2005 Computerworld Honors Program

	Motion Analysis University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI USA Year: 1998 Status: Laureate Category: Education & Academia Nominating Company: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
	On-line analysis of human motion allows undergraduate kinesiology students to carry out meaningful experiments and report their findings on the Web, improving understanding of human movement.
	The concepts of motion analysis are usually conveyed to undergraduate kinesiology students in biomechanics courses with a traditional lecture format. The number of students that have access to hands-on learning experiences is constrained by the high cost and limited availability of motion analysis equipment in research laboratories. When students are offered laboratory experiences, however, they are typically limited in scope and thus are devoid of the excitement of the scientific discovery process. Kinesiology students need to actively engage in the process of motion analysis to gain the skills that they will need to answer questions in their future careers in all areas of human movement study, including rehabilitation, motor control, aging, ergonomics, injury prevention and sports. I have introduced a project into the undergraduate biomechanics course in Kinesiology at the University of Michigan that uses digital video technology to enable the students to study movements outside of the laboratory. The students work in teams to conduct small-scale scientific studies of movements of their choice. Students use video cameras to collect their data at the movement site. Analysis of the motion data takes place at a campus computing site that supports the use of multimedia. The technology used to complete the project includes: Macintosh computers with AV boards and video-editing decks video digitizing software to convert the videotaped motions to digital movies image digitizing software to generate x and y coordinates of the body landmarks biomechanical software for generating the temporal, linear, and angular data spreadsheet software for producing graphs and descriptive statistics word processing software for producing the final report with embedded motion images, graphs and movies *HTML authoring software for publishing the final reports on the web The technology used in the motion analysis project is not restricted to research laboratories and therefore offers many kinesiology students the opportunity to learn by doing. By posing their own questions about human movement and then generating and interpreting their own motion data, students ãdiscoverä the fundamental characteristics of human movement. The motion analysis project is not only a powerful learning experience for the enrolled students, but the archived projects on the class website have become an important learning resource for others outside of the class.
	It is hard to imagine that any student who completes the motion analysis project will ever again be content to passively accept scientific information. Instead, these students will bring the insights that can come only from the direct experience of generating and interpreting data to any occasion in which they need to evaluate information. The students become informed consumers of information because they themselves have offered information for the consumption of others. They have become intimately acquainted with the effect of their actions on the quality of their data; they understand better how data can and should be used in making arguments. The scientific literacy of these undergraduate students is greatly improved because they have had the experience of conducting authentic scientific studies. The students also learn a great deal of biomechanics. Each step of the project is based on a question: where should I place the camera? in which frame does the movement actually start? are the numbers coming out of the analysis reasonable? why is the conclusion that I expected different from the data that I actually observed? To answer each of these questions, the students need to integrate their theoretical knowledge with the real world of their project data. The juxtaposition of these two knowledge sources is a potent learning space. Others benefit from the studentsâ work on their motion analysis projects as well. Students enrolled in the current semester can learn from the insights and the errors of students in previous semesters by viewing their archived projects on the class website. The archived projects are also visited by others outside of the university. I have received requests for more information on the projects from a variety of individuals, including high school students, equipment manufacturers, sports enthusiasts, and fellow professors in the United States and abroad. The project archive is the beginning of a valuable database of student work in biomechanics. Students recognize that many skills besides biomechanics are gained by participating in the motion analysis project. One student said: ãI liked the project experience the best. I think its value extends beyond learning the material for the course. It is very useful for the development of other skills such as teamwork, problem solving, resourcefulness, etcä. To successfully complete the project, students must learn the important skill of solving problems together. Some project teams specialize, other teams divide each task among all members. No matter which student controls the computer mouse, however, all of the team members share the responsibility for the data and its interpretation. Finally, the motion analysis project creates a vital learning environment for me. Because the students are continually generating new ideas and new questions, the course content never goes dry. As the students become more and more involved in generating knowledge, I can focus on guiding their learning rather than on finding new ways to entice them to learn. Their eagerness to take on the challenge of the project is very stimulating, and each semester the projects enliven our mutual learning even more.
