Senior Lecturer Resa Walch, Associate Professor Carol Smith, Assistant Professor Amy Stringer and several students participated in engaged learning and service activities during the fall semester and winter term.
Walch completed a sabbatical in the fall semester. Her work focused on the topic of spirituality as an essential component of personal health course delivery. Her research was guided by a seven-year study examining the role that college plays in facilitating the development of students’ spiritual qualities.She completed a literature review of best practices in the inclusion of health of the human spirit in the college classroom. She developed a framework for the design of a four-year study at Elon and reviewed a new textbook related to spirituality and health. She plans to share her findings in presentations to the faculty, an article to be submitted for publication, and a paper to be presented at a professional conference.
Smith was elected to serve as vice president-elect for the Sport and Leisure Division of the Southern District of AAPHERD. This division includes faculty and other professionals in the fields of athletic training, outdoor education and sport management. In addition to teaching physical education courses at Elon, Smith has created new courses in outdoor adventure-based learning.
Physical education and health majors Morgan Bailey and Stephen Rusterholz, exercise science major Jasmine Jackson and Stringer presented research at the National Association of Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education in San Diego, Calif. The research, “Physical Education in US News 2010-2011: A Critical Content Analysis,” was part of a poster presentation on Jan. 6, 2012.