Stephen Bryan
ENGL 1101
800778789
1 April 2013
Into The World of Pre-Kinesiology
Pre-Kinesiology is a classification for students that are in a preparatory program for the
Majors Exercise Science or Athletic Training. In these two majors students will have to undergo
many different requiring courses. These courses are Introduction to Chemistry Principles of
Chemistry with a lab, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology with a lab, Introduction to Kinesiology,
Care and Prevention, College Algebra, and Statistics (“Bachelor of Science in Athletic
Training”, 2013). All of these courses are scientific and mathematical. It is important for a
student to succeed in these classes if he or she will want to do well in Pre-Kinesiology. A part of
their success and credibility depending on the writing done in these courses students will need to
understand what research papers and lab reports are and why scientists write them.
Kinesiology is the study of the art and science of human movement (Vincent & Weir,
2011). Pre-Kinesiology classes are put in place to help students better understand the building
blocks of kinesiology. Research papers and lab reports done in Pre-Kinesiology focus on
research, data, and personal theories or hypotheses produced from one’s own work, and are
meant to help students better understand their major. They are used in sciences such as
kinesiology to help students learn what they are doing in class, lab, and in books to learn what
they are researching in real life situations.
Research papers are the most common types of papers you will find in the field of PreKinesiology. The purpose of these papers is to provide a method for scientists to communicate
with other scientists about the results of their research (“Writing a Scientific Research Article”,
2013). The data recovered from experiments provokes a certain curiosity that needs to be
supported as true or false to have credibility in a scientific community. Research papers are used
to explain the steps to acquiring the data in lab reports.
If the purpose of research papers is for scientists to communicate, then what are they
trying to tell each other? Scientists will perform experiments and test hypotheses in the lab and
then collect all of their findings, data, and notes in a final report. This final report compiles all
the data measured, and is a known as lab report. After experiments are completed and duplicated,
researchers accept or reject hypotheses based on the interpretations of the data presented
(Dolphin, 1997). A scientist can speak to another scientist and talk about what he or she found,
or explain the steps that he or she took, but words can last forever. This is why lab reports are
made. Scientists can share findings that can be traded off and observed that support their work to
indeed be credible and based off factual data and empirical evidence.
The lab reports and research papers done in Kinesiology serve purpose to showing
students how to make a persuasive report that shows their findings. The format used by PreKinesiology students in research papers, and lab reports consist of the following: Title, Abstract,
Introduction, Materials and methods, Results, Discussion, and Literature Cited (Dolphin, 1997).
There is general agreement among scientists that each section of the report should contain
specific types of information (Dolphin, 1997). The difference between the lab report and the
research paper is the lab report shows how the end data was achieved based off of the
experiments and hypotheses used. It also uses a more data based format to persuade the reader.
While the research paper is based off of the data recovered in the lab report’s experiments,
hypotheses, and more persuasive writing.
Subjects for Pre-Kinesiology students when writing lab reports and research papers are
usually different from the average assumption of what scientists work on. Pre-Kinesiology
students do work to become scientists too, but what do they work on? Students in the field of
Pre-Kinesiology work on more sports focused problems such as whether or not free weights or
machines are better for lifting for your muscles (Norris, 2013). Then make a hypothesis and
perform experiments with procedures that allow the student to test more efficient ways to lift
weights. Now the student would type up a lab report showing the results for persuasion and
documentation purposes that prove that the results are factual and truthful. A research paper is
then made to prove that the data found will help you when you are lifting weights. The main
objective being to persuade the reader to change their way of lifting to a more safe style that the
research paper proves to be appropriate for building muscle safely.
