Course Syllabus

KINES 370 - Biomechanics

Spring 2014

Instructor: Eric L. Dugan
Office: BG 108E
Phone: (208) 426-3512
E-Mail: ericdugan@boisestate.edu
Office Hours: by appointment

Course Content and Objectives

This course is an introduction to the biomechanical principles of human motion. The focus of this course is on the mechanical principles that govern the interaction of the human body with its environment. These principles will be presented and discussed with consideration of the relevant anatomical structures and physiological mechanisms that influence human movement. 

The student will develop an understanding of the mechanical and anatomical principles that govern human movement.  At the completion of this course the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate awareness of the scope and practice of biomechanics
• Describe human movement with appropriate mechanical and anatomical terminology
• Distinguish between linear, angular and general motion
• Describe how kinematic and kinetic data are collected
• Discuss the relationship among the kinematic parameters of position, displacement, velocity, and acceleration
• State Newton’s three laws of motion and their relevance to human motion
• Solve quantitative problems that employ kinematic and kinetic principles
• Represent the external forces acting on the human body on a free body diagram
• Define and conduct a static and dynamic analysis on a single joint motion
• Find and utilize biomechanical literature and reference resources

 

A combination of Canvas online quizzes, homework assignments, writing assignments, participation grades and a final exam will be used to evaluate your success in achieving these objectives. See the description of each assignment for more specific statements of the learning objectives of the assignment and their relevance to the overall course objectives.

Required Text

Biomechanical Basis of Human Movement by Joseph Hamill and Kathleen Knutzen (ISBN: 0781791286, 3rd edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009)

Required Technical Equipment and Skills

• Access to the Internet through a high speed network connection or a broadband Internet Service Provider.
• Access to a computer with one of the operating systems and web browsers listed here.

NOTE: If you don't have the items described above at home, you can use a computer in an on-campus lab.

• An e-mail account and the ability to send and receive e-mail and e-mail file attachments. The default e-mail account used for this course is your Boise State e-mail account. You cannot change to another account for this course; however, you can have mail sent to your Boise State account forwarded to another account, such as a Hotmail.com or Yahoo.com account.
• The ability to use a browser to navigate the Web, the ability to navigate among multiple open windows, and the ability to open, close, and save files and attachments.
• A Canvas User Account. The instructor will automatically create your account.
• Any additional requirements as requested and specified by the course instructor, such as access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Acrobat Reader, Real Player, or other specialized hardware or software.

Methods of Instruction

This course is a hybrid course, meaning that it combines face-to-face class sessions with online activities. Most of the time we will meet in BG-120 with the remainder of our scheduled class sessions being replaced with online activities. You will read selections from the textbook and material available online, participate in online discussions, create digital concept maps and complete online assignments related to the material you have read.

For the most part, you can participate in these activities on your own schedule, right up to the deadline for each activity. You may complete the online activities from wherever you choose — from home, from work, or from a campus computer lab. However, this course will be conducted on a fixed schedule, meaning that you will be unable to work ahead and complete the course before the semester ends. Instead, I will make available portions of the course on a modular basis, right up to the end of the semester. Many of the modules are a week long, others span multiple weeks.

In most instances--whether online or in BG-120--the week's reading assignment will be the focus of discussions and exercises conducted either in class or online. I will begin most classes by asking if you have any questions about the material you've read. If you have questions, please ask them; chances are, other students will have the same questions. I've created a discussion forum specifically for you to use to ask questions about assignments and readings.

Finally, please note that the Canvas course site contains quite a bit of material that complements and supplements your text, including self-study aids and interactive documents. Please use these materials to enhance your understanding of the text and to verify that you have understood what you should understand after completing each reading assignment.

Attendance and Participation

I expect you to attend each face-to-face class session and to participate in all online activities. Your final course grade will be reduced by 5% for each absence from the face-to-face class sessions (starting with your second absence). Failing to participate in a substantial number of online activities may mean that you do not pass the course. 

Failure to complete the Course Syllabus Quiz and post your introduction in the discussion board of the "Getting Started Module" will result in you being administratively withdrawn from the course.

If you do miss an activity, you must stay current with the class. At the very least this means that you are responsible for any assignments arising from the activity. More broadly, it means that you must somehow become knowledgeable about the content and discussion of the activity.

