Matters of the Heart

So, in my field one of the best and really cool technical assessment tools is a heart rate monitor. This tool is used to let you know if you are working within your training heart rate zone when during exercise. When you train in this zone you are working your heart at the optimal level to burn calories, and train at the proper beats per minute. We have a few of these monitors in our department, that are implemented during our classes.

The heart is obviously the most important muscle in the body. It is always operating, and in so many different ways. Everything we do affects this organ, especially stress. So I thought it would be interesting to utilize the heart rate monitors during classes other than Physical Education. I am interested in using the HR monitors during academic classes where students are taking a test, or when a student has to do a presentation in front of the class. I think it would be really interesting to see how the beats of the heart rise and fall during stressful times of a students' day. I would like to gather statistical information on this topic. So, if anyone is interested in trying this experiment out with me and your class please let me know.