HPER P391 Biomechanics, required for all undergraduate students in the Department of Kinesiology, is the beginning level course in Biomechanics. The primary objective of the course is to impress on the students the idea that the laws of mechanics apply to the human body just as well as they do to machines or to any other inanimate objects, and that movements that attempt to violate these laws are impossible to execute. The students are introduced to Newton's Laws of Mechanics, and multiple applications of those laws to human motion. The course typically includes two lectures and one lab per week. It is offered every semester.
HPER K530 Mechanical Analysis of Human Performance is required for most master's level students in the Department of Kinesiology. It is essentially a beefed-up version of P391 Biomechanics. Many universities offer a very watered-down Biomechanics course at the undergraduate level, dealing mostly with applied anatomy, and not very much with mechanics. The main purpose of K530 is to take care of this possible deficiency, and to guarantee that master's level students in various subareas of Kinesiology at Indiana University have at least a minimum level of competency in the mechanics of human motion. This course is offered every Fall semester.
HPER K630 Biomechanics of Human Performance is required only for students specializing in Biomechanics, although the class usually has an even mixture of Biomechanics students and students from other subareas within Kinesiology, such as Exercise Physiology or Motor Control. This course is complementary to K631 (see below). In contrast to K631, K630 is essentially a qualitative course, with the emphasis on giving the students a good "gut feeling" for mechanics. K630 is neither easier nor harder than K631; the two courses are simply different, and their combined purpose is to produce a well rounded Biomechanics student who is able to "crunch numbers," but also has a good intuitive understanding of the mechanical processes that underlie human movements. This course is offered every other Spring semester.
HPER K631 Quantitative Mechanical Analysis of Human Motion
is also required only for students specializing in Biomechanics, although half of the students in the class again typically come from other subareas of Kinesiology. This is a formal course in mechanics, much more rigorous than K530. The students learn how to compute the values of a wide variety of mechanical parameters, with an emphasis on those relevant for the analysis of human movement. This course is offered every other Spring semester, in alternation with K630.
HPER K705 Experimental Laboratory Techniques is a formal course on Biomechanics lab instrumentation, with a special emphasis on the use of high-speed movie cameras and computers.
After learning how to use some of the lab equipment, the student sets out to work in research projects. Sometimes this begins through participation as an assistant in my own research. Through this experience, the student may start to develop his/her own ideas. The student may also get research ideas independently or with the stimulation of the Biomechanics seminar. This is an informal journal club with about six participants who meet for an hour every week during the fall and spring semesters.
After conceiving an idea for a research project, the student registers for HPER K601 Readings in Physical Education or HPER K701 Readings in Human Performance. These courses do not have formal lectures; in them, the student makes a literature search and starts the preparation for a research project. In HPER K602 Independent Study and Research or HPER K702 Research in Physical Education the research project is carried out.
After gaining some research experience, the student is ready to start a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.
See also Graduate Programs
