A nation-wide survey to identify the learning contents and actual teaching in university swimming classes.

Swimming is widely used in physical education classes from elementary school to university. However, although swimming classes in school physical education follow instructional guidelines, there is no standardized regulation of learning content in university swimming classes. Therefore, each university has been offering its own swimming classes in accordance with its educational philosophy, and it is unclear what kind of swimming classes have been offered at universities across the country, and the problem has not been identified. This study aims to improve university swimming lessons through a baseline analysis of the current situation of swimming classes and by identifying any problems that teachers have been experienced. Data was gathered through an online syllabus survey and an online questionnaire survey. The results show that 31.3% of the total universities analyzed (244 out of 780) offer swimming classes, with about 80% of the classes being conducted as part of the physical education specialization programs for students who are pursuing degrees in teaching or coaching. The standard component of swimming classes is swimming techniques of four swimming styles for physical education and for professional use. In the physical education teacher training class, students are taught instructional techniques for four swimming styles and water safety skills. In the common physical education class, students learn through water polo, snorkel, or aquabics. Although the teaching contexts and facilities differed among universities, the most common problems pointed out by respondents was the pool environment such as because of no university-owned indoor pool, the class cannot be done as planned due to weather or water temperature. Other problems were pointed out regarding the content of the classes, such as insufficient number of hours, large number of students, and uneven skill levels. Based on these findings, it is expected that an enriched swimming class in university physical education can be developed by dealing with these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]