Polar Heart Rate Monitor Project
A Grant Proposal Written to
the Champaign School District
EdPsy
490TER
Summer 2002
Kerry
Rodeffer
Abstract
The
teachers at Edison Middle School of Champaign, Illinois currently use Polar
heart rate monitors and software to measure heart rates and determine optimal
heart rates for their students Physical Education and Health Classes. The building currently has 48 Polar Accurex
II heart rate watches, 4 Polar Vantage XL heart rate watches, 52 waterproof
electrodes and straps, which are worn on student’s chests, and 1 computer
interface. The interface is used to
download the information stored in the Vantage XL watches into a computer for
file storage and EKG (electro-cardiogram) printouts.
Students
entering Edison Middle School do not have experience with the heart rate
watches and are not trained in how to use them. The goal of this proposal is for the Champaign Unit Four
Technology Committee to provide funds for obtaining additional Polar heart rate
monitors and equipment. This new and
upgraded equipment will enable Edison students to monitor and record their
cardio-vascular fitness levels in student portfolios, and produce an
Instructional CD-ROM for 6th grade and incoming new students.
This project will give the students a much better
understanding of cardio-vascular fitness as well as a variety of experiences
using audio, visual, and computer skills.
Justification
Cardio-vascular disease is the number one killer in America,
with lack of exercise considered to be one of the major risk factors for heart
disease. Research shows there is a 90%
failure rate for appropriate exercise throughout the adult years if during teen
years and before, students failed to engage in appropriate exercise. Physical Education and Health are the only
classes that students receive throughout their education that are responsible
for teaching how to achieve and assess one’s cardiovascular fitness. Traditionally, students across America are
given a battery of tests recommended by the President’s Council On Physical
Fitness, AAHPERD, NASPE, and the Cooper Aerobic Institute to assess student
fitness. However, heart rates are
usually unknown for students in most cardio-vascular fitness tests that are
given in this country. Since heart rate
is an accurate reflection of exercise intensity, these tests cannot be accurate
if the heart rate is unknown. Exercise
without knowledge of heart rate intensity puts each child at potential risk of
getting some form of cardiovascular disease.
Besides the life threatening nature of heart disease, it is also costing
nearly $130 billion to treat cardiovascular disease in the U.S. annually.
Within the past four years, teachers using Polar heart rate
monitors and equipment at Edison have “flagged” irregular heart beats of two
students using their monitors. In both
cases, an EKG was printed for the student’s physician, and the parents
notified. Both of the physicians
treating the students expressed strong support in the continued use of such
technology. The use of heart rate
monitors in Physical Education and Health classes not only helps the students
understand the relationship between heart rate and exercise, it also may some
day be responsible for saving a life.
The
number of students in each Physical Education and Health class ranges between
35 and 52 students per teacher. This
makes it difficult for one teacher to provide all of the proper instruction
necessary for successful use of the monitors and equipment. By creating an instructional CD-ROM,
students can learn at their own paces allowing more time for other instruction
and exercise.
Implementation
The
implementation of this project will evolve during the completion of each of the
eight following tasks.
The instructors will purchase additional
equipment and software.
We will upgrade equipment and install new
software.
Students will learn the elements of
cardio-vascular fitness.
Students will learn and obtain their optimal
heart rates during exercise.
Students will learn proper use and care of
Polar heart rate monitors.
Students
will learn the methods of downloading and printing EKG’s.
Students will use HRM’s to develop a year-long
fitness activity plan.
Advanced students will develop an instructional
CD-ROM.
Many of these tasks will be performed
concurrently. Those 7th and
8th graders already experienced with Polar HRM’s will begin the year
by reviewing cardiovascular fitness, optimal heart rates, and proper equipment
use, while 6th grade students and upper-classmen new to the school
will learn from the staff.
The staff and technology coordinator with
student assistance, will inventory new equipment and install new software as it
arrives. We believe this will enhance
pride in achievement among the students as well as a sense of ownership in the
program.
The
students will then begin obtaining their own optimal exercise heart rates, by
working in heterogeneous, cooperative groups, assigned by the instructor. Students will use the HRM’s, and computers
to follow the curriculum developed for their fitness plan. Records of their achievements will be
recorded in personal fitness journals.
