Beyond the student athlete: Coastal Carolina makes waves among broader student body with “fun” fitness curriculum

Rosiek conducted a review of 21st Century Wellness as part of an effort to redesign her course and to make it more engaging for today’s smartphone-equipped student. Integral to the online course is the concept of building a solid foundation of fitness that an individual can carry throughout his or her lifetime, as opposed to rehabilitation following years of unhealthy living. One of the key objectives in 21st Century Wellness is to challenge students to assess their own levels of functional fitness and to come up with a self-improvement plan. It was a perfect match for her Lifetime Fitness and Physical Activity course. Rosiek is also creating an interactive mobile lab manual that Perceivant is building and adding to 21st Century Wellness. It will use the BearTracks mobile app, which enables students using their mobile devices to submit self-assessment and labs to their instructor’s grade books.

BearTracks engages students on a personal level, allowing them to not only keep a history of their self-reported attitudes and behaviors but also compiling objective assessment data such as fitness and biometrics. And because students carry an ever-heavier academic workload, BearTracks provides mobile reminders of upcoming assignments. “That (BearTracks) is going to be really helpful for me in my course when I do labs because they can just bring their phones. There’s no more paper. You know they always have their phones on them”, added Rosiek.