As the identity of SHAPE America continues to evolve, so has the identity, focus and function of the Research Council. The necessity of research as a vital foundation for effective practice has been supported by our organization’s leadership. The Research Council has six voting members (Darla Castelli—Chair; Kim Graber; Shrehan Lynch—Student Representative; Peter Hastie, David Stodden, and myself. Hans van der Mars serves as liaison to the board and Bryan McCullick as liaison to the RQES Editorial Board. The key responsibilities of the Research Council are to provide leadership to the Research Fellows of SHAPE America, the grants programs and organize the research program for the SHAPE America National Convention & Expo.
The Research Council aims to continue the tradition of providing a quality research program that is inclusive of all the sub-disciplines related to the study of health and physical education and activity. The more efficient organizational structure led to more streamlined submission categories in 2014 and this was carried forward this year with the addition of the Adapted Physical Education/Activity subcategory. The current categories are:
Adapted Physical Education/Activity: Studies focused on individuals with disabilities in any facet of physical education, exercise, sport and physical activity.
Exercise Sciences: Studies within exercise physiology, fitness and sports medicine and physical activity epidemiology.
Motivation and Psychology: Studies centered on motivational and/or psychological issues across a broad spectrum of topics in physical activity settings, including physical education.
Motor Behavior and Measurement: Studies in biomechanics, motor development, motor control, motor learning and physical activity measurement.
Physical Activity and Health Promotion: Studies focused on physical activity, and health-related issues and outcomes, including studies related to dance and adapted physical activity.
Sociocultural and Social Justice: Studies centered on social justice, diversity and cultural issues across a broad spectrum of topics in physical activity settings, including physical education.
Sport and Coaching: Studies in sport management and administration, leisure and recreation and coaching.
Teaching and Learning: Studies focused on teaching, teacher education, and curriculum.
While there is still a significant variation in the numbers of abstracts submitted across review panels, the new submission categories have provided more equitable distribution of papers and facilitated a more efficient review process and program. More than 300 abstracts were submitted, in addition to proposals for seven symposia. The acceptance rate was just over 75%.
For the 2017 SHAPE America National Convention & Expo in Boston, MA, the Research Council program begins early Tuesday morning March 14 and ends on Saturday morning, March 18. During the national convention, the Research Council was responsible for programming close to 30 communication sessions which accounted for more than 250 research papers being presented. In addition to those sessions, three symposia, a graduate student forum and a poster session dedicated to student research works in progress were programmed. The latest research findings across a wide array of topics in health and physical activity will be presented.
Each year invited lectures by distinguished scholars in our field are highlights of the Research Council program, and this year is no exception. We are honored to have the following speakers:
C.H. McCloy Lecture—Greg Welk, Iowa State University, “The Intersections of Science and Practice: Examples from FitnessGram Programming”
RQES Lecture—Catherine Ennis, University of North Carolina Greensboro, “Educating Students for a Lifetime: Enhancing Mindfulness, Motivation, and Meaning”
Raymond Weiss Lecture—Scott Kretchmar, The Pennsylvania State University, “Play, Games, Metaphors and the Evolution of Human Intelligence”
SHAPE America Scholar Lecture—Louis Harrison, University of Texas, Austin, “50 Million Stronger Together: Looking to Diversity as Strength for Physical Education”
An invited lecture featuring Melissa Parker, Kevin Patton, and Hans van der Mars, “Learning From the Past, Making History”
Preparing the Research Council program is a monumental task and would not have been possible without the support of Research Council members, Fellows, and excellent staff support. Across the eight newly structured review panels, eight individuals served as review panel chairs: Jianmin Guan, James Hannon, Stephen Harvey, Eddie T.C. Lam, Ting Liu, Takahiro Sato, Hirofumi Tanaka, and James Zhang. The review panel chairs coordinate the recruitment of reviewers, ensure that the reviews are submitted on time, compile the comments of the reviewers, and make recommendations to the program chair for papers to be included in the program. These individuals coordinated the efforts of more than 125 reviewers. The review process is blinded and every effort is made to recruit three highly qualified reviewers for each abstract. The review panel chairs’ job is very challenging and it would not be possible to develop the program without their efforts. I express my sincere appreciation to each of them for their dedication and diligence in this task. The abstract reviewers are also essential to the review process and I extend my sincere appreciation for their service.
The successful operation of the Research Council is dependent on dedicated professionals who volunteer their time to ensure that the important work of the organization gets done. Although this is a member-driven organization, the role that support staff plays is essential to the success of the Research Council. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Nichelle Sankey and Joey Martelli for their dedication and service to the Research Council and tireless efforts at this year’s national convention. I’m sure I speak for the Research Council in applauding these individuals for a job well done.
Serving on the leadership team of the Research Council has been a wonderful learning experience that I will always value. The honor of working with such consummate and passionate professionals has been a significant milestone in my professional career. I had the honor of serving between two of physical education’s most accomplished scholars, Dr. Louis Harrison and Darla Castelli. I have been privileged to work with them both as I have been with the entire Research Council. They are to be commended for their efforts in forwarding the importance of research in SHAPE America. I am also appreciative of the support of the Research Fellows of SHAPE America and members who rendered their support.