As time the students become more comfortable and efficient using the
monitors and equipment, they will develop their own plans and assess their
levels of fitness. The students will
also download and print EKG’s, producing graphic representations of their
increased levels of fitness at different times during the school year. These will be included in their fitness
portfolios. Students will see the
relationships between exercise in a healthy heart rate zone and their increased
levels of energy and fitness. This will be a great motivational tool.
The new equipment will greatly enhance our
ability to download and store heart rates and the investment in additional interfaces will allow us to download
more heart rates and EKG’s at a much faster rate. Currently, all of our watches have the capability to store heart
rates over time on the watches and each watch is capable of storing up to eight
different files, which allows us to use every watch for each class period
before having to lose a file. However,
only the four Vantage XL watches have the capability to be downloaded onto the
computer for storing and printing EKG’s.
After student success using the
equipment, we will then begin the producing an instructional CD-ROM explaining
cardiovascular fitness. This will be
accomplished by using technology currently available at Edison, along with the
Macromedia software made available with this purchase. The CD-ROM production portion of this
project would be completed by breaking the components of production down into
separate tasks to be performed by heterogeneous, cooperative groups of four
students assigned by the teacher.
Students who feel expertise in a certain component, scriptwriting for
example, could work in the area they feel most comfortable. We also plan having more than one group
working on identical tasks (with a little different creative license) to assure
that each task is successfully completed within the assigned time frame. This will enable all groups to have top of
the line Web Page and CD-ROM production tools.
Incorporating these tools in their projects will give them a tremendous
experience in real-world computer and technology applications. All groups would in essence be in a
“competition” to determine which group would “get the bid” for their work to be
on the award winning copy. We plan that
every group finishing their assigned project would get their work placed upon a
CD. However, the best of the individual
projects would be incorporated with the best of the other elements to produce
the “Master Copy” to be used by all incoming classes and new students. The components of the CD-ROM project would
include script writing teams, video and photo production teams, research teams,
narrators, “actors”, and computer and technology teams. Each team would then select one of their
members to be on a selection committee, whose task it would be to select the
best projects for the “Master Copy” and oversee the production of the finalized
version. All of this would be closely
monitored by the instructor and any “volunteers” that we may have. It is one of the goals of this program that
the finalized version would be shown at future open houses and 5th
grade orientations at our school.
Evaluation
Evaluation and Assessment of this project
will consist of the following methods.
The completion of student personal fitness
assessment portfolios
The evidence of improved individual scores on
the Fitness-Gram
assessments over the year.
The individual student’s ability to
demonstrate proper operation of
Polar heart rate monitors and accessories.
The successful completion and implementation
of the Educational
CD-ROM project.
All
of the evaluation and assessment activities will intertwine with one
another. Throughout the school year the
students will be working towards the completion of their individual personal
fitness assessment portfolios. Each of
these portfolios will consist of a personal fitness journal, stored on a disk
or CD. The students will record their
daily fitness activities, both in and out of school. Along with this journal, the students will be required to
download EKG’s of their heart rates during fitness activities and print out EKG
graphs at regularly scheduled intervals.
The data for each EKG recording could also be stored on a separate disk
for each student to keep and maintain.
The instructors would monitor each student’s progress throughout the
year. This will not only enable
instructors to better evaluate student performance in physical education
classes, but also to “flag” potential health problems such as the ones we have
found using the HRM’s in the past.
When
ordering items from Polaris, we will also purchase one Companion Pocket PC,
which includes data collection software, along with additional companion
management software to download on our Physical Education and Health Desktop
computers. This will allow faculty
members ample software support in grading and program management.
The
final goal of the project will be the completion of a workable, instructional
CD in which in-coming sixth graders and new students will be able to use in
learning how to operate the HRM’s and related equipment. Assessment during the CD production stage
will be done by instructor observations of students working cooperatively in
small, heterogeneous groups, periodic examination of tasks completed, and final
presentations of their portions of the project. The instructor would also assign a peer group portfolio, showing
a record of peer group discussions, concerns, and individual contributions to
the group.
With program completion at the end of the school year, each student
should not only have a true assessment of the degree of his/her physical
fitness, but should also have gained technology, research, data recording,
writing, and interpersonal skills that will benefit them throughout the rest of
their lives.
