College of Education Professor Honored by National Association for Sport and Physical Education

RESTON, Va. (May 2, 2013) — The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) presented its Helen M. Heitmann Curriculum and Instruction Young Scholar Award to Heather Erwin, associate professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion in the College of Education. Erwin received this recognition for her exceptional contributions to research in the field of curriculum and instruction. The award is made possible through a generous gift by the late Helen M. Heitmann, a NASPE member for 59 years and recipient of the Curriculum and Instruction Academy Emeritus Award in 2000.

 

NASPE presented the award at the NASPE Curriculum and Instruction Honor Award Luncheon during its 128th National Convention of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), April 23-27. Erwin was also honored at the NASPE Hall of Fame Banquet.

 

Erwin’s research interests include physical activity promotion for children and adolescents with specific regard to school-based settings. She looks at physical activity levels and intensity during physical education class; examining the effect of teaching a games unit on children’s home physical activity; determining the influence of physical activity homework on out-of-school physical activity levels; investigating the impact of goal-setting on children’s recess physical activity; and school-based physical activity integration in the classroom setting.

 

In 2010, Erwin was the principal investigator for a grant from the University of Kentucky. The grant proposal, titled International Perspective on School-Based Physical Activity for Youth, provided funding to host a well-known researcher in the area of school-based physical activity from England to travel to Kentucky to work with her on a number of school-based physical activity projects.

 

Kim Graber, Erwin’s former professor when she was a graduate student at the University of Illinois says, “What distinguishes Heather from others at her stage is not only her outstanding achievements in research, but also her significant contributions in the area of service. At the University of Kentucky, she has already been invited to serve as the chair of the Teacher Education program.”

 

Erwin has consistently published articles in high level, scholarly journals such as Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education and, American Journal of Preventive Medicine. As a young scholar, she has already published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and given more than 50 presentations.

 

The award winning professor received a doctorate in pedagogical kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master's in adapted physical education from the University of Arkansas, and a bachelor's degree in physical education from Central Missouri State University.