The purpose of this project is to complete the development of a laboratory facility on the campus of Furman University that integrates the teaching of related areas of analysis of human motion. These areas include anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology, motor development and physics. The current curriculum does not allow for students to integrate any two of these areas at this time, primarily due to lack of hardware capabilities. The development of this facility permits the students to incorporate all of these areas into a coherent frame work from which they can establish the interdependence among these areas. They will discover the importance of efficiency of movement, not only for improved outcome of activity, but also for the energy savings to the body. Students will manipulate both the environment and the performer to determine what aspects are the most important for learning and performance. laboratory exercises are being designed so the students will discover for themselves the relationships among force, work, performance and energy cost by several methods as described in the proposal. Having this experience will not only aid the students in understanding the overall aspects o~ human motion, but it will also give them insights that will enable them to begin asking new questions concerning human motion. To ensure that students glean the most from this experience, faculty members from the departments of Physics and Health and Exercise Science are developing an interdisciplinary studies course, IDS 54 Biomechanics, that will draw on the knowledge o~ all areas of the curriculum relating to human motion. Students will be responsible for a project that requires them to incorporate all modules of the facility and present their results to the faculty of Physics and Health and Exercise Science departments. These laboratory experiences will increase the insight o our students into the human motion and its analysis. They will als o improve their math, physics and computer skills.
