INDIVIDUALIZED FITNESS
EXSI 1201.06 FALL 2009
¨ Tom Wells, Ph.D. Weir, #206
¨ 792-7429 MW (8:00 – 9:30 am & 1:00 – 2:00 pm)
¨ tomwells@schreiner.edu Others by appointment
Designed to provide students the knowledge and opportunity to develop and participate in an individualized fitness program, this course emphasizes the focused appraisal and development of the four health-related physical fitness components: cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength & endurance, flexibility, and body composition.
Text: Lifetime Physical Fitness & Wellness, Hoeger, 9th Edition.
Course Rationale:
EXSI 1201 is a required course in the core curriculum designed to promote lifetime fitness. The current lifestyle of the American adult does not provide the human body with sufficient physical exercise to maintain adequate health. In addition, many present lifestyle patterns, including high-fat diets, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption, are of such a serious threat to human health they may actually increase the deterioration rate (aging effect) of the human body, often leading to premature illness and mortality.
Research indicates that people in the United States firmly believe in the benefits of physical activity and positive lifestyle habits as means to promote better health. However, most of these same people do not reap these benefits. They simply do not know how to implement a sound physical fitness and wellness program that will result in the desired outcomes. EXSI 1201.06 serves to provide students that knowledge and experience. The purpose of this course focuses on improving students’ fitness levels by involving them in a supervised and structured lifetime fitness program, while emphasizing positive lifestyle behaviors that improve health and the quality of life. Students will be given the opportunity to plan, develop, and initiate their own fitness program.
EXSI 1201 is a two-hour credit course, which serves as a “General Education” for students as it satisfies the Exercise Science requirement in the core curriculum at Schreiner University.
Course Objectives:
EXSI 1201 provides the necessary guidelines to develop a lifetime, personalized program to improve fitness and promote preventive health care and wellness. With this goal in mind, the general course objectives of EXSI 1201 are for the students to
1. assess and, as needed, improve or maintain the health-related components of fitness (cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength & endurance, muscular flexibility, and body composition)
2. plan and implement a well-rounded and balanced fitness program.
3. participate in planned physical activity a minimum of two days per week.
4. determine potential risk for cardiovascular disease and implement a life-long, risk-reduction program.
5. become knowledgeable about following a cancer risk-reduction program.
6. become a wise consumer of fitness and health-related products and programs.
7. discern between the myths and the facts of exercise & health-related concepts.
The above list of EXSI 1201.06 Course Objectives serves to satisfy and support the following:
A. The Schreiner University Mission Statement
“Schreiner University, a liberal arts institution affiliated by choice and covenant with the Presbyterian Church (USA), is committed to educating students holistically.” (emphasis mine)
B. The Schreiner University Statement of Values
“Schreiner University holds sacred the Christian convictions that each student is valuable and unique, and that the university’s purpose is to enable every student to grow intellectually, physically, and spiritually.” (emphasis mine)
C. The Exercise Science Curriculum Outcomes
#5 – “Demonstrate knowledge of widely-used, practical skills in Exercise Science, appropriate for fitness assessment and fitness programming.”
COURSE POLICIES
Academic Honesty: Academic honesty is expected of all students in EXSI 1201. The student’s work should be his/her own. This includes work on any exams, quizzes, projects, and writing assignments. Students are encouraged to refer to the Student Handbook provided by Student Services for Schreiner University policy on this matter. As a reminder, when doing research, it is permissible to use someone else’s work, but the student must give this “someone else’ credit with a proper citation and/or reference.
Attendance/Tardiness Policy: Students are expected to attend each class period, be on time for each class, and to participate in the prescribed physical activity program. Students who arrive late for class disturb the class. This is not appreciated by the students in class nor the instructor. The course grade of those students who consistently choose to be absent, tardy, or not participate will be negatively affected.
Cell Phones: All cellular phones must be inactivated upon entering the classroom. Text messaging during class time exemplifies rudeness and disrespect. Students who text message forfeit their privilege to request letters of recommendation from the instructor.
Course Format: This is a lower level course, but reading and homework assignments cannot be ignored. For this class to be successful, students must take charge of their information gathering and physical fitness maintenance or improvement. The readings and assignments from the text, handouts, and other sources are necessary for success on exams and quizzes. After the first two class meetings, the class will be involved in physical activity for most of the remainder of the semester. (Please refer to the Course Outline)
Class Participation: As mentioned in the Course Format, class participation is a must in
EXSI 1201.06. For this section participation in the fitness portion of the class is mandatory, and the student’s grade will be affected by his/her participation. (Please refer to the Grading Summary below)
Make-up Policy: If a student should miss a written exam, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the instructor within 48 hours of the absence so that arrangements for a make-up exam can be arranged.