	Information technology made the motion analysis project possible. The conventional method for conducting motion analysis studies requires the use of expensive, dedicated equipment found in research laboratories, thus limiting access to a small number of students. The advent of high-powered, affordable workstations with AV capability made it possible to bypass the traditional route to knowledge, and enables all students in kinesiology to directly experience the learning inherent in conducting a research project. The digital video technology is very compelling to the students. Each semester there is a palpable moment of excitement when the students first see their video images on the computer screen. The students report that this is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the project. I think that the excitement comes from a new sense of mastery; they now have control over moving images on the screen which is a qualitatively different computer experience than editing text or manipulating numbers in columns. Viewing their movements frame by frame allows the students to ãseeä their movements in a new way and encourages them to explore their scientific questions from an entirely different perspective. Availability of the world wide web for publication of the project reports has been very important to the success of the project. The archived projects on the class website serve as the centerpiece for the course. A major challenge in teaching the course is that students embark on their projects in the first week of class, before they have received any formal training in biomechanics. Visits to the archived projects on the web give them just enough sense of where they will end up that they are willing to take their first, uninformed steps. Return visits to the site serve as check points for their knowledge as it grows throughout the term. Finally, they contribute to the growing body of knowledge generated by the students when they publish their own projects on the web at the end of each semester. The students have been eager participants in the project since the beginnning. Even in the semester of initial deployment, in which moments of grevious frustration arose for everyone, the students still poured enthusiastic hours into their projects. Their appetites for learning are stimulated by the new tools available to them, and their willingness to work for this new knowledge is impressive.
	Frame-by-frame analysis of human motion has existed since the latter half of the nineteenth century when Eadward Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey first innovated the techniques. Motion analysis laboratories exist world-wide, as part of universities, medical centers, and private enterprises. Students of kinesiology typically learn motion analysis techniques in biomechanics courses. The equipment is expensive, and many institutions are not able to provide any hands-on learning experiences in laboratories because of the cost. Other institutions are able to support limited laboratories for student learning experiences; still others ãborrowä time in research laboratories for demonstrations or small projects. Thus, not many students in kinesiology have access to a learning environment in which they can dream up an idea, test it, and share their results with others. The motion analysis project represents a solution to this problem in which shared, university-wide resources provide the analytical tools usually found in a biomechanics laboratory. Video equipment is available for the use of any University of Michigan student through the Instructional Technology Lab. The same computers and video-editing decks that allow kinesiology students to capture videotaped images of motion are also used by art and film/video students. Multimedia computing, networking, software administration, and file management are all provided through the New Media Center. The technology already existed; what is unique about this project is the bridging of existing technological resources to create a valuable new learning environment for kinesiology students. The project evolved from a coincidental convergence of events one July day in 1995. In the morning, I read about the availability of an affordable, biomechanical analysis software package that would allow students to digitize body landmarks from a video image on a Macintosh screen. Later that day, I learned in a conversation that a new facility was just opening on campus that would allow students to make Quicktime movies from videotapes, and that video cameras were available for students to check-out. Bingo. The motion analysis project was launched one month later. The motion analysis project is now complete. The learning infrastructure is fully operational, and the students are able to complete every aspect of the project, from crafting interesting questions, to generating biomechanical data, to sharing their scientific findings with others via the web. About 60 University of Michigan students complete the project every semester; to date about 300 undergraduates have participated. Most are kinesiology students, about 10% are engineering students, and a few students from other disciplines also take the course. None of these undergraduate students have carried out full-blown scientific inquiries from start to finish before they participate in this project. The experience is unique for them, and quite powerful. One student commented, ãWhile doing the project, I felt we were doing a lot of computer work. But at the end of the semester, for the first time in a class, I felt I conducted a study that had some importance and the work was worth it.ä The students feel proud of their accomplishments; one student said, ãI thought it was kinda impressive that my group generated all this data, graphs, and report.ä Web publication also rewards the students; according to one student: ãitâs great to see something you worked so hard for on display.