Indicators and levels of speed ability development in first-year higher education students at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the indicators and levels of speed ability development in first-year higher education students at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University at the ascertaining stage of a pedagogical experiment. Methods. The following methods were used in the study: theoretical analysis and generalisation of scientific and methodological literature on the problem of speed ability development in student youth; pedagogical testing using the motor test "Jump Rope for 30 seconds"; methods of mathematical statistics — calculation of the arithmetic mean, standard error of the mean, standard deviation, and Student's t-test. The study involved first-year students divided into a control group (CG: girls — 471 participants, boys — 99 participants) and an experimental group (EG: girls — 186 participants, boys — 54 participants). Results. Statistical analysis showed no significant inter-group differences either among girls (t = 1.464; p > 0.05) or among boys (t = –0.488; p > 0.05), which confirms the homogeneity of the sample and the correctness of its distribution. The mean test results for girls in the CG were 51.40 ± 0.82 jumps, in the EG — 49.34 ± 1.15; for boys in the CG — 48.42 ± 2.15, in the EG — 49.98 ± 2.36. Level analysis revealed that the vast majority of students in both groups and of both sexes demonstrated a low level of speed ability development: among girls in both the CG and EG — 77% each, among boys in the CG — 70%, in the EG — 77%. Conclusions. The results of the study indicate a critically low level of speed abilities among first-year university students, which reflects a common trend among student youth in the context of declining physical activity. The recorded homogeneity of the control and experimental groups at the ascertaining stage creates the methodological foundation for a further pedagogical experiment aimed at the targeted development of students' speed abilities.