Karen 'Pea' Poole

Bio & Education

Karen “Pea” Poole, M.A., is a Professional Track Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).

Certified as a physical education specialist with a sociology minor from Bishop Otter College of the University of Sussex higher education system, she began her teaching career in 1979 in the United Kingdom. She taught physical education and social science at a girl´s grammar school which eventually transitioned to a co- educational institution. She received a Fulbright Teaching Scholarship (1985) and taught at a junior high school in Danbury, CT for one year.

She received her Master of Arts degree in Sport Management & Sociology from Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, and taught physical activity in the university’s Health, Leisure and Exercise Science department until 1996.

Professor Poole currently teaches Kinesiology (KIN) Majors and students in the general UNCG community. She teaches in the Activity Instruction Program and Aquatics, and in Physical Education and Health Teacher Education. She has also taught in the UNCG Student Academic Services sponsored Strategies for Academic Success program.

Professor Poole is the recipient of numerous teaching awards including:

• The Department of Kinesiology inaugural HUMARTS Service Award sponsored by KIN emeritus faculty (1999)
• The School of Health and Human Performance (HHP) Teaching Excellence Award (2003)
• The School of HHP Teaching Innovation Instructional Technology Award (2004)
• The UNCG Alumni Teaching Excellence Award for Nontenured Faculty (2005)
• The School of Health and Human Sciences Mary Frances Stone Teaching Excellence Award (2015 and 2022)

Courses Taught

• KIN 150: Swimming for Non-Swimmers
• KIN 151: Beginning Swimming
• KIN 175: Beginning Tennis
• KIN 214: Racquet Sports
• KIN 220: Lifetime Wellness
• KIN 231: Recreational Games
• KIN 250: Introduction to Kinesiology
• KIN 307: Observation/Analysis of Fundamental Movement
• KIN 379: Instructional Strategies of Physical Activity
• KIN 475: Independent Study Supervision