Practical research on orienteering physical education in universities in northeast China

2.1Development status of orienteering in China

Orienteering was introduced in Hong Kong in 1973. After that, the PLA Institute of Physical Education organized the first experimental orienteering competition at Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou, in 1983. Following that, it flourished in China, expanding to universities and primary and secondary schools. Also extending from surveying, mapping, and geological systems to all walks of life, it displays great vitality. Taking the National Student Orienteering Championship in China as an example, the number of participating university teams has increased rapidly in recent years. Table 1 shows the numbers of colleges and universities participating in the championship in the past five years [14]. The 2018 and 2019 championships were delayed for one month and were held in mid to late August, which meant some colleges and universities could not participate as the instructors and participating students could not reach a consensus on the school opening time. Except for the special circumstances in 2018 and 2019, Table 1 indicates significantly increased numbers of colleges and universities participating in the National Student Orienteering Championships in the past five years. The numbers of elite and professional college groups have steadily increased, suggesting that the number of orienteering athletes has grown and the competitive level of orienteering in China has increased year by year. The number of group C undergraduates participating in the competition for the first time has grown year by year, indicating the wider popularity of orienteering in China in recent years.

2.2Development status of orienteering in northeast China

Table 2 shows the numbers of northeast universities participating in the National Student Orienteering Championships in the past five years. It reveals that in the past five years, the number of participating colleges and universities in the three northeastern provinces has grown slowly, and the number is relatively small.

According to data released by the General Administration of Sport of China [15], to prepare for the 2019 World Orienteering Championship and World Cup Finals, the state established the 2019 National Orienteering Training Team, with the source of athletes as shown in Fig. 1. As can be seen from Fig. 1, in 2019, almost all athletes on the training team came from academies and PLA teams in northern, eastern, central, southern, and southwestern provinces of China. The northeast and northwest regions, at higher latitudes, lag behind in the development of orienteering. Only Jilin Province sent two orienteering players for the 2019 training team.

Figure 1.

Sources of players selected for 2019 National Orienteering Training Team.

Figure 2.

Proportion of colleges and universities participating in 2019 National Student Orienteering Championships in different provinces.

2.3Analysis of reasons for the slow development of orienteering in northeast China

Figure 2 shows the proportion of colleges and universities participating in the 2019 National Student Orienteering Championship in different provinces. Except for Heilongjiang Province, the provinces with a proportion above 5% are marked in the figure, which are in South, East, North, and Southwest China. Hubei Province in Central China accounts for 4.8%.

The temperature conditions of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province in East China, which is ranked third in intermediate latitude, and Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, were selected for comparative analysis [16]. Figures 3 and 4 show the analysis curves of the appropriate periods for orienteering training in the two cities. The average maximum and minimum temperature curves were obtained by selecting the daily maximum and minimum temperatures of the two cities on the 2345 weather website for the past five years, then calculating and mapping the five-year average.

Figure 3.

Analysis curves of appropriate period for orienteering training in Hangzhou.

Figure 4.

Analysis curves of appropriate period for orienteering training in Harbin.

The normal temperature of the human body is maintained between 36.5∘C and 37.2∘C. In terms of physical training, orienteering is similar to track event training. The relatively low temperature is more appropriate, because track training is mainly muscle exercise, and the relatively low temperature can help muscle tissue function better. According to research, the ideal temperature for track training is 17–20∘C. Excessively high or low external temperature will cause discomfort [17]. Excessive air temperature will increase the body temperature, which will make the circulatory system transport more blood to the skin, accelerate heat dissipation, and cause a reduction of blood volume in muscle tissue, resulting in insufficient oxygen supply to the cerebral cortex tissue [18]. In case of too low temperature, the subcutaneous blood vessels will contract and less blood will reach the skin and subcutaneous tissue, which will cause numbness and stiffness of the body and increase the viscosity of muscle tissue, reducing the flexibility of joint movement, thus easily causing sports injuries [19]. Studies have shown that 30∘C and 13∘C are the extreme high and low temperatures for track event training [20]. Orienteering training above 30∘C and below 13∘C is also quite dangerous. Based on the ideal and extreme training temperatures, as well as the average high and low temperatures of the two cities over the past five years, appropriate training periods for orienteering in Hangzhou and Harbin were obtained, as shown in Figs 3 and 4. It can be seen from Figs 3 and 4 that trainable periods in Hangzhou and Harbin are from late February to early December, and from mid-April to early October, with Hangzhou exceeding Harbin by nearly four months; Hangzhou’s ideal training periods are from mid-March to early June and from late September to mid-November, and Harbin’s ideal training times are from late April to early July and from early August to early October. Hangzhou exceeds Harbin by nearly one month. The appropriate training times in Central and Southwest China are similar to those in East China. The appropriate training time in South China is about one month longer than in East China, and that in North China is about one month shorter than in East China.