Pre-Kinesiology is a field that revolves around scientific evidence that can better athletes
and anyone performing physical activities. It is a growing field allowing graduates to pursue
careers in physical therapy, physical education, chiropractic care, and Physician’s assistant
positions (“Popular Career Options”, 2013). The work Pre-Kinesiology majors do benefits the
world by the research papers and lab reports its students write. By writing papers on topics that
could range from nutrition to sports related activities or even physics and chemistry. These
reports that are read by people either better someone’s health or set them on their way to a
healthier lifestyle. The work done in this major doesn’t just benefit the people writing the papers
but benefits the world. Everyone could learn a thing or two from the work done by PreKinesiology graduate and undergraduate students.
Reflection:
When I started writing this paper I looked at myself and thought, “How am I going to
write this paper?” I couldn’t talk about any of my own experiences to convince the readers how
awesome my major is, because there is no such thing as first person voice in research papers or
lab reports. I have plenty of experiences in Pre-kinesiology from sports medicine classes to
internships underneath athletic trainers and ATC’s (Athletic Trainer Certified), but to write about
the major in a factual format was hard me. The roughest part was writing about the specific types
of works we do in detail as scientific and mathematic students. Lab reports and research papers
are my least favorite things to write, but only because the majority of them involve lots of “Fun”
research to support their boring core focuses. They are definitely one of my weaknesses. If I
could choose to write another paper on my interests in my major it would be either a
motivational story or a “Pre-Kinesiology for Dummies” book that I could back up what I’m
saying with what I have learned firsthand.
The steps I took to write this paper were not too different than others I have written. The
only differences being I had to do research, an interview, and in-text citations for my paper. I
wrote the paper the same as the other papers I have written in this class. Until all I wanted to say
had been typed up. Then I went back through my paper and put in my quotes and in-text
citations, citing my work and proving my points factually. This way was the most agreeable with
me and allowed me to write this paper in a not so dreadful method. I would read through my
paper as I inserted the factual evidence, finding the majority of the problems with my paper
which I would then cleanse from my shitty first draft.
In this project I learned a lot of new interesting things. Everyone in my group had the
same major so it was easy for all of us to collaborate on what we knew and share our own
experiences and knowledge of our major with each other. I would say I didn’t have a hard time
writing this paper other than trying to get together with my partners and focus on when, where,
and what we were going to do for our interview. This was only a tough thing for us do because
we all had such a large course load. So we had to split the work up into different parts. The parts
were two different interviews with John Norris and Roy Fielding. Unfortunately the interview
with Roy Fielding could not happen in time for the reports due date. That interview being an
integral part of my paper I needed that information and it was partially hard to come by. My
group not being aware of when this was all due I felt a little rushed and hurried to get this all
done but could not because I lacked the certain information. In the end everything worked out
and went fairly well for me, giving me no real reason to fret too much over writing this paper. I
got all the information I needed form John Norris and that would have to suffice.
Being an experienced student in this field I already knew a lot about what I could write
about. I knew what to do but had yet to write lab reports or research papers in previous classes
that focused on my major. I had always done singular presentations on topics in my field that
interested me, so writing this paper was new to me. By the end of this paper though I had
realized how this wasn’t too bad and that I could actually learn to enjoy them as long as I worked
diligently and on my own time. I feel that I have learned many new things about my major and
also how to write about my major. I am thankful for having the opportunity to open up my eyes
to this new way of writing and look forward to writing more papers like this one.
Works Cited
"Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training | Department of Kinesiology | UNC Charlotte."
Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training | Department of Kinesiology | UNC Charlotte. N.p., n.d.
Web. 27 Mar. 2013.
Vincent, William J., and Joseph P. Weir, Ph.D. "Statistics in Kinesiology, 4E." Google
Books. Human Kinetics, Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
"WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE." WRITING A SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH ARTICLE. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.
Dolphin, Warren D. "Writing Lab Reports and Scientific Papers." Writing Lab Reports
and Scientific Papers. McGraw-Hill College Division, 1997. Web. 30 Mar. 2013.
Norris, John. "DCP Interview." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.
"Popular Career Options." Kinesiology Major Requirements and Career Information.
Education-Portal, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013.