The Physical Education College of Jilin University is authorized to provide a first-level discipline master’s program in Sports Science (academic) and a first-leveled discipline master’s program in Sports (professional).
Academic Master Degree of Sport Sciences (3-year program)
The First-level Discipline of Sport Sciences includes four Second-level Disciplines, which are Humanistic Sociology of Sports, Human Sports Science, Physical Education and Sports Training, and Ethnic Traditional Sports.
(1 )Humanistic Sociology of Sports
Our College was approved by the Ministry of Education in 2003 to confer master's degrees in Humanistic Sociology of Sports and began its first admissions in 2004. Currently, this program involves four research pathways with their distinctive features and advantages, including Sports Management, Sports Sociology, Curriculum and Teaching Methodology of Sports, and Sports Psychology.
1 Distinctive Feature
1.1 Theory
Fundamental sport theory is one of our key teaching points, and analyses on hot-spot social issues of sports have provided high-quality research outcomes for the establishment and regulations of macro-level national sports policies and implementation of Olympics strategies and nationwide fitness programs and have further deepened researches in this area.Among all the research , the work from Professor Yuan Lei has not only focused on macroscopic researches, but has also been closely connected to the reform and development reality of sports in China. He has presided over research projects of various levels, including Scientific Research of Sports Development in the Harmonious Society (National Social and Scientific Fund Program), Study of the Development of Mass Sports in China in Post 2008 Olympics Era (grant from the General Administration of Sport of China), and Research on the Innovative System of Fostering Outstanding Athletes in Universities (grant from the National Office of Education Science Planning).
1.2 Practices
One of the major features of this program is the interaction and interdependence between theory and practice. For example, the major project from the National Office of Education Science Planning presided over by Professor Yang Ting, Research on the Mode of Interaction and Operational Mechanism between School Sports and Community Sports, has contributed to the promotion and spread of the nationwide fitness programs and Olympic awareness. Also, the National Social and Scientific Fund Program, Research on Scientific Fitness, presided over by Dr. Yang Jie, has offered detailed propositions to the concepts and measures of the implementation of the mass sports campaign, and academic papers relevant to this project were well received by sports researchers in China after publication.
2 Advantages
The faculty for this program is properly structured with six professors,twelve associate professors, six lecturers, and one teaching assistant, among whom five have acquired doctor’s degrees and one is currently a doctoral candidate. This program is an interdisciplinary second-level discipline combing sport sciences, management, sociology, and psychology, and cultivates high-end interdisciplinary talents in sport from various pathways under Humanistic Sociology of Sports, thanks to faculty advantage benefited from the comprehensive nature of Jilin University.
(2)Human Sports Science
Our College was approved by the Ministry of Education in 2006 to confer master's degrees in Human Sport Science and began its first admissions in 2007. Currently, this program involves four research pathways with their distinctive features and advantages, including Theory and Application of Sports Science, Sports Fitness and Health Management, Technical Diagnoses and Evaluations of Body Movement and Theory and Application of Exercise and Health-related Physical Fitness.
1 Distinctive Feature
1.1 Theory
1.1.1 Deepening and Broadening Theoretical Researches from International Communications
As one of the research talents recruited by the College, Professor Liu Zhongmin, who had acquired a Ph.D. in Health Sciences from the Faculty of Medicine of Tohoku University of Japan, has been conducting comparative studies on the physique and health of young children in China and Japan, and is jointly presiding over a project named Research of Microelements in Diet and Physical Strength of Children in Japan, China, and ROK (120,000 words) with his foreign colleagues, funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. He has also published 6 relevant academic articles.
1.1.2 Enhancing Interdisciplinary Studies in Natural Science and Achieving Theoretical Innovation of the Discipline
The research team led by Professor Sun Ru, who has acquired a doctorate in Cellular Biology in 2009, has made great breakthroughs in inflammatory reactions of musculoskeletal injury and muscle regeneration in the past five years, thanks to the resource sharing platforms of the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the School of Life Sciences of Jilin University. The team first proposed theories of musculoskeletal injury in sports, inflammatory reactions and myosatellite cell regeneration, and has published two relevant SCI articles in international journals, which formed the foundation of their 2010 Natural Science Fund Project of Jilin Province (40,000 yuan grant).
