Quality of Higher Education in Sweden. Is the quality too low? : Physical Education Teacher Education Programs in Sweden

• The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education continually evaluates the quality of all courses and programmes offered in Sweden. These evaluations are supplemented by special thematic studies as well as evaluations based on students and their experiences of higher education. Focus in this study is the existing 16 physical education teacher training programmes in Sweden. About 450 questionnaires from students were collected during May 2006. The questionnaire includes i) background, ii) knowledge related to sports, and physical activities, and iii) experiences from education in physical activities and health. The major results are i) students have a positive attitude towards their programmes, ii) time for studying seems to be limited, and iii) the students spend much time working. These results raise questions about the quality in higher education. Is the quality lower than it should be? The results in this study can be compared with results from two nationwide surveys on students concerning aspects of studying in higher education in Sweden. In many ways the results from our study are similar to what have been shown in the nationwide surveys. First, the examination is not a part of the regular teaching process and seems to play a separate role. Second, the time spent studying seems to be limited, reaching about 20-25 hours a week. This amount of study time implies only part time education according to Swedish standards for full time education. Accordingly, based on the above mentioned aspects, one would think that many students would not pass their courses. That is not the case, however. Almost all students pass their courses. Is this an effect of low quality standards?

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

quality in higher education

PE teacher students

teacher education

Sports research

Idrottsforskning

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vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)