Movement science students test latest technology in on-campus course

As gym lovers and sports enthusiasts head back to their favorite activities, one of the adjustments they have faced is exercising with a facemask. Swirling around this much desired pandemic reopening has been the controversy over how safe it is to work out with something covering the nose and mouth. Although they aren't going to resolve the debate with a simple mini-experiment, a group of students in an advanced kinesiology class set out this fall to find out for themselves what happens during a workout with and without a face covering. The students in Pete Bodary's Scientific Inquiry Using Wearable Technology class represent one of four groups that came to campus to experience the lab-based course that uses the latest technology to study how movement and function impact health. The movement science majors say it's been good to return to campus as seniors, a year when students typically get more hands-on experience in the major and more face time with faculty. Although concerns about COVID-19 and the precautions they must take to be on campus haven't thwarted those expectations, they certainly have altered reality a bit. "I really looked forward to smaller classes where you get to work directly with the professors and with all of this really amazing technology, so it's weird right now,” said Fiona Story, who hopes to work in injury rehabilitation after additional education in physical therapy.