ODU to help increase doctoral students in specialized field of adapted physical education.
By: Isaiah Wright, M.S. 2021
Dr. Justin Haegele
Universities across the nation have a limited number of faculty who specialize in adapted physical education. Dr. Justin Haegele with Old Dominion University's Darden College of Education and Professional Studies is confident a brand-new training program can change that.
Haegele, an assistant professor in human movement sciences, was part of a team who was awarded a $6.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to train doctoral students in adapted physical education. The Darden College of Education has received $840,000 to support the training initiative.
Eight other universities are involved in the grant, including East Carolina University, Georgia State University, West Virginia University, Texas Women's University, the Ohio State University, the University of Virginia, Oregon State, and the University of Delaware.
"We are creating a consortium across nine universities that are each going to train doctoral students in adapted physical activity together," said Haegele. "We are going to have group activities such as bi-weekly online meetings, a summer institute, and an exchange program that are all built collaboratively so that we can train students together."
In addition to regular coursework that each student will receive at their own university, students with each university will participate in an enrichment program. The program will include bi-weekly online meetings with experts in the field of adapted physical education from around the country. During the summer, students will gather for a summer institute to discuss research and practice in adapted physical education. An optional exchange program to send students to other universities will also be available.
Money from the grant will be used to fund the enhancement of the training and education for 28 doctoral students across eight universities as well as the development of the enrichment program.