Elizabeth Harper, associate professor of Biology at Mount Saint Mary College, teaches her Intro to Exercise Science class on Wednesday, February 5.
Elizabeth Harper, associate professor of Biology at Mount Saint Mary College, recently published her new textbook, Run and Jump and Play: A Primer for Exercise Science.
Run and Jump and Play is designed for undergraduate introductory classes in the field of movement/exercise science. It can also meet the needs of non-science majors who are required to take a science course as part of their undergraduate curriculum, Harper said.
The textbook’s digital edition contains access to videos, TED Talks, journal articles, and other interactive elements, such as worksheets, designed to help keep the student focused and on top of the reading. The print version also includes the worksheets.
The book can be found here: https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/introduction-exercise-science-5.
Her goal in writing this textbook, said Harper, was to create an informative and friendly narrative that ignites a passion for the Biology and the science of movement and exercise. When used as part of a course, students will gain perspective about human body structure, biology, and how both dictate human movement possibilities, Harper explained.
“I hope my students become aware of how much movement is involved in the human condition, before sport,” she said. “I also hope that they become interested in the biological foundations of life. If they can use exercise as a model to gain an appreciation for science, I will be happy!”
Early chapters of the text are designed to give students perspective on human physical structure and how the human body and movement have evolved. Subsequent chapters focus on movement in everyday life, from play and everyday movements to self-expression and the arts. Finally, the text moves into discussions about detailed biological principles. Run and Jump and Play uses exercise as a familiar model to illustrate these concepts in action.
The textbook has its origins in a simple problem Harper faced when preparing for her Introduction to Exercise Science course: existing texts simply didn’t have all the content she wanted to impart on students.
“I couldn’t find an introductory text that was either at an introductory level or addressed enough basic concepts of biology or movement,” Harper explained. “My course is offered as a non-lab science for those who are not majors. It’s important that they actually learn some science…I needed something that was unique to my movement background. I began my movement studies as a dancer. There is much that is taught in dance that is ignored in Exercise Science. I wanted to bring the two worlds together and offer something that was unique to my lifetime studies in movement and science.”
After several months writing Run and Jump and Play, including a test run in her Introduction to Exercise Science class last semester, the book was officially published. Harper noted that she was happy to have her students’ input, which helped her to strengthen the final product. She also thanked her friends and family for encouraging her to write Run and Jump and Play, as well as Innovative Ink, a publishing group that works under Kendall Hunt, which Harper said was helpful in managing the production of the project.
Finally, inspiring the title of the book was Harper’s late father.
“The name of the book is special to me, as it was something my father said every day when asked what he would like to do,” said Harper. “He didn't exercise much, but he knew that it was important to get up, get out, and interact with the world…he left the world expressing his desire to run and jump and play.”
As noted, Harper came to the field of exercise science as a way to combine her passion for dance, movement, and science. Currently her student population includes Nursing, Biology and Exercise Science majors, as well as non-science majors.
Harper was vital in creating the Mount’s Exercise Science major, which immerses students in the workings of the body, its needs under physical and emotional stress, and how these factors affect life. Graduates of the program are primed for careers in health and wellness, such as nutrition, public health, health education, and fitness. They are also ready to begin graduate studies in athletic training, physical or occupational therapy, and more.