Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Course Description

You may have heard of the “10,000 hour rule”, popularized by Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers, suggesting it takes a professional 10,000 hours of practice to “turn pro”. But does it really take 10,000 hours of practice to become a professional athlete? Where was this original research done? Does it really suggest you need 10,000 hours of practice? Does “talent” or genetics play a role in athletic performance at all? This class will discuss these ideas and teach you how to search, read, understand and summarize some of the scientific literature pertaining to these popularized concepts.

Student Outcomes

After completion of this class, students should be able to:  Explain where the scientific literature comes from, how to obtain it, the different types of scientific articles, and the basics on how to read a scientific paper  Describe the “10,000 hour” rule, and identify scientific literature that suggests it may be incorrect  Explain the relationship between genes and sport  Describe the basic arguments in the “nature vs nurture” debate

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