Analysis of Final Year Project Syllabi in Physical Education Teacher Education: Is The Assessment Formative?

Resumen

The main aims of this study were to describe the syllabi of Final Year Projects (FYP) in Physical Education Teacher
Education and to analyse their formative capacity, in order to find out to what extent the assessment systems
are aligned with the current competency paradigm. A documentary analysis of 96 syllabi was carried out, 52 of
Undergraduate Degree Projects and 44 of Master’s Degree Projects, in a total of 63 universities during the academic
year 2019-2020. A panel of experts determined the formative capacity index of every syllabus, based on four
variables of the assessment system: means, instruments, criteria and agents. A descriptive analysis and a MANOVA
biplot were conducted. The results revealed that syllabi lack relevant information on the variables studied. The
limited student engagement and the highly productcentred assessment were noteworthy. In addition, a large
number of degrees presented low formative capacity. This study proposes a model to analyse assessment systems
that allows for determination of their level of alignment with the educational model in order to assess FYP syllabi’s
quality, both by the teaching staff and the institutions.