1.2 Practice
1.2.1 Facilitating the Development of the University and Nationwide Fitness Program with High-level Theoretical Research
Since its establishment in 2002, the Laboratory of Human Sports Science has carried out tests and evaluations on the physical health and body functions of the students and provided them with scientific guidance on physical exercise. Graduates of this College are now working in the fields of exercise and fitness guidance in various big fitness centers and clubs in the country.
1.2.2 Improving Performance in Competitive Sports with High-level Theoretical Research
Members of the Lab often perform instructive experimental research with national and provincial winter sports teams. An academic project, Research on the Physical Fitness Test and Monitoring of Figure Skaters Preparing for the 20th Winter Olympics, led by Professor Sun Ru, has contributed important reference data and suggestions to the scientific training of the Chinese national figure skating team, especially to pair skating athletes.
2 Advantages
This program is well structured with five professors, twelve associate professors, six lecturers, and one teaching assistant, among whom four have doctor’s degrees. It has world-class experiment equipment and the team has benefited from the sound and comprehensive resources of Jilin University, including multiple major national or provincial level laboratories from the Faculty of Medical Sciences, School of Life Sciences, and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The establishment of these relevant platforms has provided necessary supports to the research of this program.
(3)Physical Education and Sports Training
This master program was established in 2011 with the approval of the Ministry of Education of China and began its first admissions in 2012. Currently, it involves three research pathways with their distinctive features and advantages, including Principles and Methods of Sports Training, Theories and Methods of Physical Training, Principles and Methods of Sports Pedagogy.
1 Distinctive Feature
1.1 Theory
Our research team has gradually formed its unique sport-specific theories and practice systems through constant efforts and has undertaken twenty-two national and provincial level projects, among which one project, Research on the Theory and Practice of Running Track and Field Clubs for Teenagers by Non-governmental Sectors, was granted by the Social Science Fund of the General Administration of Sport of China. The outcomes of the research have provided feasible solutions to the scientific training of national and university-level sports teams. Our research team has also published twenty-seven academic papers on core sports journals, six of which were included in Olympic and other international symposiums, including the New Characteristics and Prospects of Training Theories of Track and Field Sports in China. These papers have provided academic support to China in winning gold medals in track-and-field events and archery, and the theories proposed in the articles were of great instructive significance to sport-specific training and technique diagnosis.
1.2 Practice
The team has adopted methods from Sports Training, Physical Training and Competition Studies to research on how to optimize the physical strength and techniques of various sports including track and field, volleyball, and archery, and some athletes thanks to these researches have reached world-class levels and two of them were granted the status of elite athlete of China. For example, Zhang Shujing has won the championship of the Seoul International Marathon and has finished 13th in the recent Olympic Games. Another Student, Han Yucheng, has won the gold medal of the 50-kilometer race walk of the previous Asian Game. Research on the theories and methods of sports events has also made great breakthroughs with eight students who graduated from this College have now become international-level referees in track and field, basketball, skiing, etc.. This is because the College has participated in the organization and referee work in many sports competitions including track and field-friendly matches for teenagers from China, Japan, and ROK, which help the students acquire the ability to organize and hold major sports events.
2 Advantages
The faculty of this program is highly recognized in the academic circle in China and is well structured with five professors, twelve associate professors, and six lecturers with one doctor and three doctoral candidates. Members of this team have a sound theoretical background, organizational capabilities of research, and interpersonal skills, whose research outcomes have reached leading positions in the country. Meanwhile, as a college of physical education in a comprehensive university, this College is the cradle of sports talents for China and Jilin Province and is also one of the training bases of top-tier national sports teams. Currently, teams of track and field, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, and football are training here and their needs for scientific research and training are well supplemented by the stadiums and laboratories of this university. The resource advantage of comprehensive universities is also helpful in integrating various research fields related to teaching and training in sports, thus giving this College a special advantage in training students in this field.
