Dr.Hab., Professor V.N. Irkhin¹
PhD, Associate Professor L.A. Kadutskaya¹
PhD, Associate Professor Т.V. Nikulina¹
PhD, Associate Professor A.P. Peresypkin^1
1Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod

Keywords: physical education and health process, motivational programmatic and goals-driven control, university.

Background. As things now stand, Russian national universities take active efforts to find the mostly efficient academic physical education and health (PEH) process models. New education technologies are needed to ensure due quality of the academic PEH process models to harmonically combine a variety of technological aspects of the education process and personal motivations of the students. The new motivational programmatic and goals-driven control (MPGDC) model by I.K. Shalaev was designed to meet the relevant national requirements [2].

Objective of the study was to assess benefits of the new motivational programmatic and goals-driven control (MPGDC) model in application to the academic PEH process at the premises of Belgorod State National Research University (BSNRU).

Study results and discussion. One of the key notions of the MPGDC concept is an activity standard that means an ideal elementary activity model with its qualitative and quantitative characteristics allowing the actual progress being rated (on a 10-point scale) using the relevant mathematical toolkit [2]. Our study applied the activity standard to model an ideal academic PEH process element. In practical terms, the activity standards were applied as the academic PEH process components specified by the relevant qualitative and quantitative characteristics, with the actual academic PEH progress and the process outcomes being ranked as optimal, acceptable, critical or inacceptable.

In addition to the activity standards, the motivational programmatic and goals-driven control model of the academic PEH system includes a goal tree and executive and control programs [2]. Technological algorithm of the MPGDC model starts from the existing academic PEH process being analysed to design its improvement process with the relevant key objective (KO) being set; with the KO defined as the academic PEH process efficiency improvement based on the existing barriers for the progress being analysed and a problem field being identified; followed by the goal tree being designed and guiding goals (GG) and sub-goals (SG) being set within the “want- can- do- and get” logics. A problem field analysis will be made to compare the actual situation in the academic PEH process versus the key objective and goals of the process; and to identify the nearest progress zone for the academic PEH process with the relevant internal resources. We classified the existing problems of the academic PEH process as follows: cultural problems due to the poor academic health cultures; professional educational and psychological problems due to the poor competency of the academic staff for the PEH improvement process; the existing academic PEH process framework poorly customised to the individual traits and needs of the students; management problems due to the shortage of modern means and mechanisms for the academic PEH process control; resource supply problems due to the poor assets and financial provisions, and the inadequate staffing and research infrastructure at the university for the academic PEH reform to be efficient etc.

Therefore, our steps under the model to attain the key objective (KO) were intended to: design an efficient academic PEH process control system (it was the guiding goal 1 - GG₁); customise the academic PEH process to the individual students’ motivations (GG₂); and ensure the necessary resource (staff, finance, assets, technologies and practical provisions) for the academic PEH system reform process (GG₃).

The above guiding goals of the academic PEH reform process were further classified into the following sub-goals (SG): SG₁ – develop the academic PEH process control system; SG₂ – develop a set of moral motivations for the students to join the academic PEH process; SG₃ – establish an academic staff training and motivation system for the academic PEH system; SG₄ – engage students in the GTO Complex tests; SG₅ – design the academic PEH system in compliance with the humanistic tenets and the relevant moral stimuli customised to the individual motivations of the students; SG₆ – staffing arrangements for the academic PEH system; SG₇ – financial provisions for the academic PEH system; SG₈ – develop a material basis for the academic PEH system, i.e. assets including equipment, training stimulators, sport grounds, swimming pool etc.; SG₉ – research and methodological provisions for the academic PEH system; SG₁₀ – preventive initiatives under the academic PEH system; SG₁₁ – health correction and improvement initiatives under the academic PEH system; SG₁₂ – consulting and public awareness services under the academic PEH system; SG₁₃ – establish due cooperation of the academic PEH process contributors to successfully attain the key objective; and SG₁₄ – establish a students’ health monitoring system. The above initiatives were taken under Step 1 of the technological algorithm of the MPGDC model.

Executive program (Step 2), as dictated by the goal tree, was designed to include the relevant programmatic provisions including the academic PEH system design plan followed by the executives joining their efforts for success of the practical academic PEH activity.

