The present report addresses a topic that is a key factor for the quality of the education in universities. The outcome this education depends on the degree of students’ academic motivation and results in their readiness for certain profession. The material presents the results from a study conducted in the period 2016-2019 among 45 students in their second and third year of studies in the subject „Physical Education and Sport“ at the Sofia University „St. Kliment Ohridski“ Faculty of Science, Education and Arts and 39 students also studying „Physical Education“ but at the National Sports Academy „Vasil Levski“ Faculty of Pedagogy. As a research tool, was used a questionnaire designed for determining the academic motivation, developed by Angel Velichkov. The questionnaire contained 11 questions, of which 7 with positive and 4 with negative direction. The assessment was done through the 4-point Likert scale, where 0 is „completely disagree” and 3 is „completely agree”. In his work A. Velichkov places the degree of academic motivation within the following limits: 0-11 points – lack of academic motivation; 12-18 points – weak motivation; 19-24 points – moderate motivation, 25-33 points – strong academic motivation. The summaries are made both on universities and on each individual indicator for academic motivation, including: „Active attitude to the learning process“, „Internal self-discipline“ and „Strive to complement and broaden the obtained knowledge“. To determine the priorities of young people, we divided their statements that received the highest percentage of opinions „agree“ on the positively formulated questions and „disagree“ on the negative ones. The comparative analysis shows that the overall degree of academic motivation is not high among students from both Universities. However, students in both universities are convinced that active involvement in the learning process is required. Students are aware of the importance of the theoretical background they need to acquire during their studies. They are motivated to gain lasting knowledge and excellence in all subjects studied. Young people indicate that they complement and broaden their knowledge by seeking additional information and by consultations with university professors.
The Effectiveness of a Formal Physical Education Curriculum on the Physical Ability of Children in a Preschool Context
