Investigation of communication skills perceived by students from instructors

Background and Study Aim The aim of this research is to examine the communication skills of the students studying at the faculties of sports sciences, as perceived by the instructors. Material and Methods The study was conducted using general survey model. The sample group of the study is consisted of a total of 714 randomly selected voluntary students, including 423 males and 291 females, who study at Faculty of Sports Sciences. The Communication Skills Evaluation Scale, was used as the data collection tool in the study. In the analysis of the data, t-test and one-way variance analysis and Tukey test analysis were used. Results According to the variables of the high school they graduated from, the department they studied and the grade level, it was determined that the communication skills they perceived from the instructors were at a moderate level. In addition, it was determined that the perceived communication level of male students studying in the coaching department was higher than that of male students studying in the teaching department. Conclusions Male and female students of sports sciences in the learning process should have effective communication skills in order to be prepared for their sociality and professional life. The acquisition of this skill largely depends on the efforts of the instructors in their courses and extracurricular activities during the undergraduate period. In this context, the instructors who attend the courses should be competent in their own branches, as well as being able to communicate positively and effectively with male and female students.

of the education life of the individual [21]. When the educational environment is considered, it is seen that one of the basic elements of the communication process is the teacher. The effect of teachers on the development of human communication is rather high [20,22]. People are required to be equipped with effective communication skills during their education for success in their future lives [23]. Communication in a classroom environment must be made by the instructor in order to share behaviors about a subject with the students and make sure that students acquire certain behaviors [24]. In this context, teachers must have effective communication skills [20,25,26]. In this context, one of the important factors that increases the influence of the teacher on the student is the ability to communicate well. It is stated that the teacher's healthy communication with the student is necessary for the desired behavioral changes of the students as well as the high academic achievement [3,4,27]. Individuals with developed communication skills can deal with the problems better in their lives, develop satisfying relationships and become more successful in their professional careers [28,29].
The aim of this research is to determine the instructors' communication skill levels perceived by Turkey sports science students studying in the according to their gender, in terms of some variables.

Participants.
Population of the research consisted of Sports Sciences Faculties at the universities in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey in the 2020/2021 academic year, the sample. The sample of the study consists of 423 male and 291 female, selected by simple random sampling method among students studying in different departments of Sports Sciences Faculties.
Research Design. The general survey model, which is one of the descriptive survey methods, was used in the study. The Communication Skills Evaluation Scale, which was developed by Karagoz and Kosterelioglu, was used to collect data required in the study [29]. In this study, the reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be .769. The scale sports various communication skill levels as: all of them, most of them, some of them, a few, and none, aims to determine it in a five item Likert scale. The high scores on the scale indicate that the communication status is positive.
Statistical Analysis. Answers that were given by participating students to the scale items based on demographical variables were measured using a statistical software package. Shapiro-Wilk test (p>.224) was used for the convenience of the data in the analysis of the data. Due to the normal distribution of the data, besides the descriptive analysis, t-test for pairwise comparisons and Cohen's d-data for effect size were used [30]. A one-way ANOVA test was used to compare three or more groups, and the etasquare (η2) test was applied since we have only one dependent variable in effect size [31]. In the study, the level of significance was accepted as Alpha (α) and the error level as p<.05.

Results
In this section, the data obtained from the students studying in different departments of the sports science faculties in the sample and the statistical findings related to these data are given. It was determined that the level of communication skills perceived by the instructors of the students participating in the research was moderate in both groups. It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference and the effect level was weak (p<.05; d=.015) (table 1). Therefore, it can be suggested that communication perception of male and female students from their instructors is equal to each other.
It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference in the perceived communication behaviors of male and female students according to the variable of high school they graduated from (p>.05) (table 2).
It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the perceived communication behaviors of male students according to the variable of the department they studied, and the effect level was small (p<.05. η2=.018) (table 3). As a result of the Tukey test, it can be said that the communication level perceptions of male students studying in the coaching department are higher than the male students studying in the teaching department. On the other hand, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference in the communication behaviors of the instructors perceived by the female students (p>.05).
There was a statistically significant difference between male (p<.05. η2=.050) and female (p<.05. η2=.041) student groups depending on the variable of grade level in which they study in the instructors' communication (table 4). In addition, the effect size was found to be close to medium level compared to sports science students. In the Tukey test, it can be said that first-year students in male and female student groups have a higher perception of communication than students in other grade levels.
As a result, it was determined that the communication average of the students studying in the faculties of sports sciences in the sample was higher than the gender groups. The communication skill levels perceived by the instructors in terms of the school, department and grade levels of the students are at a medium level with scores close to each other. It was determined that male students studying in the coaching department felt more communication from the instructors than the male students studying in the teaching department. It was determined that male and female students studying in the first grade felt more communication with the instructors. In addition, it was found that while there was a significant difference in favor of male students in terms of the department in which