Step 3 of the technological algorithm of the MPGDC model was intended to implement a control program designed as required by the traditional control cycle (including analysis, plan, design, control, and management components) and the relevant social-and-psychological-environments-driven strategy and tactics. The control program employed a variety of moral stimuli including: critical self-assessment (CSA) provoking situation modelling; initiative delegating situation (IDS) modelling; situation setting (SS); process design and management situation (DMS) modelling etc. The CSA, for instance, was effectively applied in such social and psychological environments when the academic PEH process contributors (specialists of the academic Human Functionality Correction Centre, academic staff members and students) could have a look on themselves from outside to assess their own strong and weak sides of effect on the outcomes of the academic PEH process.

The initiative delegating situations (IDS) were intended to help design and implement the process management procedures to facilitate the process management ideas being implemented by concrete actions of the academic Human Functionality Correction Centre staff members, educators and students to contribute to the academic PEH process.

The situation setting (SS) component implied the process management procedures to help the academic PEH process contributors get internally prepared for the new academic PEH process and adequately accept the inflow of the process management data.

The process design and management situation (DMS) component implied a variety of process management procedures designed to “immerse” the academic PEH process contributors in the new experience accumulation process, with their positions being adjusted as required by the script. For instance, the relevant activity standard of an academic PEH process element could be put in conflict with the actual positions of the process participants so that the academic PEH process contributors were forced to make a transition from the unconscious incompetency to conscious incompetency, with the relevant activity standard being accepted to build up the required internal motivations for implementation of the latter; followed by the academic PEH process being put in compliance with the relevant activity standard.

It should be emphasised that the Academic Physical Education Process Improvement by the Elective Sports and Health Disciplines Project that has been implemented at the University since October 2014 helped many future physical education and sports sector specialists find their vocational sports or physical culture domains that meet their personal interests and predispositions.

The GTO Complex test program that has been implemented at Belgorod State National Research University since 2016 makes an important contribution to the academic PEH process [1], with the numbers of the GTO qualifiers growing from 838 in 2014 to more than 4000 in 2015 and 2016.

The study data and analyses showed that an excellent coordination of activities of educators, physicians, psychologists, coaches, instructors and physiologists is indispensable as one of the key management and educational conditions for the academic PEH activity to be efficient. The coordination was secured by the relevant integrated database to facilitate the students’ health assessing, forecasting and correcting activity being designed on an individualised basis.

A major contribution to the PEH system progress was made by the new Human Functionality Correction Centre established at the Outpatients Clinic of Belgorod State National Research University and the S. Khorkina’s Sports and Education Complex with the health rehabilitation and correction and active healthy lifestyle promotion mission. The health protection and improvement and functionality correction programs implemented at the Centre are managed based on a set of individual health rates recorded in individual Health Passports. 

In addition, the study confirmed the prior assumption that the academic PEH system may be highly efficient conditional on the following: persistent efforts to support relevant activities; due correlation of the academic and off-class PEH processes; and a high priority given in the academic PEH process design to the students’ reflexions reasonably combined with high creativity and initiative.

Conclusion. The study found that the new motivational programmatic and goals-driven control (MPGDC) technology applied for the academic PEH process efficiency improvement purposes makes it possible to actively engage the students, with due account of their motivations, to the academic PEH process; and design the latter as required by the following logical algorithm: goal tree design – executive program development as dictated by the goal tree – and the process control program implementation.

References

1. Polukhin O.N., Irkhin V.N., Nikulin I.N., Nikulina T.V. Zdorovyeorientirovannaya politika Belgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo natsionalnogo issledovatelskogo universiteta [Health-promoting policy in Belgorod State National Research University]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 1, pp. 3-5.
2. Shalaev I.K. Programmno-tselevaya psikhologiya upravleniya kachestvom obrazovatelnogo protsessa v vuze. Ucheb. posobie [Programmatic and goals-driven psychology of university educational process quality management. Study guide]. Barnaul: BSPU publ., 2008, 147 p.

Corresponding author: irhin@bsu.edu.ru

Abstract

The study considers theoretical grounds for the motivational programmatic and goals-driven provisions for the academic physical education and health (PEH) improvement process management. We made an overview of the institutional and educational conditions, goal tree and the executive and management programs for the physical education and health improvement process; and acquired a practical experience of traditional and innovative methods, forms and tools being combined and tested at Belgorod State National University by the relevant motivational situations (including the situations that need critical self-assessment; due management actions; adequate goal-setting; delegating the initiative etc.). The study data and analyses showed that an excellent coordination of activities of educators, physicians, psychologists, coaches, instructors and physiologists is indispensable as one of the key management and educational conditions for the PEH activity to be efficient. The coordination was secured by the relevant integrated database to facilitate the students’ health assessing, forecasting and correcting activity being designed on an individualised basis.