritize the training system designing and progress forecasting and physical fitness self-rating competences in every physical activity format supported by the relevant progress self-rating tests.

Logical structure of the elective physical education design basics learning process (classes, serial sessions and training stages) was developed on the relevant didactic, methodological and institutional provisions; with the didactic element providing a frame for the training process content; methodological element outlining the practical training methods, models and tools; and the institutional element setting the frame for the training process improvements. On the whole, the elective physical education service design/ redesign skills and competences imply the student being able to revise the service as required by the changing situations (including the Physical fitness levels) to secure due progress in the training process. Thus the elective physical education service may set new goals, face new challenges or respond to the Physical fitness progresses, with the training service models and tools being revised on a class-wise or serial basis [4].

The elective physical education service design mastering training was generally staged as theory – practice – theory, with the theoretical parts including the following stages: (1) training service modeling from fragments/ elements; (2) discussions, lectures and interactive seminars to help design the elective physical education service projects.

Practical part was focused on the aerobic functionality, abdominal muscles strength and joint flexibility building practices. Thus the aerobic trainings alternated the continuous and interval training methods, with the continuous trainings with their evenly-paced rhythmic practices dominating in the beginner stages, and the interval trainings including the variably-paced rhythmic practices.

The theoretical learning was classified into the following three levels: (1) reproducing; (2) local modeling; and (3) integrated system modeling ones. Thus at the reproducing level the students learned how to design the elementary varied-intensity workloads; then (in the local modeling stage) they were requested to design the elective physical education service models to attain the relevant specific goals set as percentages to the maximum. And in the integrated system modeling stage they were expected to design the whole elective physical education service model – customizable so as to secure health improvement based on progress in the strength and joint flexibility building elements.

On the whole, the elective physical education training complexes were required to secure a sequential effect on the joints and muscles in the top-to-bottom and vice versa sequences. For example, the shoulder flexibility exercises were followed by the spine mobility building ones. At the integrated system modeling stage, the students were recommended making a special emphasis on the physical fitness tests.

In the elective physical education service design mastering trainings, the students were offered a few physical fitness test systems. Progress of the beginner students in the elective physical education service, for instance, was rated by the following tests: (1) recumbent-to-sit (with the hands behind the head) test; (2) pull-ups on a horizontal bar test; (3) prone push-ups test; (4) prone (with the hands behind the head) spine flexure test; and (5) the standing both-legs triple jump test. The age-specific norms for every above exercise were rated ‘good’, with the execution 15-20% above the norm rated ‘excellent’; and 20-25% under the norm rated ‘satisfactory’: see Table 2.

Table 2. Physical progress tests for the beginner students in the elective physical education service

The elective physical education service design on the elementary basis helps the students to master the training process logics and understand its internal structure with the ratios of the elements within the clearly visualized frame of the training process. Transitions from the elementary/ discrete training fragment designs to their aggregation into a continuous training system were intended to help the students develop the training system design and management skills and competences. At the next stage of the learning process, the students were testing their elective physical education training models in real practice, with a top priority given to the ability to manage the training process within the design parameters.

The elective physical education service design competences self-rating exercise found that the Experimental Group (EG) made a meaningful progress versus the Reference Group (RG): see Table 3. On the whole, the EG progress implied a high correlation between the theoretical and practical elective physical education service design competences and skills.

Table 3. Correlation between the theoretical and practical elective physical education service design competences and skills

The EG versus RG progress in the above competences and skills showed benefits of the elective physical education service design course for university students.

Conclusion. Health benefits of the training systems depend on the theoretical competences and practical skills to design the training system and customize it on an individual basis as required by the trainee’s progress goals and accomplishments. The elective physical education service design course shall prioritize the following aspects:  

(1) Knowledge of the barriers for the right apprehension and assessment of the training process elements and the learning efforts required;

(2) Ability to select the physical education tools customizable to the trainees’ predispositions and compliant at the same time with the valid physical activity standards;

(3) Knowledge and skills for the physical fitness process management;

(4) Training process design and forecast abilities; and

(5) Ability to analyze and sort out the physical education/ health improvement process data flow.

References

1. Grigor'ev V.I., Shubin Yu.K., Panchenko I.A., Zinov'ev N.A. Management of Physical Training of Students Based on the Use of Score Rating Control. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2014, no. 6pp. 10-12.
2. Kadyrov R.M., Blakhin G.N. Modeling in physical education theory. Study guide. St. Petersburg: MIPE publ., 2013. 143 p.
3. Kadyrov R.M., Blakhin G.N. Theoretical foundations of content and standards of physical training of military personnel. Study guide. St. Petersburg: MIPE publ., 2013. 2013. 177  p.
4. Kadyrov R.M., Morshchinina D.A. Theory and methods of physical culture. Study guide. St. Petersburg: MIPE publ., 2014. 168 p.
5. Karavan A.V., Kadyrov R.M. Student's self-guided physical training model. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2015, no. 9, pp. 3-4.
6. Kostromin O.V., Zaitsev A.V., Bobrov I.V. Educational and managerial provisions for sportizated physical education in academic elective physical education. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury. 2019, no. 4, pp. 33-35.

Corresponding author: fiz.vos@spbgasu.ru

Abstract

An elective physical education service design project will include: training tools, training system and training process design competences. It should be emphasized that the elective physical education service design process will be based on due institutional and methodological provisions and design concept. Such institutional and methodological provisions shall be in place before one or another version of the elective physical education service project may be offered. Physical practices need to be designed to secure optimal physical activity within the relevant health/ physical fitness systems. The institutional and methodological provisions will specify the training system content; training tools; and the training system development framework. The study analyzes the elective physical education service design course for university students based on the relevant institutional and methodological provisions forming a core of the training course. Didactically, an integrated elective physical education service design course shall include elementary designs of the course modules. The elective physical education service design course shall prioritize the following aspects: (1) Knowledge of the barriers for the right apprehension and assessment of the training process elements and the learning efforts required; (2) Ability to select the physical education tools customizable to the trainees’ predispositions and compliant at the same time with the valid physical activity standards; (3) Knowledge and skills for the physical fitness process management; (4) Training process design and forecast abilities; and (5) Ability to analyze and sort out the physical education/ health improvement process data flow.