Methods of Evaluation

Graded assignments and exercises each receive a letter grade, ranging from an A to an F. Letter grades may also bear a plus or a minus. Early in the semester, I will provide a document detailing the number of points accorded to each assignment and defining the grade scale against which those points are measured. Your grade may be affected (either favorably or unfavorably) by your participation in the course and your adherence to the policies defined in this syllabus.

Grades will be computed in the following way:

Final Exam.......................................60% of Total Grade

Online Quizzes................................10% of Total Grade

Participation.....................................10% of Total Grade

Homework Assignments..................10% of Total Grade

Writing Assignment.........................10% of Total Grade

 

Final grades for this course will be based on the following scale:

A+  > 97%	C+  > 77%
A    > 93%	C   > 73%
A-   ≥ 90%	C-   ≥ 70%
B+  > 87%	D+  > 67%
B    > 83%	D    > 63%
B-   ≥ 80%	D-   ≥ 60%
	F     ≤ 59%

As stated above, there are 5 modules or content areas. The 5 modules are released sequentially during the course. Each of these modules will contain a series of online quizzes. You may take the online quiz twice prior the due date and your highest score will be counted towards your grade. The homework assignments for each module will typically involve using Excel spreadsheets to analyze various data sets related to topics covered in class. These assignments will be explained in further detail as we move through the modules.

Consistent, thoughtful participation is expected in this course, both in class and on the online course discussion board. You will be expected to participate in classroom and online discussions. When utilizing the online discussion forum you are expected to conduct yourself in a respectful and courteous manner and follow the basic core rules of netiquette found here. Your participation grade will be based on two components. First, this rubric will be used to assess your participation in the course twice during the semester. Each of these grades will be calculated as the average of your own self-assessment, a randomly chosen peer assessment and the instructor’s assessment. Second, you will be required to submit questions/responses to a discussion board each week. Your final participation grade will be the average of these two components.

Another portion of your grade will be based on a writing assignment. This assignment involves conducting a literature review of a topic in biomechanics. Specific information will be provided with the assignment.

There will be one exam at the end of the course. This exam will be based on lectures, classroom and online discussions, course module resources and reading assignments for each chapter.

Deadlines

In this class, no late work will be accepted. The deadline for each assignment is listed in the section below or can be found using the Calendar link in the main navigation bar above. 

Student Online Privacy Notice

Please take a few minutes to read the Student Online Privacy Notice, which describes in general terms your rights and responsibilities while participating in an Internet-enhanced course. NOTE: That link opens in a new window; to return to this page, close the new window.

Disability Services

Any student who feels that he or she may need accommodations based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. You will also need to contact the Disability Resource Center to meet with a specialist and coordinate reasonable accommodations for any documented disability. NOTE: That link opens in a new window; to return to this page, close the new window.

Other Student Resources

The Boise State web site contains an extensive list of resources for students, including academic resources, administrative resources, opportunities for students, and other useful information for currently enrolled students.

Plagiarism and Intellectual Honesty

Plagiarism occurs when a person passes in another person's work as his or her own or borrows directly from another's work without documentation. It doesn't matter if the work is that of a published author, an unpublished co-worker, or another student. Plagiarism also occurs when a person passes off another person's ideas as his or her own; merely casting another writer's ideas in different words doesn't free one from the obligation to document one's source. Finally, plagiarism occurs when graphic images are borrowed without attribution.

A student who plagiarizes will be excluded from the course, will receive a final grade of F, and may be referred to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities for disciplinary action. Other penalties may include academic probation, suspension, or expulsion from school. With this in mind, keep all preliminary work you do for each assignment. For instance, you should print hard copies of each draft or make separate electronic files. Should you turn in an assignment that appears to me to have been plagiarized, you will want to be able to show evidence of your work: notes, outlines, drafts, and other such material. If you are unable to do so, then we have a serious problem.

If you have any questions about plagiarism, talk to me. You can also find further clarification in A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations; the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers; the Boise State Student Code of Conduct; the Student Conduct Program; and the Student Online Privacy Notice.

NOTE: Each of these links opens in a new window; to return to this page, close the new window.

The table in the following section ("The Meaning of Grades") describes in general terms what the five letter grades from A to F represent for assignments in this course.

The Meaning of Grades

 

*NOTE: Taken fromhttp://registrar.boisestate.edu/catalogs/online/grades.shtml#system

 Modification of the Syllabus and Schedule

I reserve the right to modify the syllabus and schedule at any time. Revisions will be documented in an announcement on the Canvas course site.