2010 Innovative Writing in Teaching Recipient

Jennifer Bridges, Department of Kinesiology

In Kinesiology, students experience writing as a real and important aspect of learning and professional contribution. We want our students to contribute to the culture of academic excellence and community service at SVSU.

Kinesiology 464 is an avenue for students to do this. As professionals, many of our students will need to give educational poster presentations at health or wellness fairs, so the course poster project prepares them for this, allowing them to take ownership of their learning in a way that is different from the other types of writing they do. Students also write case studies, showing in writing how they applied written criteria (e.g., standards from the American College of Sports Medicine) to decision-making. These writing tasks mimic what we hope our students will be able to do when counseling a client. Our students also give presentations at scientific meetings and often go on to graduate school, so we prepare them for the kind of technical writing they will encounter.

The students are in a continuous process of writing or revising their writing in the poster and the case study during the entire semester. They are engaged in the clinical exercise prescription content in both projects throughout the entire semester as well. This approach incorporates technical writing so meaningfully into the exercise science major that I don't think students have yet figured out that they are learning so much about writing!