Public Health and Disease

BIO 140.I1

Winter 2018

Class meeting location and times: This 3-credit course is fully online, meaning there will be no face-to-face meetings. All of our assignments and discussions will take place through JetNet, the course management system for Jackson College.

Instructor: Matthew Badtke, Ph.D.

Office: JM 136B (JC central campus)

Phone: 517-796-8469

E-mail:

Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday 2:30 PM-3:30 PM, Wednesday and Thursday 10:30 AM-12:30 PM

If you would like to contact me, you can come see me in my office if you are near the Jackson, MI area. If you are not, you can either email me or chat with me on google plus ( during my office hours. Search for Matt Badtke. If you do not have a google account you will need to set one up, it is free!

Course Description: Provides an evidence-based approach to the concepts of public health. Topics covered include infectious and non-infectious diseases along with genetic and environmental factors in health and disease.

Prerequisites- ENG 085, ENG 090 and MAT 020

Course Objectives:

Following the completion of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate the role of public health in the context of other sciences
Use terms described in class to categorize and relate public health concepts
Identify and locate sources of information on public health
Differentiate causes of infectious and non-infectious diseases
Understand the role that genetics plays in disease
Demonstrate how cancer forms and which forms are most problematic for treatment
Demonstrate a link between environmental contamination and health
Create and interpret graphs using epidemiological data
Identify the public health resources in each students’ community
Relate public health findings to personal health and decision making

Graduate Education Outcomes:

The course goals and objectives incorporate specific Graduate Education Outcomes (GEOs) established by the JC Board of Trustees, administration, and faculty. These goals are in concert with four-year colleges, universities, and reflect input from the professional communities we serve. The GEOs and course objectives addressed in this class include the following:

GEO 4-Demonstrate scientific reasoning (addressed through course objectives 4, 5, 6 and 8)

Course materials:

Text: Introduction to public health by Mary-Jane Schneider (Fourth or Fifth edition). The textbook is available in both electronic and printed versions. ISBN- 13: 9781284089233

Other: No additional materials are required, but due to the online nature of the course, regular computer and internet access will be essential for successful completion of the course.

Use of JetNet: All course materials and activity will be accessed through the JetNet course management system (http://jetnet.jccmi.edu). This is the way you will be able to view lectures, your grades, announcements, screencasts, animations, etc.

How to Succeed in this course:

With this course fully online, it will require specific skills and effort, some of which will be different from a face-to-face course. Below is a listing of what you should be doing each week to be successful.

--Plan to spend at minimum 6-8 hours a week reading the text and reviewing the lectures online. Each section of the course will contain several chapters to read along with posted lectures on our Jetnet page. While this course is online, it will require no less work than a face-to-face course. If you have signed up for this course because you believe it will be easier, that will not be the case.

--Check your email and our class JetNet page as often as possible, ideally at least once a day. Your classmates and I will be posting things in the discussion forums. In addition, I will also post announcements and video updates frequently.

--Read the to-do list that will be posted for each week in our JetNet page. This will highlight what you will need to do that week as far as assignments and exams.

Assessment:

Your grade in the course will be based on:

Discussion posts- (25% of overall grade)

For each module you have between 2-4 questions to answer in a discussion post. In addition, you will need to respond to at least 2 classmates for each question. Posts need to contribute new information or perspective to be considered substantive and receive full credit. Posts such as, “I agree, great idea” will not receive credit. Each response on the discussion boards will be scored out of 5 points. Follow up comments will be worth 2.5 points each. Due to the interactive nature of the discussion posts, these will not be counted for credit following the due date.

Case study/Homework assignments- (15% of overall grade)

For most modules we will have a case study and/or homework assignment that are used as an example to highlight important aspects of your readings in the text. You will be required to answer questions or review related websites and upload your responses. These assignments can be submitted up to one week after the due date, with a late penalty of 50% deducted from the total possible points.

End of module quiz- (50% of overall grade)

After each of the first 8 modules we will have a quiz, featuring a mix of multiple choice, short answer and longer answer questions. This quiz will be timed and assess your understanding of the material that we have covered. Questions for the quiz will come from assigned readings in the text and lecture material. Any activities or websites included in the material are also fair game to be included on the quiz. Problems with internet access do not constitute an acceptable excuse for missing the deadline of a quiz, so please do not wait until the last few hours before the deadline to complete your quiz. Be sure that your responses are all in your own words, material that is directly copied and pasted from other sources will not be counted for credit.

Writing assignment- (10% of overall grade)

There will be a writing assignment that will need to be completed and uploaded to our Jetnet page. An outline is provided below, specific requirements will be provided once class has begun.

Student paper on the impact of human behavior (laddered assignment in multiple parts). Students will first identify a behavior related to public health that they would like to improve for themselves. Once identified they will research what changes or behavior modifications have been shown to be effective. Finally, students will write at paper discussing what changes they will make based on their research and how it will benefit their own and the public’s health. The final paper will be due at the end of module 8.

Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

90 to 100 %4.0

85 to 89 %3.5

80 to 84 %3.0

75 to 79 %2.5

70 to 74 %2.0

65 to 69 %1.5

60 to 64 %1.0

0 to 59 %0.0

Incompletes

Consistent with JC Policy, an incomplete grade will only be issued if the student has completed the vast majority of the course, is already passing the course after the withdraw deadline, and is unable to complete the course due to an extenuating circumstances. If an incomplete is issued, all grades/scores earned to that date will be used in calculating the course grade.

Ethics Policy

Consistent with JC Policy, academic dishonesty such as cheating, plagiarism etc. will not be tolerated. A first offense of academic dishonesty will result in a zero grade for the experience. A second offense will result in a zero for the course. All cases of academic dishonesty will be documented and forwarded to the Academic Dean. Students involved in disruptive behavior or dishonest scholarly practices will be dealt with in accordance to the student handbook. The full policy is available at http://www.jccmi.edu/policies/Academics/Policies/1004.pdf

Student behavior that is detrimental to an environment conducive to learning or maintenance of a reasonable level of order in our classroom shall be considered disruptive conduct. In the online environment disruptive conduct includes inappropriate postings, mocking or insulting other students or posting links to inappropriate websites. This will not be tolerated and will result in students being removed from the course.

In addition, academic dishonesty includes but in not necessarily limited to taking, using , or copying another’s work and submitting it as one’s own, using notes on tests or quizzes, intentionally falsifying information or taking another’s ideas with the intention of passing of ideas in class as one’s own. Please note that all student writings and exam responses may be submitted to turnitin.com to allow for a check of originality and plagiarism. To clarify, any response that directly copies information from other sources will not be counted for credit.

Available Assistance

If you have documented disability, make sure that you make me aware ASAP so that suitable arrangements may be made. If you are experiencing difficulties with any aspect of this course, it is best if you consult the instructor. Tutoring and other student assistance is available through the Center for Student Success at the main Jackson campus. They can be contacted at 517.796.8415.

Syllabus Revisions/Changes

All schedules and policies contained in this document are tentative and are subject to revision at the instructor’s discretion with timely notice.

Course Outline

The course will be divided into 9 modules, each will take 1-2 weeks. Note that after the beginning of class, all modules will start on Saturday and finish on a Friday. After the first 8 modules, you will be required to complete a short exam/quiz within one week of the modules completion. Discussion posts and homework assignments must be submitted by the end of the week or the module, by 11:55 PM Friday. Details on what is covered and the dates for each module are outlined below.

Module 1: Introduction to Public Health

Dates: 1/15-1/26

Text chapters: Prologue and Chapters 1-3

Topics covered: Public health as science, Importance of public health, Who is involved in public health at the local, state, national and international level?

Quiz completion date: 2/2

Module 2: Epidemiology- finding the origin of a disease

Dates: 1/27-2/9

Text chapters: Chapters 4-8

Topics covered: What is epidemiology?, Types of studies, How statistics can be used in public health, The use of data

Quiz completion date: 2/16

Module 3: Infectious Diseases

Dates: 2/10-2/23

Text chapters: Chapters 9-10

Topics covered: What can cause infectious diseases?, Examples or infectious organisms, vaccines, re-emerging infectious diseases

Quiz completion date: 3/2

Module 4: Non-infectious diseases and Genetics

Dates: 2/24-3/9

Text chapters: Chapters 11-12

Topics covered: Differences between infectious and non-infectious diseases, Genetics of cancer (BRCA genes and Breast cancer), Roles of our genes (OMIM web resources), Screening for genetic diseases

Quiz completion date: 3/23

Module 5: Human Behavior and public health

Dates: 3/10-3/23

Text chapters: Chapters 13-14

Topics covered: Impact of decisions on health, Use of drugs and alcohol and health consequences

Quiz completion date: 3/30

Module 6: Threats to public health

Dates: 3/24-4/6

Text chapters: Chapters 15-19

Topics covered: Tobacco use, Increase in obesity, accidents, maternal and child health, mental health

Quiz completion date: 4/13

Module 7: Environmental Public health issues

Dates: 4/7-4/20

Text chapters: Chapters 20-25

Topics covered: Clean air, clean water, Safe food and drugs, population and its impact on the environment

Quiz completion date: 4/27

Module 8: Medical care and public health

Dates: 4/21-4/27

Text chapters: Chapters 26-28

Topics covered: The U.S. medical system and public health, outcomes-based health practices

Quiz completion date: 5/4

Module 9: The future of public health

Dates: 4/28-5/4

Text chapters: Chapter 31

Topics covered: How has public health improved our lives, Challenges for the future

Quiz completion date: No quiz