Heather A. (Whitcomb) Starnes, Ph.D.
Office: 43A-366
Phone: 805-756-2545
Email: hstarnes@calpoly.edu
Position
Assistant Professor – Kinesiology and Health Promotion
Academic Background
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
PhD Health and Kinesiology - California State University, Chico, Chico, CA
M.A. Kinesiology - California State University, Chico, Chico, CA
B.S. Exercise Physiology
Sample Courses
- KINE 290 Health Ambassadors
- KINE 255 Multicultural Health
- KINE 260 Women’s Health Issues
- KINE 298 Chronic and Communicable Disease Prevention
- KINE 319 Introduction to Research Methods in Health and Exercise Science
- KINE 460 Experiential Senior Project
- KINE 462 Honors Research Senior Project
- KINE 581 Seminar on Physical Activity Measurement for Health-Related Research
Teaching Philosophy
My teaching philosophy is based on four principles: students are responsible for learning, diversity is embraced, interdisciplinary connections are encouraged, and life-long learning is essential for personal and professional growth.
Student-Centered Learning: The student is the primary agent responsible for learning and my role is to foster the student’s development through carefully designed learning activities. I promote student-centered learning by requiring ongoing discussions about students’ perspectives on the current learning activities. Students share their reflections in weekly online discussion forums. Students often discover that they are experiencing similar difficulties and accomplishments as their peers. They also seem to discover that learning is a social activity that is enhanced through communication with both the instructor and their fellow students. My approach to graduate student education is also strongly based on the principle of student-centered learning. Graduate-level coursework should provide students the opportunity to develop a high level of critical thinking related to the course content. In-depth discussions of the content are necessary for the questioning, clarification, and critiquing of current research in graduate courses. It is imperative that graduate students thoroughly prepare for class by actively reading the required course materials. One way that graduate students demonstrate their preparedness is by bringing their own discussion questions to the class session. I strongly advised that graduate students seek additional resources, (i.e., additional reading from the reference lists of assigned readings; recent peer-reviewed literature; conference presentations; manufacturer’s information; etc.), that will enhance class discussions. Graduate students are becoming masters and future leaders of their field or discipline; therefore I expect them to go beyond the instructor-provided materials to seek new knowledge that is critical to their academic or professional work.
Embrace Diversity: Diversity is based not only on demographic and cultural backgrounds but also on theoretical perspectives, methods of learning, systems of knowledge acquisition, and professional experiences. Students benefit from exposure to other cultures, ideas, and ways of living. Students learn by reading, hearing, examining, and discussing various perspectives on an issue. In my chronic disease prevention course (KINE 298) students spend an extensive amount of time examining the trends in diseases by various sub-groupings. This is always a great opportunity for students to consider the potential causes of these health disparities by race, ethnicity, and location (e.g., rural, urban, suburban). Similarly, students frequently examined and discussed gender issues in my women’s health issues course (KINE 260).
Interdisciplinary Connections: I encourage students to integrate concepts and knowledge from various disciplines. In my own research training, I have learned not only from professors of public health, health promotion, and kinesiology, but also from professors of child and human development, psychology, sociology, geography, nutrition, and health communication. Health promotion is an interdisciplinary field, which necessitates that students demonstrate the ability to translate knowledge in multiple disciplines. I encourage my students to draw connections between the current course content and what they have learned in other courses.
Life-Long Learning: Most humans are born with an innate drive to learn. Often times that natural-born curiosity is squashed by traditional schooling, which means that some students need to re-learn “how to learn” outside of a classroom setting. Introduction to Research Methods (KINE 319) is a perfect course for students to re-learn these skills. In KINE 319, students are pushed to identify the questions that they are truly passionate about exploring. Students in 319 also learn specific skills that they can apply to systematically seek answers to their well-thought out questions and to solve problems in their professional areas of interest. Perhaps, more importantly, many students simply re-learn how to be inquisitive. My ultimate goal is to foster students’ natural curiosities in such a way that they are excited about learning outside of their schooling.
Research and Interests
- Physical activity and public health
- Built environment effects on physical activity
- Measurement of the built environment for physical activity research
- GIS methods for examining spatial relationships between the built environment and physical activity
- Demographic and psychosocial moderators and mediators of relationships between the built environment and physical activity
Notable Academic Appointments and Awards
- 2013 - Citation Abstract Award, Society of Behavioral Medicine
- 2012 - Nominated Outstanding Dissertation Award, Purdue University
- 2011 - Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Purdue University
- 2010 - Purdue Research Foundation Award, Purdue University
- 2010 - Carol J. Widule Outstanding Graduate Student Scholar Award, Purdue University
- 2009 - Purdue Research Foundation Award, Purdue University
- 2008 - Alfred P. Sloan Indigenous Graduate Scholar Award, Purdue University
- 2007 - David M. Ross Graduate Fellowship, Purdue University
Publications
Starnes HA, McDonough M, Tamura K, Laden F, Troped PJ. Factorial validity of a modified Neighborhood Environmental Walkability Scale among older women from three U.S. states. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 2014; 11:126. http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/11/1/126
Tamura K, Puett RC, Hart JE, Starnes HA, Laden F, Troped PJ. Spatial clustering of physical activity and obesity in relation to built environment factors among older women in three U.S. states. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:1322. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/1322
Troped PJ, Starnes HA, Tamura K, Puett R, Cromley E, James P, Melly SJ, Ben-Joseph E, Laden F. Relationships between the built environment and walking and weight status among older women in three U.S. States. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2014;22(1):114-125. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23538637
Starnes HA, Troped PJ, Klenosky DB, Doehring AM. Trails and physical activity: a review. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. 2011;8(8):1160-1174. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21934166
Troped PJ, Tamura K, Whitcomb* HA, Laden F. Perceived built environment and physical activity in U.S. women by sprawl and region. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2011;41(5):473-479. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4041514/
Troped PJ, Whitcomb* HA, Hutto B, Reed JA, Hooker S. Reliability of a brief intercept survey for trail use behaviors. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. 2009;6(6):775-780. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20101921
Membership in Professional Organizations
- American Public Health Association
- American College of Sports Medicine
- Society of Behavioral Medicine
- Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
- Cal Poly American Indian and Indigenous Faculty Staff Association
- California Faculty Association
- Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society