To this point, I feel that my most significant achievement in teaching at Adelphi has been completely and totally rebuilding the curriculum of my sections of Kinesiology, Medical Aspects of Sport, and Theory of Exercise Prescription while also developing new courses in Introduction to Exercise Science, Strength and Conditioning Methods, Biomechanics, and most recently, Clinical Training for our Exercise Science students.
When I was hired in the fall of 2013 to begin teaching Principles of Health and Physical Education, Kinesiology and Medical Aspects of Sport, I had little more to work off of than a few of the previous professor’s syllabi. After reviewing several of them, I realized that if I was going to be successful in this endeavor, I would have to make the courses my own. I scrapped nearly all of the previous material and rebuilt the courses from scratch. Knowing that a majority of our students in the Exercise Science program have aspirations of one day pursuing a career in Physical Therapy or another Allied Healthcare related field, I tried to create courses that would not only challenge the student’s current level of knowledge, but prepare them for their future graduate coursework as well.
I worked hard to restructure the curriculum in my section of Principles of Health and Physical Education. My section of the course consisted entirely of Exercise Science students and, as such, I felt that it would benefit the students most if I tailored the curriculum more towards their combined interest in Exercise Science. While I still exposed the students to the foundational principles of both Health and Physical Education, I also expanded the curriculum to include some of the introductory aspects of fitness and Exercise Science that they will encounter in their future courses. From this endeavor, my colleagues and I in the Exercise Science program were able to offer a new course entitled Introduction to Exercise Science to our incoming first-year and transfer students as of the fall 2017 semester. I believe that being able to offer this course early on in our student's time at Adelphi has helped us to foster positive relationships with our students and has ultimately helped them be more successful in our program going forward.
One of the unique aspects of my section of Principles of Health and Physical Education (and now Introduction to Exercise Science) is that I lecture on the differences between the various Allied Healthcare professions that many of our students often express interest in. I have received very positive feedback from several students over the past few years about that particular aspect of the course, as for many of them, it is their first exposure to some of the possible careers they could pursue with a background in Exercise Science. Similarly, I also introduce the students to the concept of Evidence-Based Practice and how to not only search through the literature to find relevant peer-reviewed research articles, but also how to interpret them. In addition to my class lecture, the students complete several assignments in which they are required to search for and interpret peer-reviewed research related to Exercise Science. While this is a challenging component of the course, I also feel it is necessary to help lay the groundwork for becoming competent practitioners in our field who are able to take in and digest scientific literature and ultimately incorporate it into their practice.
My hope is that the information that I present in Introduction to Exercise Science lays a solid foundation for our students in the Exercise Science program to be successful as they move forward with more challenging coursework while also exposing them to some of the many opportunities that await them as they progress through their time here at Adelphi and beyond. Below is an email I received from one of our former first-year Exercise Science students who took the course with me:
“Dear Professor Petrizzo,
I know class evaluations are meant for you to comment about your classes but I would like to non-anonymously thank you for the wonderful class you provided. Challenging yet slightly laid-back, you managed to keep me interested throughout the entire semester and I would highly recommend you as a teacher to anyone looking to take your class. However I am looking forward to taking other classes you provide if so and I will of course see you still as you are my advisor and a wealth of information when I have issues physically or academically. Anyway I will see you Tuesday when I ace the final.
Thank you tremendously”
In Kinesiology, I build on the student’s previous experience in Anatomy & Physiology and, over the course of the semester, expose them to an introduction of Kinesiology with an emphasis on the fundamentals of biomechanics as they apply to human movement. I intentionally set the course up so that after a brief introduction to several overarching concepts that will lay the foundation for the rest of the semester’s material, I then go through the body on a joint by joint and segment by segment basis. The semester culminates by putting all of the previously learned information together and applying it to complex human movements such as walking, running, as well as commonly performed, whole-body resistance training exercises such as the squat, deadlift, and standing press. In addition to a mid-term and final examination, as well as several quizzes, the students are also responsible for a paper in which they take the principles learned during the semester and apply it to an exercise or sports related movement of their choosing. Overall, the high quality of the work that I have received from the students has made me feel confident that I am successfully conveying the course material.
