The impact of an educational course for swimming on free style swimming performance and life skills for deaf students

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of an educational course for swimming on free style swimming performance and life skills for deaf students. Subjects were (10) male deaf students who were attended to swimming courses level (1) in the Faculty of Physical Education at the University of Jordan, with mean age of (M age = 20.4 SD =1.35). After completing the Life skills through swimming context scale (Bayyat et al., 2016) and practical pre-test of free style swimming skills performance, subjects executed both physical practice of the free style swimming skills performance during a program conceited of eighteen sessions, 3 sessions a week, for 6-weeks, 60 mints per session, and life skills development dialogues program which focused on certain life skills (Communications, teamwork, self confidence / self –Esteem, problem solving and decision-making/responsibility).After 6-weeks all subjects completed a post life skills questionnaire which measured the changes in their life skills level after learning the free style swimming skills performance, they also went through a post practical subjective performance evaluation post-test which measured their level of the free style swimming skills performance. Statistical analysis was processed by SPSS. The results showed significant differences between pre and post-test in life skills dimensions and significant differences between pre and post-test in free style swimming performance level for the subject of this study. In conclusions the educational course for swimming had a positive impact on free style swimming performance and on life skills for deaf students in the faculty of physical education at the University of Jordan.