Amelia Mays Woods
Amelia Mays Woods graduated from Winthrop College in 1983 in Physical Education teaching.
Immediately after her graduation from Winthrop, she enrolled at the University of
Tennessee. After completing her MS degree at UT, she began her teaching career in
her hometown at Newberry High School in Newberry, SC. While at Newberry, she taught
physical education and coached tennis, track, and cheerleading. She entered the PhD
program at the University of South Carolina in Instruction and Curriculum in Physical
Education in 1986. After completing her PhD in 1988, she taught at Columbia College
from 1988 to 1992, moving on to Saint Olaf College in Northfield, MN with her husband
Woody in 1992. In 1994, she began teaching at Indiana State University in Terre Haute,
where she was promoted to full professor in 2002. In her spare time, Dr. Woods is
the proud mother of Mary Elizabeth and Jack.
Dr. Woods has published over forty-eight articles in professional journals and made
numerous presentations. She is an acknowledged scholar in the areas of motivating
teacher change, mentoring, and teacher education. Her research has appeared in Research
Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Journal of Human Movement Studies, Teaching Elementary
Physical Education, The Physical Educator, and The Journal of Teaching in Physical
Education to name just a few. She has co-authored a number of studies with such celebrated
researchers as Steven Silverman, Stephen Cone, Theresa Purcell, and Peter Werner.
She has been an invited presenter at the Share the Wealth Conference in Jekyll Island,
GA, the Florida State University Sport Administration and Physical Education Conference,
and the North Central Association Meeting. In addition to her presentations at state,
district, and national AAHPERD conventions, Dr. Woods has presented at the American
Educational Research Association, the Society of Utopian Studies, and the Association
International des Ecoles Superieures d'Education Physique World Sport Science Congress.
Indiana State acknowledged her contributions to teacher education by giving her the
Howard Richardson Award for her research efforts.
Dr. Amelia May Woods is universally respected for her expertise in teacher education
throughout the world. Her contributions to the research base in teacher education
through her research, writing, and presentations make her one of the most productive
scholars in the discipline. Her willingness to ask difficult questions and to investigate
these questions through rigorous scientific inquiry has contributed to improved teacher
education in physical education.