As stated in my syllabus for Medical Aspects of Sport, the purpose of the course is to prepare the Clinical Exercise Physiologist or future Allied Healthcare Professional for a multidisciplinary approach to musculoskeletal injury, evaluation, and management with an emphasis on prevention. In this course, I strive to expose the students to common orthopedic and neurologic conditions as well as surgical procedures that they will encounter in their own patient and client populations. I feel that Medical Aspects of Sport builds on the foundational knowledge that the students have gained in courses such as Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology and applies that knowledge to the real world.
The course begins with an overview of appropriate and effective evaluation and examination techniques and progresses throughout the semester to include a segment by segment examination of the body with common pathologies typically seen in the area being discussed. The course covers both acute and chronic injuries to the major joints and muscle groups of the body and the populations typically affected. Perhaps most importantly, for a future healthcare or fitness professional, is the topic of differential diagnosis and clinical decision making. I try to educate students on the differences between how typically seen orthopedic pathologies and more complex systemic diseases may present in their patients and clients and in what scenarios it is appropriate to refer a patient or client out to another healthcare professional for further evaluation. To my knowledge, this is the only course in our Exercise Science student’s curriculum in which they are exposed to the concepts of differential diagnosis outside of the realm of cardiac pathology.
What makes this course particularly enjoyable for me is that I can pull many real world examples of cases I see in my clinical practice into the classroom. I feel that this goes a long way towards making the course more relatable to the students. Similar to my Kinesiology course, the students must also complete a project in addition to the quizzes and tests that comprise their final grade. However, in Medical Aspects of Sport, I have the students present on a topic related to the course ranging from common injuries of the musculoskeletal system, surgical techniques, as well as appropriate rehabilitation protocols for a given pathology. I feel that the presentation is an opportunity for the students to further their understanding of their chosen subject as well as give them a valuable opportunity to enhance their public speaking ability, which, in my opinion, is a critical component to success in the fields of Exercise Science and Allied Healthcare.
I am very proud of the work I have done in both Kinesiology and Medical Aspects of Sport, as I know both courses do an excellent job of preparing our students for the types of graduate programs that they are interested in pursuing. The following email is from one of our recent graduates who went on to graduate from NYU’s Doctoral Physical Therapy program:
“Hi Dr. Petrizzo,
As finals are coming to a close in semester 2 of PT school, I just wanted to send along a thank you to you. From the material that we have covered in such a short time, I feel your classes have prepared me so well for school as a whole. I cannot begin to tell you just how many times I have already referenced notes from Med Aspects and Kinesiology and incorporated them within my study guides. Thank you.
I hope this semester has gone well. I am sure you are ready for winter break, I know I am surely looking forward to some time off. I hope you have a very happy holiday!
Thank you again so very much!!”
I received a similar email from a former student who I had in Medical Aspects of Sport and went on to graduate from Touro College’s Physician Assistant Program:
“Hey John,
I have just received acceptance from Touro College's PA Program in Bay Shore, and wanted to thank you for everything you have done to help me reach this point.
I only had you for one class, but it was my favorite class that I took at Adelphi hands down. You have shown me what it means to be a great clinician, a thorough one, and one that takes pride in their work. I am very thankful for the influence you have had on me, and hope to see you at graduation.”
Similarly, I received the following email from one of our recent graduates who went on to Rutgers University's Doctoral Physical Therapy program. This particular student took my sections of Introduction to Exercise Science, Kinesiology, Medical Aspects of Sport, and Biomechanics during their time at Adelphi:
"Dear Dr. Petrizzo,
Hope you are doing well and you enjoyed your summer. I had my first Kines class yesterday and we discussed the different lever and moment arms as well as the concave/convex rules. It was so reassuring that I had already learned all of it in your class a few years back. I just want to say thank you for the information that you had taught us in class because it really helped me and I know it will continue to help me! For now I feel on top of things, but it’s only day 2 haha!
How are your classes going so far?
Hope to hear from you soon!"
