Course Syllabus

 

Public Health Foundations 

               Course Syllabus                       

 

                                  

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

Students will develop an understanding of the five core disciplines of Public Health and draw logical connections within their concentration of study and other areas within the school.

COURSE COMPETENCIES

Students in this class will attain the following public health competencies:

After completing this course, students will be able:  

1. Students will be able to summarize the historical and social contexts through which the field of Public Health has developed in the United States
2. Students will be able to describe the manner in which basic concepts , theories, and methods of the five core areas of public health are applied to health-related research, policy, and practice
3. Students will be able to distinguish efforts through which organizations and institutions at local, national, and global levels seek to assure the health of the public
4. Students will be able to analyze the manner in which their specific discipline is related to a multidisciplinary approach to achieving public health goals. 

Expectations of Students:

1. Come with the open mind of a graduate level student
2. Complete all reading assignments prior to class.
3. Actively participate in all activities.
4. Complete all course assignments as directed and submit in accordance to announced due dates/times.
5. Respect the diversity, opinions, and learning culture of others.
6. Due to the fast moving nature of an 8 week course, No late work will be accepted as a general rule.

REQUIRED READINGS

Readings for the course will be posted in Canvas within each lesson module. Readings may be assigned by guests prior to their arrival in class and will be announced.

IU CANVAS:

CANVAS will be used in this course as a communication tool among the students and instructors. Important information about the course will be posted in CANVAS, including grades. Using CANVAS is a requirement for this course. Group emails concerning the course will be send OUT from CANVAS , but if you need to contact me, please use wramos@indiana.edu

Performance Evaluation and Grading Policies:

A Philosophical Note: Points are assigned as is the tradition of coursework at Indiana University. Please note that your instructor believes that at the graduate level, obsessing or driving your learning through the motivation of acquiring points is not conducive to a quality learning experience at this juncture in your academic career. None the less….here they are:

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES

Point Distribution:	Maximum Points Possible:
Competency Tracker: PRE	5 points
Competency Tracker: POST	5 points
Blended Learning Public Health & You Courses (5 @ 10 points each)	50 points
Historical Context Project	20 points
Discussion Forums	35 points
Social Justice Lecture Creation	20 points
Final Exam	50 points
Course Intro Learning Check	8 points
Total Points Possible:	193 points

 

Point Grading Scale:  The following scale will be used to interpret point values when assigning grades.

A+	98%+
A	90%- 97%
B	80%- 89%
C	70% - 79%
D	60% - 69%
F	Below 60%

 

Competency Tracker: Start Up / Competency Tracker: Conclusion (2 x 5 points) - Students will be required to complete the PRE and POST areas of the on-line public health competency tracker at the beginning and at the conclusion of the course.                                                                                        

Historical Context Project (20 points) Students will be challenged to take a moment from the rich history of public health and make connections with their field.

Public Health Learning Courses (50 points) - We will complete 5 on-line learning modules through the school sponsored Public Health and You program. Each module must be completed on the date that is assigned in the module and will take place of regular class that day. See Day #1 lecture slides for details.

Final Exam (50 points) - A final exam will be given over information covered through the entire course. Format for the midterm will be essay in nature with student’s responding to some required and some compulsory questions.

Course Evaluation:

• It is the policy of the School of Public Health-Bloomington to evaluate all courses taught through the School. Final course evaluations will be conducted in a manner that maintains the integrity of the process and the anonymity of evaluators. For this course we will employ an on-line evaluation that is distributed anonymously through the university. Notice will be given near the end of the semester through email when it is available to you.

Academic Integrity:

• You are expected to observe high standards of intellectual integrity and honesty. Academic dishonesty includes: cheating on assignments/quizzes/exams, presenting work that is not your own work, allowing your own work to be misrepresented, and turning in another students’ work.

• Academic and personal misconduct by students in this class are defined and dealt with according to the procedures in the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct.
• Please note that this policy includes both personal and academic integrity.  Not all infractions which occur within the classroom are necessarily academic, but rather can be considered as personal misconduct.

Professionalism Policy:

• Carrying on personal conversations, text messaging, emailing, and answering cell phones is disruptive to the class and interferes with student learning.  Please turn your cell phone on silent upon entering the classroom.
• Surfing the web, doing work for other courses, reading the newspaper, doing crossword puzzles, etc. is considered disrespectful to both fellow students and the instructor.

Religious Observations:

• In accordance with the Office of the Dean of Faculties, any student who wishes to receive an excused absence from class must submit a request form available from the Dean of Faculties for each day to be absent.
• Information about the policy on religious observations can be found at the following web site:  http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/holidays.html#reco. 
• You can download the request form at: http://www.indiana.edu/~deanfac/download/rel_obs.html#holreq

• Note: This form must be presented to the course instructor by the end of the second week of the semester.

Students with Special Needs: Please see the instructor during the first week of class if you have needs that require special assistance.

• Click here to go to Get Started Module to learn about course accessibility and technology requirements.