Blog 4

I have to admit that I had some butterflies in my stomach before starting the lab. Instead of teaching the students how to put electrodes on and conduct exercise stress tests, I now have to explain vectors, impulse, projectiles, etc., and show them how to use EMG and the motion capture system (Peak Motus). The initial apprehension subsided once I stood in front of the class, because this particular lab wasn’t too difficult. I know, however, that the uneasy feeling will come back until I have familiarized myself with everything in the biomechanics lab.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of an (2-hr-50-min) introductory session as I had in the coronary lab. This (1-hr-50-min) lab started right away with a review of human movement terminology. The first ten minutes were used up by my professor as she explained the semester project to the students. During the remaining time I greeted the students (“Hi everyone and welcome back”), asked them if they were already overwhelmed by the project and added jokingly that there was more to come, introduced myself, went over the syllabus, put the students in groups, explained what the first lab was all about, and had them write a lengthy lab report, which they were supposed to finish in class, but didn’t.

Because a second lab was about to start right after this one, I had to “throw” the students out. My closing statement thus was that whoever didn’t finish the lab report shouldn’t worry and turn it in the next morning during my office hours. I then reminded the students that there will be a quiz at the start of next week’s lab and wished them a good first week. The lab reports and the quiz will be my assessment of their learning for this lab. For future labs, I plan to reserve a few minutes after the quiz to talk with the students about their experience in the previous lab and then give them feedback on their learning as I return the lab reports.

I felt kind of rushed. Given this to-do list, I had to forgo my planned icebreaker and use the group-building process for a short introduction. I tried to get us all acquainted by going from group to group while the students were working on their lab reports. I encouraged them to try out the movements they were about to describe so that their peers could watch. This resulted in some laughter and helped “break the ice” to a certain extent. The second lab was a little easier (these students benefited from my slips during the first one), but still, the time constraint didn’t let me incorporate what I have planned. But overall, it went well. I think the students didn’t care too much about the lack of introduction, since most of them knew each other from previous courses and/or were in my coronary lab this summer.