MAS449 Psychology of sport and physical activity (Autumn 2023)

Introduction

Intensive course over two weeks plus one week individual written exam at NSSS, individual written home exam after departure from Oslo.

 

The course covers selective contemporary psychological themes relevant to understand antecedents and outcomes of young people, adults and elderly?s involvement in competitive sport, exercise and physical activity. Topics comprise individual-environment dynamics and will cover various sub-themes within psychology of sport and physical activity under the umbrella of generic terms such as motivation, emotions, self-regulation and social influence.

 

The course will be taught entirely in English.

Learning outcomes

Students are expected to gain knowledge and understanding of psychological factors influencing participation, learning, performance and well-being/mental health in sport, exercise and physical activity for different age groups.

 

Learning outcomes

Students should obtain in depth knowledge and understanding regarding

 

• Motivational, cognitive, organismic and social-ecological theories & models relevant for understanding participation in and learning, performance, and health/wellbeing effects of sport, exercise and physical activity

• Theories and models pertaining to emotions and beliefs (such as anxiety, stress, enjoyment, vitality, competence, control and attitudinal beliefs) in sport, exercise and physical activity - considered both in terms of outcomes and as antecedents of learning, performance, health/well-being and behavior change

• The role of social influence (such as group dynamics, social support, modeling and relatedness) in facilitating learning, performance, well-being/mental health for different age groups in sport, exercise and physical activity

• The role of adaptive and maladaptive self-regulation (such as planning, monitoring, goal setting, self-handicapping etc.) that may facilitate or prevent learning, performance development and mental health/well-being in sport, exercise and physical activity

Learning methods and activities

Part 1: 10 ECTS (MA531)

3 weeks of intensive course work Monday -Friday. Week 1 and 2 comprise lectures, individual & group coursework, discussion & student presentations of assignments. Week 3 individual work on written literature review (final exam). Students shall participate actively and sufficiently in the classes. The student forfeits the right to take the final examination (see below) if the given group assignment has not been conducted by set deadline, or if conducted assignment are not approved.

 

In addition to EMHPA students, internal master students at NSSS (department of Coaching and Psychology as well as department of Sports mMedicine) will participate in this 10 ECTS part.

 

Part 2: 5 ECTS:

Individual student coursework in the format of a written home assignment - guidelines & deadlines for delivery are given below.

Assessment/exam

• Group assignment in the format of oral presentation during course. Approved/not approved.

• Part 1: One-week individually written literature review. Guidelines will be given.

• Part 2: 14 day written home assignment based on a given assignment question. Guidelines will be given.

• A graded total score A-F will be given for 15 ECTS based on the One-week individually written literature review (part 1) and the 14 day written home assignment (part 2).

Core literature

As we are in a transition phase between two systems, we refer to the Study Handbook 2023-2024 for literature for courses in the 2023-2024 academic year:https://www.nih.no/studier/program-og-emneplan-arkiv/2023-2024/