HNSC 1100 (Millsaps)

• You may do these activities at any time before their due dates
• Read the textbook chapters that are due for the upcoming week.
• You may do this at any time, as all assigned reading from the textbook are listed in this syllabus.

For any given session, from Wednesday onwards, you may log onto BB to access that week’s materials (labeled Session#1, Session#2, etc.).

You have until the following Tuesday evening to:

• Retrieve additional course materials for that week’s topic and view the PowerPoint lecture for that week.
• If you are NOT a DB Leader (who must post by Friday night), post your 100-word response to one of the Leader’s posts as soon as possible, preferably sooner than the Tuesday night deadline. Either way, read the "Grading rubric for DB posts" very carefully. There are no surprises in this class; this is exactly how you will be graded.
• Take the weekly quiz. The quizzes are based on both the textbook readings and the materials presented in each session folder. Each quiz is also due by Tuesday night, but you should take it whenever you have completed reviewing the materials for that week.
• THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THE “TUESDAY” DEADLINE:
  • If you are that week’s DB Leader(s), post your original 200-word DB post by Friday night at 11:59 pm.
• IMPORTANT: Do not wait until the last minute to complete the session-specific activities! No late work will be accepted, including in the case of any type of technical difficulty. NO EXCEPTIONS.

A few more important details about the grading scale:

1. There is no curve
2. My policy is that I do not give INC grades typically.

Unless otherwise stated, a curve will NOT be used.

Unless otherwise stated, a curve will NOT be used.

Component: Quizzes

Percentage of grade: 10%

What is it?

• There will be 2/two quizzes throughout the session covering several chapters, totaling 10% of your final grade.
• These quizzes are short (approximately 2 mini-essays), timed (you have 90 minutes to complete each quiz, and you may not stop once you have started a quiz), and must be completed individually and referring to notes, video, open source literature or uploaded text.
• All quizzes are due by 11:59 on the Tuesday at the end of session week.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify and utilize reliable sources of health information.
• Identify the major behavioral, environmental, social, and medical determinants of health.
• Identify risk factors of ill-health and strategies to enhance health status.

Where is it?

• Each quiz is located in that week’s folder- so the Session #1 quiz is located in Session #1 folder, etc on Blackboard.

What else should I know?

• Nervous about what a timed online quiz is like? Take “Session#1 Quiz,” located in the “Session#1” folder, to get a feel for it. All students will receive full credit for this first quiz as long as they complete it on time!
• When you complete each quiz, your score will be displayed right away, but your corrected quiz will only be available AFTER the quiz due date (i.e. after everyone has completed it).

IMPORTANT: LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. All DB posts must be posted in the appropriate place on BB and all quizzes completed by the date and time specified.  NO EXCEPTIONS.

Component: Weekly Discussion Board posts (DB)

Percentage of grade: 30%

What is it?

• The entire class must participate in ten/10 discussion boards (DB) to receive full credit. Each person must reply once to the posted question the three DB leaders created in our fully online course.
• What you must post (and by when) depends on your role
• There will be 3/three Discussion Board Leaders for that week:
  • You must post a substantive original post (e.g. thread) of at least 300 words by Friday at 11:59 pm. See the “READ ME FIRST! Post of that DB for instruction’s on what to post.
• If you are not a Discussion Board Leader for that week:
  • There will be two DB Leaders per week. You must post a (minimum) 100-word response to one of the Leader’s posts by TUESDAY at 11:59pm.
• There will be 10 DB’s; each is worth 3% of your grade, regardless of your role. Totaling 30 percent of your entire grade in the course.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify and utilize reliable sources of health information for each week’s topic(s).
• Identify the major behavioral, environmental social, medical determinants of health for each week’s topic(s).
• Identify risk factors of ill-health and strategies to enhance health status(s) among race/ethnicities .

Where is it?

• Each week’s DB is located in that week’s folder- so the DB for Session #1 is located in the Session #1 folder, etc.

