UW Kinesiology and Health Professor to Present Prestigious Scholar Lecture on National Stage

When it comes to preventing chronic diseases, regular physical activity is incredibly important. Developing a lifestyle that includes physical activity starts during K-12 physical education experiences, and the influence these experiences have on students’ motivation to engage in leisure-time physical activity remains an important topic of research.

Tristan Wallhead, a professor in the University of Wyoming’s Division of Kinesiology and Health, has been invited to present a scholar lecture on his research in this area at the National Society for Health and Physical Education (SHAPE) conference and expo Friday, March 20, in Kansas City, Mo.

Sponsored by the Research Quarterly for Exercise Sport journal, Wallhead’s scholar lecture is titled “Taking It Out of PE: Transfer of Student Motivation.” The lecture will summarize research he has conducted over the past two decades examining how student motivation for physical education transfers into leisure-time physical activity.

“A student’s experience in physical education can directly influence their motivation to engage in similar physical activities within an extracurricular context, such as lunch recess or an after-school sports club,” Wallhead says. “The lecture will include teaching strategies that motivate students to engage within the physical education setting and increase the likelihood of transfer of participation into various extracurricular physical activity contexts.”

“Dr. Tristan Wallhead’s invitation to deliver the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Scholar Lecture at the Society of Health and Physical Educators national conference reflects the caliber of scholarship and national leadership that defines the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences,” says Patrick Hardigan, dean of the UW College of Health Sciences. “For more than two decades, Dr. Wallhead’s research has advanced our understanding of how meaningful physical education experiences shape lifelong engagement in physical activity -- an issue that is central to preventing chronic disease and improving population health. We are proud to see Dr. Wallhead recognized on a national stage and congratulate him on this well-deserved honor, which brings distinction to the Division of Kinesiology and Health and the University of Wyoming.”

Wallhead joined UW’s Division of Kinesiology and Health, part of the College of Health Sciences, in 2004 and serves as a faculty member in physical education teacher education. He is a research fellow of SHAPE and continues to conduct research on the effects of student-centered instructional models, such as sport education’s influence on student motivation to participate in physical education and extracurricular physical activity opportunities.

“Dr. Wallhead’s research on student motivation in physical education is transformative, in that it focuses on how to promote physical activity beyond the school setting and cultivates active and healthy living across the lifespan,” says Qin “Arthur” Zhu, professor and director of the Division of Kinesiology and Health. “His impactful scholarship, developed over more than two decades at the University of Wyoming, not only deserves national recognition from a leading organization like SHAPE America, but also speaks directly to the high quality and outstanding reputation of the faculty and physical education teacher education program at UW. We are proud to have him as a colleague and leader in the field.”