Course Description

Class Journal

 
   

Class Roster

 
    2/1 Week 1: What Is Exercise?

 
    2/8 Week 2: The Physical Intelligence Model

 
    2/15 Week 3: Visual and Kinesthetic Perception

 
    2/22   Monday Schedule: no class

 
    3/1 Week 4: Physical Thinking

 
    3/8 Week 5: Orientation Strategies: Balancing

 
    3/15 Week 6: Learning Movement

 
    3/22   Spring Break

 
    3/29 Week 7: Designing Physical Intelligence

 
    4/5 Week 8: E-motion

 
    4/12 Week 9: Applying Physical Intelligence

 
    4/19  

Patriot's Day Holiday: No Class

 
    4/26 Week 10: Complex Coordination: Walking

 
    5/3 Week 11: Z-Center Lobby Exhibition Set-Up

 
    5/12 Week 12:

Overview

 

Class

Week 6: Learning Movement

 

Lab

Exploring unexplored movement: increasingly complex/unusual movements reveal the highly evolved process of feedback involved in physical learning.

 

sem/lab

Peer review of class projects with prepared questionnaire.

 

class summary

As did the vast majority of us, a toddler learns to crawl, stand and walk by trial and error. With little or no “instruction” the child engages a sophisticated and highly evolved process of feedback in learning to orient and locomote in relation to gravity. If you consider the complexity of the walking action, the human organism is a smart and remarkably adaptive wonder in these realms.

Class opened with a 45min. session entitled “Exploring Unexplored Movement”. A brief warm-up evolved into attempts at a series of increasingly complicated, unusual movements across the gym’s floor exercise mat. Bounding backwards on all fours, tucked “side rolls” and the like, presented a range of challenges for students. Discussion focused on how it is awkwardness quickly transforms into a basic level of proficiency; the many feedback loops involved in the learning process; what improvement feels like; and how this learning process might apply to your design/design process. The section concluded with blindfolded back somersaults on the trampoline—a daunting and revelatory challenge for all.

Image: Class Discussion
Movie: Floor Exercises

 

resources

Peer Reviews

The second portion of class was devoted to a peer review of class projects. Students displayed working prototypes of their designs that classmates could explore, learn to use, and comment on the design, its viability, usability and physical intelligence “quotient”. A prepared questionnaire was used that each student would receive written commentary by all other students.

Etan: Instrumented Baseball Bat
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Instrumented bat providing feedback on swing speed and technique, using accelerometers, audio feedback etc.

Ben Su: Variable Resistance Wheelchair Treadmill
Image 1  |  Image 2  |  Image 3
Affordable, easily accessible treadmill device includes variable resistance

Yuan: “Programmable” Tabletop Rehab Device
Image 1  |  Image 2  |  Image 3
Inexpensive version of stroke rehab device allows retraining of a variety of arm movements.

Ben: “Rollerballs"
Image 1  |  Image 2  
Bearing casters set on wood hand-holds creates new challenges for common exercises such as push-ups. Also offers possibility of exploring new movements

Tyler: Snowboard Training Harness
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Simple single point shock-cord harness system allows dry-land training of aerial snowboarding skills.

Greg: “Airhead” Backstroke Support
Image 1
Modified kickboard supports head and neck for easy learning of backstroke/floatation. Also offers protection from crashes into pool wall.

Kyle: “Waterskates”
Image 1  |  Image 2
Hinged boots simulate skating action by offering one-way resistance in the water.

 

Assignment

Integrate modules for initial completion of project designs.