Students on the BSc Sport, Physical Education and Coaching Science (SPECS) course talk about their experience of the course and of life at the University of Birmingham.
Title: BSc Sport, Physical Education and Coaching Science (follow for video)
Duration: 2.41 mins
Speaker Names (if given):
S1 Lucy - SPECS undergraduate
S2 Amiee - SPECS undergraduate
S1: I chose to study SPECS at the University of Birmingham firstly because the university has an outstanding reputation both for sport and for the whole University and then SPECS also offers a wide range inside of sport. So we get to look at the policy in sports, so mega events and the Olympic games, but then we also get to look at teaching and how we can impact the future of P.E. and develop kids further within sport. And that was something that was really exciting to me.
We're taught in a range of ways here at the University of Birmingham. We do a lot of sports stuff, especially being a practical degree, that's fantastic. We go into the gym and we experience lots of different skills. We got to put them into practice and also teach our peers.
S2: Every week we have about 12 contact hours and the practical sessions within that can vary so it might be that some weeks you’ll have three or four practical hours whereas some weeks you'll just have one. And the good thing about the course is that the stuff you learn in the lectures you can apply in the practicals which really gives you a better understanding of the topics as well.
S1: The course is very small which is really helpful as well for learning and we also have small group seminars which then allows us to kind of express our ideas and debate amongst ourselves and really get into the depth of the different subject areas.
My favourite part of the course is definitely the Coniston trip in first-year part of the outdoor and adventurous activities module which is very unique to the University of Birmingham. Part of this course you go out and do a variety of different outdoor and adventurous activities. So we learn how to teach them and how we learn through them.
The modules that I particularly enjoyed were the practical ones. So we did teaching games and athletics in first year which is really good fun. We’re in our small groups and you get to know them really well in your first year which makes it really enjoyable. We then progress that to the dance and gymnastics which is hilarious! It was kind of everyone with differing abilities each teaching ourselves. I went in not being able to do a forward roll despite go through gymnastics. It was just really good fun and a real good laugh. And then in third year we take that to swimming. We go in the pool in the first term and we’re teaching each other again just kind of experiencing a different environment and then the second term we get to go outside and teach the primary school kids from the local area.
So I'm going to go on to do my PGCE for P.E. teaching in secondary schools. I am staying in Birmingham to do that, staying linked with the University. The course has really inspired me to do this. It’s taught me different ways and how I could potentially see a future in P.E. teaching and really make a difference to the next generation of children coming through, ensure that they’re participating in sport and enjoying it as much as I have.
Looking back on it I can't really pick one highlight it's all been a fantastic experience and I wish I could do it again.
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