Discussion
The aim of this research is to examine the perceived communication skill levels of university students studying in different departments of Sports Sciences Faculties in terms of some variables according to their gender. Perceived communication skill levels were close to each other according to gender groups and there was a statistically significant difference (Table 1). In this case, it can be said that the instructors behave in a way towards all their students without discriminating between men and women. It can be said that the teaching staff can be more effective in the information they will convey to the students thanks to their verbal and direct visual communication towards all students from different cultures [32].
It was determined that the communication behaviors perception scores of the students who graduated from sports high schools and other high schools were close to each other according to the variable of gender. In addition, it was determined that there was no statistically significant difference ( Table 2). In this case, it can be said that the students who graduated from sports high school and other high schools are similar to each other in terms of communication with instructors and are at middle level. When the studies conducted on this subject are reviewed, it is observed that the participants' perceptions of communication behaviors are at the medium level or below the medium level [33,34]. On the other hand, there are also research results which show that communication skill levels are a bit higher than the average [13,14,15,35]. In another study on the subject, it is stated that female participants have a higher communication skill level than male participants [26]. Koser and Barut state that male participants have higher communication skill levels than female participants [33]. It is expected that the individuals involved in sports will be more involved in the field of sports due to their being in different social environments, influencing the masses with their behaviors and increasing their communication skills [36]. In this context, it can be stated that students studying at sports high schools should perceive a higher level of communication than the instructors.
In the study, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in the communication behaviors of male students from their teachers, according to the variable of the department they studied. It was determined that there was no significant difference in female students ( Table 3). As a result of the Tukey test for male students, it can be said that male students studying in the coaching department have higher communication skills than male students studying in the teaching department. This situation can be interpreted as the fact that male students receiving coaching training generally receive practical training with instructors in their course curriculum. It can be said that the students have high communication with their coaches in the activities they do in the sports clubs within the school [37]. Positive harmony and communication between the coach and the parents can be achieved by the athletes to be higher and more successful in sports activities [38]. If the level of communication is high not only between athletes and coaches but also among coaches, managers and health workers, the risk of injury to student athletes can be minimized [39]. Multi-level injuries can be prevented thanks to open communication. In addition, the concept of communication is important in increasing and developing trust, respect, commitment and friendships within the scope of organizational team sports of athletes and / or participants in sports organizations [40]. In this respect, it can be said that it is important for the students of the coaching department to take part in such sports organizations academically in the development of their communication skills [41]. Teachers, teacher candidates, and coaches must be conscious of the fact that they should possess effective communication skills [25] and they are in the position of communicating with their pupils irrespective of their field [42]. From a different point of view, when education is considered as a communication activity, it would be a right approach to gain this gain to students before they start their careers [43]. Instructors who will give these gains should have personal skills such as communication skills as well as subject knowledge [26,44]. It should have a clear and understandable tone of voice and be able to raise and lower its voice when necessary [45].
In addition, the instructors' being in interaction with their students will make it easy for them to acquire the terminal behaviors in the education processes and adapt themselves to their career. In the literature, it is observed in some studies that communication skill levels perceived by participants are positively at a high level based on their departments [46,47]. In their studies, Kilcigil et al., state that the perceived level of communication skills of participants is at a lower level according to their departments [48]. Furthermore, some studies in the literature indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in perceived communication behaviors of students with respect to their departments [25,35], while others have found no significant difference in this aspect [49,50].
It was found that there was a statistically significant difference in communication behaviors perceived by male and female students in the sample group from instructors based on the variable of their grade levels. As a result of the Tukey test, it can be said that male and female students studying in the first and second grades feel communication with the instructors who have higher scores than the students studying in other grades (Table 4). In this case, it can be said that male and female students, especially in first grades, are more distant from future anxiety and communicate more with the instructors without any hesitation about passing grades and courses. Supporting the communication between sports and private fields by instructors and coaches in planning and developing the careers of female and male students is important for the success of the sports and education triangle [51]. Some studies suggest that many instructors in the universities do not pay attention to psychological and sociological characteristics of students and thus experience many problems [52,53]. In their studies, Ocak and Ersen, Saracaloglu et al., state that perceived communication skills of first-grade students are higher than those in upper grades [25,42]. In the some studies have found that there is a statistically significant difference between communication skills and grade levels of participants [49,54]. On the other hand, some studies have concluded that there are no statistically significant differences between the variables of communication skills and grades [55,56].

Conclusions
Male and female students of sports sciences in the learning process should have effective communication skills in order to be prepared for their sociality and professional life. The acquisition of this skill largely depends on the efforts of the instructors in their courses and extracurricular activities during the undergraduate period. In this context, the instructors who attend the courses should be competent in their own branches, as well as being able to communicate positively and effectively with male and female students. It is also known that effective communication seminars can be given within the institution for instructors in order to increase their communication skills towards students to higher levels. Taking into account the perceptions of female and male students, courses aimed at improving communication skills can be included in the curriculum of the departments. By organizing congresses, symposiums and conferences for students about effective communication, awareness on this subject can be increased.