Learning to swim in Slovenia is integrated into the mandatory elementary school curriculum. With the latest reform of the »Naučimo se plavati« initiative in 2018, qualitative assessment replaced previous quantitative assessment for the 50-meter front crawl test at the »srebrni delfin« level. This thesis aimed to investigate whether the performance in this two assessment methods is correlated, specifically whether students who pass the test under new qualitative assessment method would also pass it under the former quantitative method. We used a sample of 113 fourth- and fifth-grade students who were involed in a 20-hour swimming course as a part of school-based nature camp (»šola v naravi«) with swimming activities. We conducted two tests: the first with the instruction »swim with correct form« where students were assessed qualitatively, and the second, with the instruction »swim faster«, which was assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Pearson’s Chi-squared test revealed a moderate correlation between the new and the old assessment methods, with 66.7% of students who were successful under the "swim with correct form" instruction also passing the "swim faster" test (quantitative assessment).McNemar’s test indicated that significant errors in the front crawl occurred statistically more frequently (80.5%) under the old, quantitative assessment method than under the new, qualitative method (41.6%). Based on these findings, we conclude that the new qualitative assessment method, used by P.E. teachers, through its influence on the content and implementation of swimming instruction, encourages the learning process of proper front crawl technique. Additionally, it reduces the impact of individual differences in students' motor abilities during the test. This study was limited to the »srebrni delfin« level and also did not examine the reverse relationship between the assessment methods (i.e., whether students successful under the old method would also succeed under the new method). Future research should address this limitation and expand the scope to include the »zlati delfin« level while also examining the impact of qualitative assessment on swimming instructors and their teaching practices.
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