Evaluating psychological skills development is an important part of PST programs (Weinberg & Gould, 2015). Evaluation does not directly mean effectiveness but it can be discussed as to what effectiveness is in PST. Martindale & Collins (2007) lift up indicators of effectiveness that must be directly related to client specific objectives framed by the practitioner at the initiation of the intervention. They claim that when an intervention has achieved what it was set out to do, e.g. a participant says that she learned new techniques, PST can be seen as effective.
Generic aims and indicators can only represent the starting point of such a process.
Although the indicators identified are important, it is suggested that they do not represent the full picture of what can indicate effectiveness in applied sport psychology practice (Martindale & Collins, 2007). For me as a researcher and teacher of this course, the evaluation which was done through the interviews and the critical content analysis from the students learning logs, interviews and the researcher diaries also provided feedback about the effectiveness of the program.
Individuals were asked to suggest changes in how the intervention could be conducted anonymously and within interviews. This helped to judge whether the program was successful and if it achieved its goals.
In relation to the perceived effectiveness of the PST program, students’ were asked a few questions related to the contents, attractiveness, teaching and methods used in this intervention study (the questionnaire is shown in Finnish in the APPENDIX 21). This final inquiry was anonymously executed at the end of the last classroom session. The responses of these student- athletes were positive in nature as participants believed the program to be valuable for them now and in the future.
The participants’ answers were always positive in a way that they all were going to use at least some of the taught and learned techniques when preparing for their exams or competitions. Imagery and relaxation were the two most popular techniques but all other were also named in their questionnaires and interviews.
Two out of three categories that were shown in Sharp et al. (2013) study emerged, highlighting the indicators of the effectiveness of this program. These categories were: interactive, well-planned program and increased athlete knowledge of PST skills and techniques; all aspects of a good PST program as stated by Weinberg and Gould (2015). The students’ answers showed great satisfaction with all of the categories measured. The students’ were asked to rate four different aspects of the program in numbers (4= poor, 10= excellent, table 4 below). This numeric evaluation of the PST program is shown in the table 1.
Table 1: Numeric evaluation of the PST course by participants, scale 4-10/ poor-excellent.
Contents Attractiveness Teaching Methods Range 8-9 8-9 9-10 8-9 Average 8.5 8.5 9.25 8.75
After the short numeric part of the questionnaire, the student expectations for the course were inquired. Before the course they expected to learn basics of psychological skills, how to concentrate and what techniques to use in different
situations, not just sports but also to other exciting events, like exams even though sport was named as the main reason for attending this course. One participant crystalized her expectations like this: “so that I could learn new ways to improve my performance. I wanted to get hints how to relax, and to improve my self-confidence”.
Students’ thoughts regarding skills being taught was inquired next. The thoughts about all separate sessions were asked and the quotes from these will be presented next. The first session, the introduction to PST seemed to be something really new and awaited: “I really didn’t have any expectations about this. I am interested in psychological issues and I’m an athlete so this seemed something I wanted to experience”. The second session, self-confidence and mastery showed that students did not know that e.g. self-confidence is a skill that can be learned through practice: “I realized that I can learn to be more self-confident, it won’t come by itself”. Another response pondered the transferability behind the newly taught skill:
“I wish I could learn to use that positive self-talk we trained on, which encourages and makes me work harder and do things which I normally would quit, for example when I’m applying for the next study place after high school”. The third session, goal-setting was understood as an important part of all actions, not just in enhancing sport performance: “this session showed how to set goals in a proper way; this session inspired me to set lots of goals and write them down”. The fourth session, breath control, concentration and self-talk showed the meaning of practicing these skills: “These drills were useful to me. It was important to practice these together, now I know what to do to learn more”. The fifth session, relaxation was received with enthusiasm: “Especially long exercises were so good.
Afterwards I felt great” and “I practiced this at home and relaxation had positive effects on my concentration”. The sixth and last session, imagery seemed to be most awaited: “I loved this session. It clearly showed how important imagery can be for me” and “all practices were good and would be beneficial for me in the future”.
Next students were asked if the course met their expectations. All participants answered “yes” to this question. Teaching methods were acknowledged and the practical exercises were praised. “This course gave me practical tools for my own
psychological training and it motivated me to learn more out of these skills”. One participant did not have any great expectations but she felt satisfied for attending the course.
Next, the students were asked about their learning experiences in this course. The answers showed the importance of PST and all the trained skills were mentioned.
Goal setting, relaxation and imagery were the most often mentioned skills here.
“Attending to this course made me realize how important it is for me as an athlete to learn psychological skills too. Practical exercises gave me lots of tools to use on my own”.
“Now I know that I need to write down my goals – they give me direction, extra energy and effort to gain what I want to achieve”.
“Especially relaxation and imagery exercises gave me a lot. I find them very useful for me”.
The students were next asked what they found was good in the course. The practical parts were nominated in every paper as the most useful and best part of the course.
”It was very good that we did lots of exercises in the classroom. If it was just lecturing it would have been boring even though the theory is interesting”. When planning a course like this and especially when it is offered to a group of beginners, it is wise to make the course as practical as possible, it keeps the interest on: “We had a lot of exercises in every class and I liked it. I learn better when I’m doing by myself, not just listening to the teacher”.
The students were asked to share their ideas about the contents and if they had a chance to change something, what would it be and how they would develop and improve the course. Overall satisfaction for the course and especially participatory and student centered teaching was appreciated: “In this course I liked especially the fact that this was not so much of a formal course. We had a chance to affect what was taught, even though we did not do it much”. Students were also asked if the program met their expectations or if there was something they did not like.
Critics concentrated mainly on the teaching methods. “Maybe we could have discussed more about the exercises with student colleagues”. This is an important
point and to my defense, because of the small amount of participants per classroom session (varied between two and four) it was hard to make a group discussion but in every class this opportunity was offered.
Another critique concerned my teaching aids: “Some of the slides (used in teaching) included too much information, and therefore it was hard to follow them”. These results are similar with the findings of Wakefield and Adie (2012) who were teaching sport psychology for 43 second year Undergraduate students.
This kind of critique was appreciated, noted and most welcomed; it will help me in future, especially in the planning phase of the next program. The improvements and critique were kindly requested, without it is hard to improve any actions.
The next question concerned the timing of the course (period and the time of the day). Our first aim was to offer this program to the senior students but none of them registered. When asked, they had their calendars already fully booked and they wanted to use all their free time for preparing for their final exams (this course was held in the afternoon). The participants’ answers were divided here in a way that it almost felt that everyone thought that this timing was okay, even though they all had their practices after school hours. One participant said that “the period was ok but time of the day was not good because all my classmates went home and I have some other things in this certain day of the week”. One participant saw that this course was in perfect period for her because “my sport happens in the summertime and the season has not yet started and now I can practice these learned skills before the season starts”.
The students’ had a chance to give overall feedback about the course in the next question. The answers were mainly positive: “This course was really interesting and it is not offered in most schools. The content of this course was useful to me for my future studies, so it gave me a solid base for my future education”. The other participant said that “the course was very beneficial and comprehensive.” One thing that seemed to disturb one participant here was the use of net based learning environment (peda.net). She felt that “there was too much information and in so many places that it confused me a little”. One other student was sorry that “there were so small amount of participants and it irritated me a little”.
The above mentioned results and thoughts are clearly parallel to the written and oral answers collected during this interventional action research study. All answers present the individual truth and are open to further examination as Stringer (2009) suggested. The course filled its expectations. Both the researcher and the participants were satisfied with the outcome. In a word, the course was useful for all attended and the expectations of the participants and the researcher were met.