Academic Performance and Competence Perception in Physical Education Final Year Projects

Resumen

The present study aims to examine to what extent the global academic performance achieved in the Degree/Master’s Degree determines the level of competencies acquired through the final year project (TFG for Degreesand TFM for Master’s Degrees) in Physical Education preservice teacher education (PSTE-PE).The study was conducted based on the replies to a questionnaire that was built ad-hoc on the basis of studiesregarding competency perception scales. The sample consisted of 325 participants from 34 Spanish universities:186 students and 139 graduates. In this study, a comparative correlational design was used, where one variable referred to the perception of (cross-curricular, general teaching and PE-specific teaching) competencies acquired by PSTE-PE students and graduates during their TFG/TFM, and the other one was related to the global academic performance shown by those students and graduates during their Degree/Master’s Degree studies. The results confirmed a significant relationship between the students and graduates’ global academic performance in PSTE-PE and the competencies examined (crosscurricular, general teaching and PE-specific teaching competencies): the higher the academic performance, the better the competency perception.