teaching

Learning by doing

My teaching begins with a simple idea: students learn science by practising it. A physiological measurement becomes meaningful when they collect it, question it, analyze it, and decide what it can—and cannot—tell them.

That approach grew from my background in outdoor education and coaching and now shapes courses ranging from large foundational classes to small graduate laboratories. I think of each course as a guided journey. Early on, I lead from the front by making the route and expectations clear. As students gain experience, I move alongside them as a coach. By the end, I aim to step back so they can make informed decisions, challenge assumptions, and take ownership of their work.

Clear structure makes that independence possible. Course outlines provide the map, modules mark meaningful stages, and regular low-stakes assessments create opportunities to pause and adjust. Formative feedback, reflection, and constructive disagreement are not additions to the course—they are part of how students learn to think like scientists.

From technique to inquiry

In exercise physiology, knowing a protocol is different from being able to perform it well. My laboratory teaching connects three stages of learning:

1. Prepare: students encounter the purpose, sequence, and limitations of a method before entering the lab.
2. Practise: guided repetition and immediate feedback help students develop reliable technique.
3. Interpret: students work with the resulting data, evaluate its quality, and communicate an evidence-based conclusion.

This structure is especially visible in KNES 375: Tests and Measurements in Kinesiology. A course-based undergraduate research experience moved the laboratory beyond following recipes: students collect authentic performance data, build athlete profiles, and translate their findings into practical recommendations. The goal is not simply to complete a test. It is to understand how measurement choices shape the story the data can support.

Teaching innovation through co-creation

The MELT (Multimedia-Experiential Learning & Teaching) initiative extends this approach by pairing concise demonstration media with hands-on laboratory practice. Supported by a $40,000 University of Calgary Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant, the project develops resources students can use before, during, and after a lab, preserving class time for coaching, troubleshooting, and higher-order decision-making.

Students are partners in this work. Honours student Andrew Filewich developed demonstration videos and interactive learning modules for blood-pressure and heart-rate assessment, the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test, and skinfold procedures. Other student contributors have helped expand the media library into muscle preparation and protein-analysis techniques. Their work improves the experience of the students who follow while giving the creators meaningful experience in research, communication, and educational design.

Explore the MELT teaching project · Read Andrew Filewich’s project story

Courses

Undergraduate

• KNES 213 – Introduction to Research in Kinesiology (2019–2026): a large foundational course serving approximately 150 students per section.
• KNES 375 – Tests and Measurements in Kinesiology (2020–2025): applied physiological assessment, data interpretation, and inquiry-driven laboratory work.
• KNES 381 – Computer Applications in Kinesiology (2010–2026): programming and data analysis in a focused class of approximately 24 students.
• KNES 355 – Human Growth and Development (2020–2021): large-enrolment instruction across the human lifespan.
• KNES 475 – Physiological Bases of Athletic Performance (2022): the evidence connecting physiology, training, and performance.

Graduate

• KNES 606 – Applied Exercise Physiology Practicum (2020–2024)
• KNES 613/614 – Applied Exercise Physiology Practicum (2025–2026)

These graduate laboratories emphasize practical assessment skills, critical evaluation of methods, and student-led demonstrations in small-group settings.

The destination

The best evidence of learning is not that students can repeat an answer. It is that they can enter an unfamiliar problem, choose a defensible path through it, and explain both their conclusion and its limits. Whether a student is encountering research methods for the first time or preparing to lead an advanced laboratory assessment, my aim is the same: to help them build the knowledge, practical skill, and confidence to navigate independently.