EFFICIENCY OF ACADEMIC YEAR STRUCTURE ADAPTED TO CURRICULA FOR ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF EDUCATION

• Main Author: FETESCU S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ALTIUS ACADEMY Foundation - Faculty of Physical Education and Sports 2015-12-01
• Series: Sport şi Societate
• Subjects: distance learning; part-time learning; alternative forms of education; physical education and sport; didactic process; academic year
• Online Access: http://www.sportsisocietate.ro/en/misc/doc/show/246
• ISSN: 1582-2168; 1582-2168

An academic year represents the period of activity within higher education establishments. The structure of the academic year is based on a curriculum elaborated according to the type of higher education institution, the specialty, and the form of education. For the full-time type, the academic year is traditionally structured on semesters, training periods, exam sessions, practice periods, and holidays. Within curricula for alternative forms of education (distance learning and part-time learning), it is necessary to adapt this structure by the particularities of didactic process, by the particularities of students, and by those of the specialty (“physical education and sport”, in our case). Following thorough personal research, an academic year structure was established, adapted to this type of curriculum. This structure comprises two semesters, each with two phases: phase I (divided into three training modules, each ending with a mid-term exam session) and phase II (that includes the exam session and, toward the end of the academic year, two re-examination sessions). This structure has been implemented for 13 years for the bachelor studies curriculum (specialty “physical education and sport”) at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Iași, for both distance and part-time learning. The purpose of my research was to increase the efficiency of the training process, to make the time of students and of the establishment more productive, and to encourage better performance by students (for both mid-term and final exams). The academic year structure adapted as such within the bachelor studies curriculum (specialty “physical education and sport”) for alternative forms of education was meant to encourage more students to attend face to face activities, in order to improve their academic performances. Hence, students also have the time to accomplish other tasks in their life (considering that most of them are already adults with responsibilities). In our scientific approach we conducted in 2009-2010, an experiment on two groups of students: a control group, consisting of 75 students full-time, and experiment group, composed of 65 students distance learning. I also applied two questionnaires on a number of 93 students from distance learning. In my scientific endeavour, I used a series of methods: bibliographic study, observation, survey, experiment, statistical processing, analysis, and interpretation of data. Following my survey and experiment, I found that this academic year structure is 83.7% suitable for students’ possibilities, while good results obtained at final examinations are similar to those of full-time students (7.75 for the full-time group and 7.45 at the experimental group; hence, the difference is insignificant: t=0.77, P<0.05-0.01). It may be concluded that this structure used for alternative forms of education (specialty “physical education and sport”) has proven to be efficient. Furthermore, I posit that this academic year structure can also be used within curricula for other specialties (adapted as necessary, of course).