ä The students are also quite pleased with the analytical and computer skills that they gain. According to one student, ãIt was definitely a new experience. I enjoyed learning how to use new programs, the chance to work with classmates and the innovation part of it.ä Some students have gone on to use their newly-acquired motion analysis skills to pursue more in-depth research in their own interest areas. Steve partnered with a prosthetics resident at the University of Michigan to study the effect of orthotic ankle angulation on gait; he is now in a graduate program in prosthetics and orthotics. Erin partnered with an occupational therapist at another institution and studied different training regimes for rehabilitation of upper extremity motions; she is planning on entering a graduate program in occupational therapy when she completes her undergraduate degree. Monica, Misty, Mark and Beth conducted a feasibility study to assess the development of skilled kicking movements in K-12 students in Michigan; their results may influence how the physical fitness of thousands of Michigan children is assessed each year. It is remarkable that these students have independently pursued research projects of their own design while still undergraduates. They have been able to pursue their own intellectual questions using tools that are available to the university community at large, and they have not been constrained by limited access to equipment in research laboratories or the research agendas of their mentors. The project has greatly exceeded my expectations. Originally, I planned an active-learning experience in which students would generate their own data. I did not expect that the project would so capture the studentsâ imaginations and enthusiasms, or the extent of the learning that would arise from their personal investment in the movement questions. I continue to be delightfully surprised by the questions that arise; for example, one student team looked at the biomechanical consequences of the different high-steps used by the University of Michigan and the Michigan State marching bands and discussed the consequences on head motion and implications for musicality. The students have investigated movements associated with their leisure time or athletic activities, movement disorders in family members, and even movement patterns in their pets. Another unexpected outcome is that now I use their data, published on the web, for examples of theoretical concepts that I present in lecture. Gone are dry textbook figures - now the students look at graphs that were generated by their peers in previous semesters. Finally, publishing the projects on the web had a surprising outcome. The quality of the projects has improved dramatically since they were first put up on the web. It seems that the potential of a world-wide audience for their work encourages the students to do their best, and interests them in the importance of communicating their ideas well. In the future, I would like to develop more opportunities for follow-up experiences and research partnerships for the students, so that they can build on their initial research ventures. Ideally, a community-based network would be constructed so that these undergraduate students could contribute their developing kinesiological skills to others in need of scientific information in the local community, or, via the web, in communities at a greater distance. The class website is unique; to the best of my knowledge, it is the first archive of biomechanics projects conducted by undergraduate students. The idea grew from the desire to create a forum for the students to communicate with each other about their projects. Initially, the students produced tomes that gathered dust in my office. I wanted ãelectronic postersä so that the students could learn from each other. The template for the project reports arose from a productive collaboration with a creative designer (Linda Kendall).
	The motion analysis project is now complete. The learning infrastructure is fully operational, and the students are able to complete every aspect of the project, from crafting interesting questions, to generating biomechanical data, to sharing their scientific findings with others via the web. About 60 University of Michigan students complete the project every semester; to date about 300 undergraduates have participated. Most are kinesiology students, about 10% are engineering students, and a few students from other disciplines also take the course. None of these undergraduate students have carried out full-blown scientific inquiries from start to finish before they participate in this project. The experience is unique for them, and quite powerful. One student commented, ãWhile doing the project, I felt we were doing a lot of computer work. But at the end of the semester, for the first time in a class, I felt I conducted a study that had some importance and the work was worth it.ä The students feel proud of their accomplishments; one student said, ãI thought it was kinda impressive that my group generated all this data, graphs, and report.ä Web publication also rewards the students; according to one student: ãitâs great to see something you worked so hard for on display.ä The students are also quite pleased with the analytical and computer skills that they gain. According to one student, ãIt was definitely a new experience. I enjoyed learning how to use new programs, the chance to work with classmates and the innovation part of it.