Courses | Jimikaye Courtney

Teaching

In teaching, my aim is to fosters students’ intellectual growth through guided learning experiences that scaffold students’ knowledge and skills in a safe and supportive environment. My teaching philosophy is centered around the Warm Demander framework, which helps students thrive by comining high academic expectations with strong relationshiol support. Four key areas comprise my teaching philosophy and support my aim of helping students achieving their goals inside and outside of the classroom, including:

Establishing mutual respect and strong relationships with students,
Being responsive to student feedback while maintaining high standards of performance,
Developing students’ ability to apply knowledge through rigorous engagement with course materials, and
Providing structure support to promote student success.

Teaching Philosophy Statement

Research in Exercise and Sport Science
3 credit hour course for EXSS undergraduate students

The overarching aim of this course is to provide undergraduate students in EXSS with a working knowledge of typical research methods used in exercise science and apply that knowledge to an original research project. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

Formulate research question(s) and hypotheses, identify variables (IV and DV), and select appropriate populations and/or data sources utilized in exercise and sport science research and related fields
Explain and identify study designs utilized in exercise and sport science research and related fields
Explain statistical terminology and procedures and interpret statistical results used in exercise and sport science and related fields
Evaluate and synthesize peer-reviewed research findings
Communicate peer-reviewed research findings using a variety of techniques including written summaries and/or infographics
Create a piece of original research by applying the concepts learned in class to investigate an original research question using a publicly available dataset

Spring 2025 Syllabus and Spring 2025 Course Schedule

Applied Statistics and Research Methods
3 credit hour course for EXSS master's students

The overarching aim of this course is to guide students in applying the appropriate statistical method for a given study design and accurately interpreting statistical findings to inform the scientific literature. Upon successful completion of this course, students should:

Be able to select and apply the appropriate statistical method to use based on a specific study design, research question, or hypothesis being investigated.
Have an improved understanding of evidence-based research by applying research methods and statistical analyses commonly used in Exercise and Sport Science research.
Have developed the ability to communicate findings of statistical analyses to scientific and lay audiences through a combination of written and visual communication.

Fall 2025 Syllabus and Fall 2025 Course Schedule

Research Design & Methods
1 credit hour courses (Fall and Spring) for students enrolled in the MA program in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science

This course introduces students to research in Exercise and Sport Science. We cover the ethical conduct of research and the basic theory of research methodology, as well as the skills needed for conducting a review of the scientific literature. A large proportion of the class focuses on helping students devise and refine research questions through guided in-class discussions and writing experiences.

Fall objectives: At the end of this research design and methods laboratory, the student will have gained an understanding of:

Requirements of the MA thesis in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science
Ethical treatment of subjects and IRB standards
Developing research ideas
General principles of research design for experimental and non-experimental research
Choosing an appropriate research design
Conducting a review of the scientific literature

Spring objectives: At the end of this research design and methods laboratory, the student will:

Develop the design, participants, procedures, measures, and analysis sections of the Methods for the thesis prospectus
Prepare the completed written Methods section of the thesis prospectus
Establish reliability and validity of primary variable of interest for thesis project.
Establish sample size estimate by conducting a statistical power analysis on the primary variable of interest.
Identify the risks, benefits, and limitations of your study design
Develop a presentation to summarize your research questions and methods

Teaching

Research in Exercise and Sport Science 3 credit hour course for EXSS undergraduate students

Research in Exercise and Sport Science
3 credit hour course for EXSS undergraduate students