Project Timeline
July 29, 2002 – Place equipment and software orders
Aug. 5- 12, 2002 –
Perform necessary maintenance on current inventory
Aug. – Sept. 2002 – Inventory new items and Download new software
Sept.12, 2002 – Polar representative to provide PE faculty
in-service
Sept. 9 – 13, 2002 – Begin class units on Cardiovascular
fitness
Sept. 16 – 20, 2002 – First PE
classes use new equipment
Sept. 23, 2002 – Students begin Personal Health Assessment
Portfolio
October 1, 2002 – Faculty members begin research on outside
funding
Oct. – Jun. 2003 – Faculty continues outside grant funding
processes
Oct. 7 – 11, 2002 – Student orientation, group assignments, and
production begins on HRM CD
project
November 8, 2002 – Individual group Polar HRM production projects
due
Nov. 11 – 21, 2002 – Student Project Judging Committee review
projects
November 25, 2002 – Student
Project “Master CD” judging announced
Nov. 26 – Dec. 16, 2002 –
Master CD Production and Testing
December 18, 2002 – Master CD
“Premier” Shown to PE / Health Classes
January 6, 2003 – Master Instructional HRM CD becomes operational
May 20,
2003 – Student’s Personal Fitness Assessment Portfolios
due for final evaluation
Project Budget
Edison currently has some of the materials and software necessary to
complete this project, however, there is still a great need for more
equipment. The good news is that we
will be able to obtain the services of a Polar HRM training representative to
in-service new teachers with no fee. This will be a
savings to our program of over $750.
Our proposed budget will include the following items / services. It should be noted that each Polar E-Tech
pack contains 24 heart rate monitors with supporting materials, for a total of
48 monitor units.
ITEM NO. REQUESTED
PRICE / UNIT TOTAL
PRICE
Polar E-Tech Packs 2 $5,200.00 $10,400.00
Macromedia
MX Studio 8 $199.00 $1,592.00
Software
Packets
Polar Companion Pocket PC 1 $640.00 $640.00
Polar
Companion
1
$490.00 $490.00
Management
Software
and
school licensing
__________
PROJECTED
TOTAL COST $ 13,122.00
Budget Justification
The administration, faculty, staff, and parents of the Edison
Middle School community clearly have a vision in which the students will
receive the best technology education possible. As evident in the IMPLEMENTATION section of this proposal, Edison
already has in place some of the finest technology tools available to middle
schools in the state of Illinois. It is
the goal of the Physical Education and Health faculty that students in our
classes not only stay abreast with our current technology, but also build upon
that which we already have. With the
addition of the technology tools listed above, students at Edison will not only
be able to better monitor their own fitness and health, but also be able to use
the technology available to them to develop a product which will benefit others
in their wakes. Using real world
computer and technological applications the students will also be expanding
their technological experiences and knowledge.
With
decreasing levels of activity in our society, it is more important than ever
that people become aware of their levels of fitness and how to improve their
cardio-vascular systems. The purchase
of the materials listed above will allow Edison to remain as one of the
pioneers in development of cardiovascular fitness programs in the state.
This is an adoption year for Physical Education and Health in
our school district. By using
technology, the purchase of textbooks for Physical Education and Health classes
is not necessary. The purchase of these
materials would be beneficial to not only the current students at Edison, but
also those coming into the building in the future.
Conclusion
There are many benefits that the students can gain while
doing this project, which will carry over into their futures. One of the end products of this project
would be that the students would become more aware of their current physical condition
and how to improve it by using technology and developing better exercise
habits. Another would be that the
faculty would have a better system of evaluating a student’s fitness and
activity levels. The benefits of having
a downloadable heart rate monitor for each student would also become a
potential diagnostic tool in determining the condition of a student’s
cardiovascular system. The benefits of
creating the instructional CD would include ease at which a new or incoming
student could learn proper use of the Polar heart rate monitor, as well as the
technology experiences gained by the students developing the CD. Future plans would include allowing parent
and community volunteers to “test drive” our heart rate monitors at open houses
and PTA meetings. Hopefully, this would
further drum up support for our program and with it, increased funding to
support our program from outside organizations. With your support, the future of this program is even
brighter. It is in our plans to obtain
even more monitors and equipment as support and funding builds. We are just in the beginning stages of what
promises to be an exciting time at Edison with its technology. We realize that we are asking for a great
deal of money for this program. My
response to people who think it’s too much money would be, “If we run a program
that has the potential to save a student’s life, how much is too much to
spend?”