Support Services: Students are encouraged to take advantage of the available support services on campus that increase the opportunities for student learning and success. During the Fall Term, these services include (1) the Logan Library [resource texts and periodicals, computer work stations, Internet terminals, research assistance, Interlibrary Loan, etc.] and (2) the Computer Lab with computer work stations. The Fasken Learning Center’s Peer Tutoring program is available during the Fall Term.
Special Note: Schreiner University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 with respect to providing academic adjustments/auxiliary aids to qualified students. Students requiring such accommodations should contact Dr. Jude Gallik, the Section 504 Coordinator.
Student Evaluation for EXSI 1201:
The student's final course grade will be based on three (3) major areas.
(1) Participation in physical activity and fitness development
(2) Fitness level or improvement of fitness level
(3) Performance on written exams/quizzes
Participation: Each student is expected to attend class each day and be on time for each class. In addition, each student is expected to participate fully during each physical activity class period. Participation in the physical activity program will contribute up to 30% of the student's final course grade. There will be approximately 16 class meetings during the Fall 2009 semester in which students have the opportunity to participate fully in physical activity designed to improve health-related physical fitness. Students will be assigned a Participation score each day with the score ranging from “1 – indicating poor participation” to “5 – indicating excellent participation.” Students who participate fully each day will achieve the maximum for Participation. (30.0 %)
Fitness: During the first three weeks of the semester, the fitness levels of the students will be determined. These simple assessments include evaluations of Cardiovascular Endurance, Body Composition, Muscular Flexibility, and Muscular Strength & Endurance. At the end of the Fall term, students will be re-evaluated on these fitness components. Grade standards for these fitness components will be distributed during the pre-evaluation period. Standards are gender- and age-related. Fitness grades will be assigned at the end of the term based on the final level of fitness in these components or improvement of these important components. (30.0%)
Students should consider the fitness portion of EXSI 1201 as a major class project. Information will be presented in class and in the text allowing any student to begin a fitness program in a safe and efficient manner. Obviously, students who devote more time to enhancing their health-related fitness in a consistent manner will achieve better results.
Written Exams/Quizzes: Approximately seven (7) quizzes will be given during the term. Although the quizzes will not constitute a major portion of the students’ grade, they are important as useful study guides. Also, students will be required to take two (2) major written exams. These exams will test material provided in the textbook, handouts, and class activities. The format of the major exams will be objective in nature with true-false, multiple-choice, matching, and short answer/listing items. For all of the written exams, the student will need to know how to work with the textbook in regard to evaluating fitness, establishing exercise programs, risk reduction plans, etc. Major exam dates are provided below.
Major Exam #1 September 15
Major Exam #2 December 8
Final Exam December 11
The two exam grades will be averaged and this score will constitute the Written Exam portion of the course. (30.0 %).
If a student misses or performs poorly on one of the two major exams, he/she will need to use the final exam period on December 11 to take the make-up or replacement exam.
The best six quiz grades will be averaged and this score will constitute the Quiz portion of the course. (10.0%)
Course Grade: A final letter course grade for each student will be determined based on the above criteria as follows.
A 89.50% & higher
B 79.50 - 89.49%
C 69.50 - 79.49%
D 59.50 - 69.49%
F 59.49% or lower
COURSE OUTLINE
Aug. 27 Introduction: Syllabus review, course format, & expectations
Sept. 1 Fitness Components & principles of training
3 Cardiovascular Endurance (Quiz #1)
8 Muscular Strength & Endurance (Quiz #2)
10 Flexibility & Body Composition/Exam Review
15 Exam #1
17 Fitness Assessments (Body composition & Flexibility)
22 Fitness Assessments (Muscular Strength & CV Endurance)
24 Physical Activity
29 Physical Activity/(Take home quizzes #3 & #4 are due)
Oct. 1 Physical Activity
6 Physical Activity
8 Physical Activity
13 Fall Break Holiday
15 Physical Activity
20 Physical Activity
22 Physical Activity/ (Quiz #5)
27 Physical Activity
29 Physical Activity
Nov. 3 Physical Activity
5 Physical Activity/ (Quiz #6)
10 Physical Activity
12 Physical Activity
17 Physical Activity
19 Physical Activity
24 Weight control/Fitness Assessments
26 Thanksgiving Holiday
1 Continue Weight control/Fitness Assessments/(Quiz #7)
3 Alcohol and its effects on fitness/Fitness Assessments
8 Continue Weight Control & Alcohol/Exam Review
10 Exam #2
Dec. 11 Final Exam at 10:30 am for those students who missed one of the major exams or who wish to try and obtain a better test grade.