Identification Learning Levels of Gymnastic Competence in Pre-Higher Education Training

Abstract

The practice of basic gymnastic and acrobatic activities should be developed at early ages and within formal education in the subject of Physical Education. However, the levels of motor competence in students who reach university seem to be insufficient in these specific skills. Therefore, the aim of this study is to know what the specific pre-university experience and training in the Spanish and Latin American context in order is to analyze the differences in relation to these issues, as well as to identify the gymnastic modalities and activities developed at school. In this descriptive and mixed study, 209 students of Physical Activity Sciences from a Spanish and a Latin American university participated. The instrument for data collection was the semi-structured interview. The results indicate that the students at both universities have mostly had gymnastic experience and training prior to the university stage. In addition, four different levels of difficulty in gymnastic practices have been detected. In both countries, the acrobatics that are implemented the most are the basic ones, with those of medium and high level of execution being underrepresented. Given these findings, we can point out that the identification of the levels of practice according to the difficulty of the acrobatics learned during school age can guide the identification of which methodological strategies would be the most suitable to reduce the deficiencies found and to propose appropriate strategies at the beginning of the initial training, designing more personalized and individualized learning environments.