In general, few colleges and universities offer orienteering in the northeast and northwest regions at higher latitudes. The main reason is the natural climate factors analyzed in Figs 3 and 4. The northeast has large annual temperature differences, long winters, and low outdoor temperature. The average temperature of the cold months differs from that of the hottest months by about 60∘. The average annual effective training time is short. Without the protection of indoor training ground, players cannot receive full training. In addition, professional orienteering equipment is relatively expensive, so the south, with better economic conditions and appropriate climate, facilitates the development of orienteering.

4.1Orienteering theory course

Orienteering theory courses are mainly offered in two forms at domestic colleges and universities: elective general education courses and compulsory physical education courses [21].

As early as 2004, the undergraduate major curriculum program for physical education in national institutes of higher education stipulated that orienteering, outdoor survival, outdoor sports, etc., could be taken as optional track and field courses. As the basis of physical education courses, track and field can train students’ endurance, speed, sensitivity, flexibility, strength, and other qualities, which are the most important elements in college physical education courses [22]. However, traditional track and field courses are boring and monotonous, thus are neglected by college students year after year. Accordingly, in recent years, many sports teachers have integrated orienteering into track and field teaching to enrich the content of the courses and strengthen students’ interest in learning. In addition, some colleges and universities offer orienteering courses as elective general education courses.

General education and physical education courses have different educational purposes. The former focuses on cultivating students’ knowledge and providing a spiritual education, and the latter focuses on training students’ physical fitness. As a general education course, orienteering focuses on cultivating college students’ grasp of topographic knowledge, training their ability to identify maps, cultivating teamwork, and improving their physical and mental qualities. Hence, there is a relatively large number of theoretical teaching hours. As a physical education course, orienteering focuses on cultivating students’ physical fitness, so there is a relatively large number of outdoor practice teaching hours. After investigating the development of orienteering courses at domestic colleges and universities, the author summarized a development model for orienteering theory courses, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3 shows the development mode of orienteering courses at universities based on the general education courses at Harbin Engineering University for nearly 15 years and research on peer colleges. In view of the particularity of orienteering courses being both theoretical and practical in nature, for the sake of a better course effect, the elective courses of Harbin Engineering University make cumulative assessments to promote teaching by examination, with an assessment mode as shown in Table 4. Practice has proved good teaching results. According to data provided by the Undergraduate School of Harbin Engineering University, in recent years, the online teaching evaluation score of students in orienteering courses has been around 95 points.

The development mode of orienteering courses shown in Table 3 and the cumulative assessment method of orienteering at Harbin Engineering University shown in Table 4 are mainly intended to provide a certain idea for the development of orienteering at colleges and universities. Each school can adjust the teaching plan based on its respective reality.

4.2Orienteering organization building

Building an orienteering organization includes constructing social organizations, associations, and elite teams, which complement each other.

4.2.3Daily training

Daily training is mainly targeted at players [23], and association members can also participate voluntarily. According to the analysis curve of the appropriate period for orienteering in Harbin shown in Fig. 4, the university formulated a year-round training plan, as shown in Fig. 6.

Figure 6.

Annual training plan for orienteering team at Harbin Engineering University.

The daily training of the university orienteering team mainly includes theoretical, physical, and map identification training.

Theoretical training is the basis of daily training. Lectures in the early stages after new players enroll in autumn and winter is the major training approach. Physical training in the spring semester of the second year is the focus of daily training [24]. Physical training takes full account of the distinctive features of orienteering. Physical training gives athletes enough reserve energy to meet the needs of competition. To a certain extent, it is possible to refer to middle-distance running training in track and field events to improve athletes’ cardiorespiratory function. In addition, orienteering requires athletes to perform cross-country running in the wild without the same path or field. This requires them to break the existing rhythm of middle-distance running and establish a new rhythm while considering cross-country ability. After theoretical research and practice, the physical training of the orienteering team at Harbin Engineering University mainly includes five aspects.

4.3Orienteering events

Orienteering events are necessary to enrich course content, strengthen organizational construction, enhance cohesion of associations, test training results, and improve players’ actual competitive experience. It is also an indispensable practical link to comprehensively improve the development level of orienteering. Table 5 shows the events the Harbin Engineering University orienteering team held and participated in throughout the year.

Given sufficient funds, professional orienteering equipment should be used in training for events at all levels to achieve better results. Due to the relatively high price of professional equipment for orienteering events, in case of insufficient funds, a variety of methods such as copying symbols can be adopted at association-level orienteering events to replace orienteering equipment, while professional orienteering equipment must be used for higher-level orienteering events.