Finally, I received this email from one of our former Exercise Science graduate students who took both my Medical Aspects of Sport and Biomechanics courses:
“Hey John,
Let me know when you have my biomechanics grade, no rush. Also I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed Med Aspects, I can honestly say I’ve learned more from that class than I did in any other class in my two years in the masters program. I think I will definitely have an advantage in PT school from it.
Thanks and enjoy your break”
In addition to my work in overhauling my sections of Principles of Health and Physical Education, Kinesiology and Medical Aspects of Sport, in the fall of 2014 I was given the task of creating a graduate-level course in Biomechanics. This course builds on what the students have learned previously in Kinesiology and expands on it to include the fundamental concepts of Biomechanics as they apply to human movement. I feel that this course greatly enhances our students' overall educational experience in our major as the topics covered in this course were previously absent from our Exercise Science curriculum. Similar to my other courses, despite the challenging nature of the material, student feedback has been very positive. As with all of my courses, I am continuing to refine the course material to make this course as comprehensive and practical as possible so that my students can immediately implement the concepts they are learning in the classroom with their patients and clients.
Similarly, in the spring of 2015, I was also given the opportunity to restructure our program’s Theory of Exercise Prescription course. I co-teach this class with Dr. Mike Aquino. Over the course of the semester, Dr. Aquino focuses his lectures on aerobic exercise prescription and metabolic conditioning, while my area of focus is anaerobic exercise prescription and resistance training. Previously, my section of the course had been taught by Professor John Wygand, and while he did an excellent job, I felt that I could bring a different perspective to the course. I use my background in not only Physical Therapy, Strength and Conditioning, and Personal Training, but also my experience as a Division I collegiate athlete and competitive Powerlifter to cover a broad range of resistance training topics. Something that I added to the course is a practical lab session in the university’s Center for Recreation and Sport in which the students and I discuss the risks and benefits of various resistance training exercises and how to modify them for various populations in order to maximize safety and effectiveness. Based on student feedback, the lab session greatly enhances the course and it is something I look forward to continuing to build upon in future semesters.
More recently, I was given the opportunity to create a new course for our undergraduate Exercise Science students entitled Strength and Conditioning Methods, which I have been teaching since the spring of 2019. I particularly enjoy teaching this course because it has a more significant lab component than the majority of my other courses. While I pride myself on making all of my courses as practical for our students as possible, prior to teaching Strength and Conditioning Methods, I did not have the ability to teach the students the fundamentals of safe and appropriate resistance training exercise techniques in a fully hands-on manner. This course gives me the opportunity to work with our students in the gym to ensure that they not only have a sound understanding of the science behind current strength and conditioning principles, but can practically apply them as well.
The most recent class that I helped to create for our Exercise Science students is Clinical Training. Similar to Theory of Exercise Prescription, I co-teach this class with Dr. Mike Aquino. We taught this class for the first time in the fall of 2022 and plan on keeping it in our curriculum as an elective for our upper-level Exercise Science undergraduate students. Like the other courses I have developed for our program, this course was created from scratch. The purpose of the course is to broaden the students’ knowledge of anatomy and human movement. What is most exciting about this course is that Dr. Aquino and I have incorporated lab sessions where the students learn to develop their palpation skills, which is a critical skill for any student who is planning on pursuing a career in Physical Therapy. Dr. Aquino and I were very pleased with the feedback that we received from our first cohort of students last fall, and we look forward to working with a larger group in the fall of 2023.
While I am pleased with my continued contributions to our program since I gained tenure in 2019, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge some of the challenges that all of us faced during the pandemic. However, for myself personally, I am proud of the way I feel I was able to maintain a high level of effectiveness in the classroom during that period of time. Below are some emails that I received from students during the pandemic.
This student was in my Strength and Conditioning Methods course in the spring of 2020. For context, my son was born in October of 2020:
"Hey professor,
I didn't want to sound like a kiss ass but I just wanted to say thanks
for another great semester and to also tell you that you did a great
job with adapting to online teaching. I know its not the best
situation, but many other professors could care less and did not do as
good a job so I just wanted you to know I appreciated it.
Congratulations again on being a soon to be dad you've got to be
excited haha.
