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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
An Assessment of Students’ Recreation Participation
Author(s)
Meryem Akoğlan Kozak, Ece Doğantan
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DOI:10.17265/2161-6248/2016.08.001
Affiliation(s)
Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey
ABSTRACT
Recreational
activities have psychological and social contributions in addition to
individual recreation, and are extremely important especially for university
students in development of healthy personality and establishing positive social
relations. Continuation of a student’s recreational activities after
graduation, which has commenced at school, is quite significant in
internalization of recreational awareness. The student’s decision to continue a
recreational activity in the future is dependent on the experiences of the
student in this activity. This study aims to reveal detailed information about
the recreation experiences of the students. Thus, the primary objective of the
study was to access the information on preferred recreation activity
categories, recreation experiences, and the intent to continue these activities. In the study, quantitative research approach was adopted and survey
form was applied to a sample of 268 students who were registered to student
clubs in the university. Factor analysis, correlation, and regression analysis were used in the analysis of
the survey data. Result of the factor analysis conducted on the “Recreation
Experience Preferences” (REP) scale items, it was determined that the scale was
structured in seven dimensions of “physical exercise and rest,” “learning about
new and different objects and people,” “leading and introspection,”
“achievement,” “escape from personal-social pressures,” “learning about
culture, arts and nature,” and “human relations” and REP scale could be used to
assess recreational experiences as well as the determination of recreational
preferences. The findings of the study determined that the
students preferred social recreation activities the most, followed by cultural,
artistic, and physical recreational activities. Student
participation frequencies based on activity categories could be sorted as
social, artistic, cultural, and physical, respectively. As the students’
participation frequency in recreation activities increased, the experiences
acquired increased as well. Thus, it was observed that as the frequency of
participation in social, cultural, and artistic categories increased, the experiences in
“learning about to nature, culture and art” and “escape from personal-social
pressures” increased accordingly. The findings of the study determined that the
dimensions of experience acquitted as a result of recreational activities of
“leading and introspection” and “human relations” were effective on the intent
of the students on sustaining the related recreational activity. Thus,
applications that would help students to spend their leisure times in
sustainable activities to become physically, mentally, and socially healthy individuals in the future and
would develop their experiences in the dimensions of “leadership” and “human relations”
should be prioritized.
KEYWORDS
recreation experience, recreation activities, intention to continue
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