Zan Gao, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, has been selected as the Foreign Outstanding Instructor by Hunan University in the People’s Republic of China in 2017. Hunan University is a top tier research university in China.

During his trip in November 2017, Gao delivered a graduate course titled “Emerging Technology in Physical Activity and Health Promotion” to approximately 30 graduate students at Hunan University (Changsha, China). This course was designed for graduate students to develop an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of what it means to introduce and apply emerging technologies in physical activity and healthcare settings. It demonstrated the important role emerging technologies play in a grand societal challenge – health/wellbeing – within the dramatically changing society. In addition, students were exposed to a variety of real-world physical activity and health care settings, as well as the related ethics, privacy, and research regulations working in the settings. They gained a user-centered understanding from the perspective of physical activity specialists, applied emerging technologies in promoting physical activity participation among various populations, and developed research skills to promote physical activity and health in these real-world settings.

Gao’s total accumulated lecture time was 32 hours, and the students received 2 credit hours toward their graduate degrees. Gao’s lectures have been well-received by the students and faculty members at Hunan University.