ä Some students have gone on to use their newly-acquired motion analysis skills to pursue more in-depth research in their own interest areas. Steve partnered with a prosthetics resident at the University of Michigan to study the effect of orthotic ankle angulation on gait; he is now in a graduate program in prosthetics and orthotics. Erin partnered with an occupational therapist at another institution and studied different training regimes for rehabilitation of upper extremity motions; she is planning on entering a graduate program in occupational therapy when she completes her undergraduate degree. Monica, Misty, Mark and Beth conducted a feasibility study to assess the development of skilled kicking movements in K-12 students in Michigan; their results may influence how the physical fitness of thousands of Michigan children is assessed each year. It is remarkable that these students have independently pursued research projects of their own design while still undergraduates. They have been able to pursue their own intellectual questions using tools that are available to the university community at large, and they have not been constrained by limited access to equipment in research laboratories or the research agendas of their mentors. The project has greatly exceeded my expectations. Originally, I planned an active-learning experience in which students would generate their own data. I did not expect that the project would so capture the studentsâ imaginations and enthusiasms, or the extent of the learning that would arise from their personal investment in the movement questions. I continue to be delightfully surprised by the questions that arise; for example, one student team looked at the biomechanical consequences of the different high-steps used by the University of Michigan and the Michigan State marching bands and discussed the consequences on head motion and implications for musicality. The students have investigated movements associated with their leisure time or athletic activities, movement disorders in family members, and even movement patterns in their pets. Another unexpected outcome is that now I use their data, published on the web, for examples of theoretical concepts that I present in lecture. Gone are dry textbook figures - now the students look at graphs that were generated by their peers in previous semesters. Finally, publishing the projects on the web had a surprising outcome. The quality of the projects has improved dramatically since they were first put up on the web. It seems that the potential of a world-wide audience for their work encourages the students to do their best, and interests them in the importance of communicating their ideas well. In the future, I would like to develop more opportunities for follow-up experiences and research partnerships for the students, so that they can build on their initial research ventures. Ideally, a community-based network would be constructed so that these undergraduate students could contribute their developing kinesiological skills to others in need of scientific information in the local community, or, via the web, in communities at a greater distance.
	The students who enter the class have a variety of technical backgrounds. About one-third of the students have never used spreadsheet software previously, very few have published on the web, and virtually none have digitized video or performed biomechanical analyses. Not only are there quite a few different applications that the students need to master, but they need to do so quickly, so that they can move through the project from start to finish in the span of a single semester. The biggest challenge of the project has been to keep the technological demands in the background so that the kinesiological issues can emerge as the focus of learning. Three factors were critical for achieving this goal: (1) providing excellent documentation, (2) organizing the project goals each week into the right-size ãchunksä, and (3) providing peer mentors. All students now accomplish the technology; the goal is to reduce any incidences of ãcomputer traumaä as much as possible. The majority of students leave the course with a sense of pride in their new levels of computer competence, even if they donât get all the details quite right; one student put it this way: ãI feel more electrically literate.ä The most important technical obstacle centered on digitizing the videos. The types of motions that can be studied depend on how fast the motions can be sampled; fast movements require high sampling rates. Motion analysis equipment in research labs is costly in part because movements can be captured at high sampling rates (60 frames per sfor its impact on people. The concepts of motion analysis are usually conveyed to undergraduate kinesiology students in biomechanics courses with a traditional lecture format. The number of students that have access to hands-on learning experiences is constrained by the high cost and limited availability of motion analysis equipment in research laboratories. When students are offered laboratory experiences, however, they are typically limited in scope and thus are devoid of the excitement of the scientific discovery process. Kinesiology students need to actively engage in the process of motion analysis to gain the skills that they will need to answer questions in their future careers in all areas of human movement study, including rehabilitation, motor control, aging, ergonomics, injury prevention and sports. I have introduced a project into the undergraduate biomechanics course in Kinesiology at the University of Michigan that uses digital video technology to enable the students to study movements outside of the laboratory. The students work in teams to conduct small-scale scientific studies of movements of their choice. Students use video cameras to collect their data at the movement site. Analysis of the motion data takes place at a campus computing site that supports the use of multimedia. The technology used to complete the project includes: Macintosh computers with AV boards and video-editing decks video digitizing software to convert the videotaped motions to digital movies image digitizing