Jeanne Dekerle

My research interest has long been human exercise tolerance, or the ability to sustain exercise, and the mechanisms of neuromuscular fatigue. I believe a better understanding of the physiological and behavioural limitations to exercise gives exercise scientists, clinicians, or other practitioners looking to enhance human exercise tolerance evidence for the development of robust science-based interventions. My work finds impact in the areas of health, sport and wellbeing.

As an active researcher and consultant, I actively contribute to the design and application of research- and consultancy-informed teaching materials to foster students’ engagement, understanding of, and enthusiasm for the professional world.

I am keen to pilot different learning and teaching strategies to improve the courses I am involved with. In our postgraduate programme, I introduced a series of classroom-based Action Learning Sets for students to reflect and make the most of their Professional Enquiry experience (employability). The two MSc courses I lead today are entirely set on problem-based learning (PBL) scenarios to prepare students best for the ‘real world’. I recently piloted a PBL intervention in collaboration with the English Institute of Sport (EIS). Student feedback was excellent. It was a great experience.

Also,I would consider myself as an ‘early adopter’ of new learning and teaching technologies that I see as key for the new generation of learners. For example, supported by a Learning and Teaching Scholarship, I developed videos to support students with their use of Excel.

Some of the key areas I teach in are:

• Exercise intensity domains and exercise tolerance
• The muscle, the nervous systems, and exercise
• Neuromuscular fatigue from the muscles to the brain
• The lungs and exercise
• The philosophy of science, scientific methods and methodologies, quantitative statistics
• The physiology of training