Anyway thanks again for a great semester and I hope you and your
family have a healthy and great summer."
This student was in my Strength and Conditioning Methods and Theory of Exercise Prescription courses in the spring of 2021. For context, my mother was dealing with terminal cancer at that time. This student was also one of my advisees and took several other courses with me during her undergraduate studies:
"Hi, I’d like to say I hope all is well but I know it’s realistically not and I just want to say I am so so so so so so so so sorry for what you’re going through right now. I am nowhere near a religious person but I will pray for your mom as well as for you and your family. Cancer is the most heart breaking thing to watch family go through and it breaks my heart just to think about you going through that right now in such already crazy times. Stay strong as you have been- but I also would like to thank you for being not only being one of the best professors Adelphi has ever had (& I’m not just saying that because you’re giving me grades this semester (LOL), but for keeping such a good attitude every single day and actually making classes worth coming to, all while you’re going through such a challenging experience with your mom. You are an inspiration in many different ways but I am especially impressed by your strength right now. So thank you times a million!!!
OKAY - now that I’m done being emotional and sappy, I was thinking of doing Simone Biles or Serena Williams for the exercise prescription project. I gave 2 options just in case someone picked one of them since they’re super popular so I might even be too late for both of those, but just let me know! :)
Have a “good” night and be safe, see you when I see you, hopefully soon."
This student was in my Introduction to Exercise Science class in the fall of 2020 and my Kinesiology class in the spring of 2021. She was also one of my advisees and has taken several more courses with me since that time:
"Hi Dr.Petrizzo
I wanted to let you know you're one of the best, if not you're the best Professor that I've had by far. Teaching wise, you make it easy to learn, you have interesting lectures, and you're very fair. You're phenomenal at your job and very knowledgeable. I know you don't need me to tell you that but... I thought it might be nice to let you know that's how I see you. I can also speak for my classmates too. We all speak very highly of you. Not only are you good at what you do but, just as a person in general you're truly one of a kind.
I realized I won't be taking another class with you this upcoming semester. That makes me sad because you're #1 but, you're still my advisor so at least I have an excuse to continue to bother you with questions.
I'm amazed at your professionalism, dedication, and resilience. I aspire to be like you. I don't know everything that goes on in the world of Dr.Petrizzo but I do know you're a relatively new father, getting through loss at the same time. I know loss never gets easier no matter how much time passes but, since energy cannot be created or destroyed, at least the love your mom has for you is still there. I don't know how you do it but, somehow you're still consistent and positive at work. I just wanted to let you know that your hard work doesn't go unnoticed, and I always hope that you are well.
It's been some year for the both of us. Thank you for your consistency, kindness, and year full of learning. It has been an honor to be your student.
Hopefully I can stop by next semester to laugh about what's new in life and see how you are doing.
Thank you times 10,000"
Messages like the ones above from students mean so much to me and help to let me know that I was able to maintain a high level of effectiveness in the classroom during that time, despite the various challenges of the pandemic.
As I look forward to the coming years, there are several goals that I strive to achieve. One of the things that originally drew me towards a career in academia was the notion that I would be put in a position that would force me to constantly learn new things. Selfishly, this was a huge motivator for me as I knew that by taking a position as a professor, I would be surrounded by academic professionals with valuable information that I could use to help me become not only a better educator, but a better Physical Therapist as well. I have not been disappointed. Over the past ten years I have learned so much, not only from my colleagues at Adelphi, but from my students as well. I hope to continue to be able to synthesize my growing body of knowledge into my courses in the coming semesters to make them better, more accessible, and ultimately more successful courses that better help my students grasp the material.
Finally, I hope to continue to be open-minded to the suggestions and input from my students and colleagues, as ultimately, I feel that I am here at Adelphi to serve them. I view my courses as belonging in some way to my students, so I highly value the feedback that they provide me both in person, via email, and through the university’s online course evaluations. Between the input I get from my students as well as the continued support I have received from my colleagues in the Exercise Science program, I feel confident that I am in an environment in which I will continue to learn and grow as a professional and I know that, ultimately, that is what is going to help me continue to be successful.