(4)Ethnic Traditional Sport
The master program of Ethnic Traditional Sport was established in 2011 with the approval of the Ministry of Education of China and began its first admissions in 2012. Currently, this program involves three research pathways with their distinctive features and advantages, including Theories and Practices of the Teaching and Training of Martial Arts, Ethnic Traditional Sport in Northeast Asia, Cross-cultural Communication of Ethnic Traditional Sport.
1 Distinctive Feature
1.1 Theory
As people’s concepts on health and education of traditional culture renew and shift ,especially as Chinese martial arts emphasizes both mental and physical strength and competitive and mass sports proliferate,studies on the cultural attributes of ethnic sports have become more important. Research in this pathway, grounded in the mechanism of the influence of traditional culture on Chinese martial arts, aims to deeply analyze the cultural foundations of Chinese martial arts. Established theories of traditional culture and traditional ethnic sports can be seen as the distinctive theoretical features of this program. An article, Research on the Combination of Chinese Martial Art Concepts and Education of Ideology and Morality for Contemporary College Students, was included in the Student World Forum held in Turkey in 2005. In recent years, the research team has undertaken fifteen academic projects of provincial levels or above and has published thirty-one academic papers on core sports journals, leading to a sound and distinctive research atmosphere in this area.
1.2 Practice
Chinese martial arts have inbuilt experiential practical attributes that combine teaching and learning. The practical features of this discipline are to guide students, through training in theoretical research,to perceive the knowledge of the essence of Chinese martial arts, and to help them become practice-focused talents of moral education based on mastering knowledge and techniques of martial arts. As a saying goes, “what is enjoyed by a nation should also be shared by the world”, Chinese martial art, with its profound cultural foundations, should not only serve the purpose of improving people’s health in China, but should also be accepted by people of all nationalities in the world. The need for expediting the research on the international exchange and communications of Chinese martial arts has become more pronounced as this sport is becoming increasingly recognized internationally. For this purpose, Associate Professor Li Tingkui of this College started a three-year program of exchange and communications of traditional ethnic sports in Egypt in 2010 as a cultural ambassador on behalf of the Ministry of Culture of China. The international exchange and communications of traditional ethic sports can be considered as the breakthrough of this program and has fully exemplified the practical feature of this program.
2 Advantages
This program has formed a sound and well-structured team in teaching and scientific research with five professors,eleven associate professors, and six lecturers with one doctorate holder and one doctoral candidate , yielding great research outcomes. This program also benefits from the comprehensive nature of this university, which has not only provided the team with great resources for the training of talents, but also offered platforms for both research and practice. These advantages are unparalleled in other universities in the country and will definitely provide firm research support to the improvement of the academic status of this discipline.
Master in Sports (full-time professional master)
The full-time professional master’s degree of this College was established in 2009 approved by the Ministry of Education and began its first admissions in 2010. Currently, this program involves three second-level disciplines, which are Physical Education, Sports Training, and Instructions of Social Sports.
This program provides an important way of fostering high-level, and practice-oriented professional talents in sports, and is a major form of postgraduate education that fits the national and educational reality of our country based on previous experiences. The distinctive professional and practical nature of this degree is the reason why it differs from other types of master degree education in its training objects, training modes, and curriculum.
The full-time professional master’s degree in sports has training objectives in fostering high-level and practice-oriented sports talents in physical education, sports training, sports management and organization of competitions, and instructions of social sports. The potential students mainly are those who work in professional sports training, including training instructors in elementary schools, high schools and universities, management personnel of various levels of competitions, mid to high-level instructors for physical exercise, and graduate students from sports and other relevant majors. Given the source of its students, this professional degree in sports is established to train high-end practice-oriented talents for specific professions. Thus in comparison to academic degrees, this professional degree differs in its training objectives and knowledge structures as it focuses more on applications and is more profession-oriented in its admission requirements, educational contents, training modes, and quality and standards. This degree attaches more importance to the combination of academic research and professional practice and is more focused on capacity building in solving actual problems with professional and theoretical knowledge for profession-specific sports practitioners, thus providing high-level practice-focused talents specialized in sports.