Improving Communication in Kinesiology through a Practicum Course

Abstract

ABSTRACT Trends about lay material quality suggest most college/university students enrolled in kinesiology programs are not taught about readability issues. Such trends are in diametric opposition to future graduates’ moral and legal mandate to communicate clearly (e.g., the 2010 US. Plain Writing Act). Numerous leaders in kinesiology have helped shine light upon the issue of readability and related barriers to translating knowledge from kinesiology into actions that serve the public. Following Thomas and Cardinal’s (2020) call to treat knowledge translation as the next frontier for kinesiology scholarship, we present one scaled-up approach that those in higher education could use to prepare students to be effective in lay communication, namely a practicum course on plain language communication. This article reports on our process to create an outline for a practicum course on plain language communication, which was designed for wide-scale adoption. Beyond the practicum course outline, we developed seven supplemental materials to aid delivery of the course – regardless of teaching experience or familiarity with the topic. We conclude with guiding discussion of the material we created for a kinesiology practicum course in lay communication, then we present recommendations for administrative action and future research.