Sunday, September 14, 2008
Heart Rate Monitors
I am currently working on a grant to get heart rate monitors for our school district. I feel that it will be an easier way to grade "effort" in our classes. Do any of you use heart rate monitors for grading purposes as well? If so, how do you go about grading the students performance using the heart rate monitor?
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I don't think you really can because some people that are in shape it is very hard to get in your target rate zone, and for others it may take no time. plus just beczsue a person gets in there target heart rate zone does not mean they are working as hard as another student that just means they are out shape! Does that mean they get an A and I don't becasue i am physically active!!
Its interesting you asked that questions. . .my cousin who is a junior this year was telling me about her phys. ed. classes. I had her teacher when i was in high school, so we just like comparing notes. She said they started having to wear heart rate monitors and like Eric said, she said a) the monitors are annoying because they beep constantly if you're not in your target zone and b) its not fair because she's in great shape and its harder for her to get an "A" because it takes WAY more effort to get in her zone. Now, I'm not saying that on some occasions it wouldn't be a good idea to grade according to your zone, but overall I don't think grading everyday like that would be exactly fair. So what is fair? Good question. . .I think heart monitors are a great tool and I think its a really eye opening experience for students. But, I think if they're used too much, they cease to be a helpful tool for the students. I'll let you know what else I hear from my cousin, too, because its always nice to hear first hand feedback! I may not have helped a whole bunch, but. . .good luck!
Heart rate monitors are a great objective tool to measure intensity of effort. It does not matter what kind of shape you are starting out. It matters about the amount of effort. If someone works in their target zone then that is healthy for them. For an athlete, you must make your workouts progressively harder or you will take a step backwards.
I think that the heart rate monitors are a great idea. When I was teaching we was given polar heart monitors and told to use them in class. I found out that the software that came with the heart rate monitors was very useful. It allowed for the student’s information to be recorded onto the computer so that you could track if they where working hard that day or going through the motions. If your just using the heart rate monitors by themselves I think it would be hard to justify if the kids are really giving their best effort.
Rena,
Nice blog!
I have not used them that much in my 8 + years of teaching PE. I would let students track their progress over a period of time. One thing they could do is easily take the data at the end of the workout and the plot/graph it. Do this for several workouts and see what improvement, if any, evolved. Why or why not? Did students reach target heart rate zones for appropriate periods of time? What could be done to change or fix habits, if necessary. I could go on and on but I will not bore you with those details. I think you get the picture. I will be curious to hear how that works out for you.
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