Melinda  Solmon 

Roy Paul Daniels Professor (retired)

Bachelor's Degree(s): Physical Education, University of Tennessee at Martin, 1977

Master's Degree: Physical Education, Louisiana State University, 1979

PhD: Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, 1991

Phone: 225-578-2913

Email: msolmo1@lsu.edu

Office: 2201 HPL Field House

Biography

Dr. Solmon has served as the Director of the School of Kinesiology since 2011. Her research focus centers on achievement motivation in physical activity settings. To gain a better understanding of how individuals are motivated to learn, she has investigated students' goals in physical education classes, as well as their perceptions of teachers' actions. She is involved in research projects with teachers in schools with the intent of discovering ways to increase student motivation through the creation of an appropriate learning environment. She has published more than 75 research papers and made more than 130 conference presentations at national and international meetings. She has served as a Pedagogy Section Editor for Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. She has also represented the National Association for Sport and Physical Education on the New Professional Teacher Standards Development Project directed by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and completed terms as the Chair and the Program Chair for the Special Interest Group/Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education for AERA and as Secretary, President-elect, President and Past-President of the Research Consortium of AAHPERD. She has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education since 1995 and completed a four-year term as co-editor in 2008. She has also served as a referee for a number of journals such as Journal of Applied Social Psychology, the International Journal of Sport Psychology, Medicine and Science in Exercise and Sport, and the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology.  Melinda received the 2003 Scholar Award from the Southern District of AAHPERD, and was selected as the 2007 Scholar for the Special Interest Group/Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education for AERA.  She is Fellow in the Research Consortium AAHPERD (now SHAPEAmerica) and was elected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education in 2006. In 2011, she received the Curriculum and Instruction Honor Award from the National Association for Physical Education and Sport, the H. M. “Hub” Cotton Award for Faculty Excellence, and the Distinguished Faculty Research Award from the LSU College of Education. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Research Council of SHAPEAmerica and the Outstanding Faculty Service Award from the LSU College of Human Sciences and Education. She has completed a term as the member at-large on the executive committee of the National Academy of Kinesiology and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American Kinesiology Association as Member-at-Large.

Area of Interest

Achievement Motivation and Physical Activity

Student and Teacher Perceptions in Physical Education Classes

Cognitive Mediation of Instruction

Awards & Honors

Roy Paul Daniels Professorship

2015 Distinguished Service Award, Research Council SHAPE America

2015 College of Human Sciences and Education Outstanding Faculty Service Award

2013 BASF Professor of Excellence Award, LSU

2011 Curriculum and Instruction Honor Award
National Association for Sport and Physical Education of AAHPERD

2011 H. M. “Hub” Cotton Award for Faculty Excellence, LSU

2011 LSU College of Human Sciences & Education Distinguished Faculty Research Award

2009 Research on Learning and Instruction SIG/American Educational Research Association Exemplary Paper Award:  Domangue, E. A., &  Solmon, M.A.  (2009). A feminist poststructuralist examination into the President’s Challenge Physical Fitness Test Awards Program. Gender and Education.  

2008 LSU Rainmaker: Celebrating Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarship

2007 Scholar Lecturer, Research on Learning and Instruction SIG/American Educational Research Association

2006 Elected as Fellow in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education

Selected Publications

Solmon, M. A. (2018). Reconceptualizing physical education curricula to meet the needs of all students. Kinesiology Review, 7, 233-239.

Solmon, M. A. (in press). Promoting academic integrity in the world of technology. Kinesiology Review.

Randazzo, K.D., & Solmon, M.A. (2018). Exploring social norms as a framework to understand decisions to be physically active. Quest, 70, 64-80.

Solmon, M.A. (2017). Student Cognition: Understanding how students learn in physical education. In C.D. Ennis (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of physical education pedagogies. pp. 489-502. Routledge: New York.

Simonton, K. L., Garn, A. C., & Solmon, M. A. (2017). Class-related emotions in secondary physical education: A control-value theory approach. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 36, 409-418.

Gu, X., Chang, M., & Solmon, M.A. (2016). Physical activity, physical fitness, and health-related quality of life in school-aged children. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 35, 117-126.