What else should I know?

• Everyone will act as DB Leader at least once! Volunteer for your week in the “Sign up for your DB Leadership Week!” area of BB. If you do not sign up for at least one session by the END OF SESSION 2, I will assign you to one.
• DB posts are formal written assignments for a college-level course and will be graded as if you had handed in your writing on a piece of paper (e.g. in the form of an essay or research paper).
• You will receive your DB grade within 1-2 weeks of that DB closing.
• Please see box “Grading Rubric for Discussion Board Participation”.

IMPORTANT: LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. All DB posts must be posted in the appropriate place on BB and all quizzes completed by the date and time specified.  NO EXCEPTIONS.

Component: Final

Percentage of grade: 35%

What is it?

The final assessment community health project will be posted on the BB. The exam project will be available at the start of class up until December 20, 2023, the final week of class.

The final assessment project consists of:

1. Tying and submitting an APA well-written 600-750 word essay on a relevant health issue that is plaguing/grossly impacting a neighborhood/community or a city and writing the details to eradicate or help reduce the issue for that community by developing one of the following: 1. workshop, 2. intervention program, 3. policy or 4. a project idea that will develop perhaps into service for the community.
   Examples of health issues are: Diabetes, HIV, and Cardiovascular Disease. It is strongly urged to identify a population as well. . An example project title could be: Diabetes among Asian Americans in Flushing Queens, New York.
2. Create and submit a two-slide PowerPoint that illustrates one of the following that outlines your solution in your essay 1. workshop, 2. intervention, program, 3. policy or 4. a project idea that you have developed perhaps into a service for the community (that is your solution to your health issue written in your essay).

Details of the assignment:

Choose a relevant health issue that affects a neighborhood/community or a city (i.e. a neighborhood- Flatbush junction, borough- Queens, City- Buffalo) and write a 600-750 word essay using a plan on why and how you would change the behavior trends of that (or even your) community towards becoming healthier for life. Students must create a two-slide powerpoint that illustrates one of the following: 1. workshop, 2. intervention, program, 3. policy or 4. a project idea that will develop perhaps into a service for the community.

Identify and utilize reliable personal and community health information and resources from what you have learned from the 15-week spring semester.

• Identify behavioral, environmental, social, and medical determinants of health based on class and race from what you have learned from the 15-week spring semester.
• Identify risk factors of ill-health and strategies to enhance health status in all communities based on what you have learned from the 15-week winter semester.

Learning Outcomes for Final Exam Community Project, as a result of what you have read, seen and learned from the 15 week course:

• Identify and utilize reliable sources of health information from what they have learned from the semester.
• Identify the major behavioral, environmental, social, medical determinants of health from what they have learned from the semester.
• Identify risk factors of ill-health among race/ethnicities and strategies to enhance health status from what they have learned from the semester.

Rubric:

• To earn 35 points exceeds expectations: must include APA format with great details, no grammar or punctuation issues, the two-slide mini-PowerPoint with APA format, the 550-600-word essay attached to demonstrate how the idea, policy, program, or workshop can eradicate or change the health issue in that community.
• To earn 30-35 points almost exceeds the expectations: includes APA format with details, has minimal grammar or punctuation issues, the 450–600-word essay, has introduced most of the ideas to eradicate or change the issue in the community, and the mini-PowerPoint with APA format.
• To earn 20-30 points almost meets expectations: includes APA format with minimal details, has very minimal grammar or punctuation issues, incomplete 250-300 -word essay, has somewhat introduced the idea to eradicate and to change the issue, The mini-PowerPoint is somewhat completed and has APA format.
• To earn 0-19 points includes APA format with very little to no details, almost poor grammar or punctuation issues, the mini-PowerPoint is partly completed, and the 100 words or less essay hardly introduces the idea to eradicate and to change the issue.

Where is it?:

• The final exam will be posted below the “Assignments& Quizzes” area of BB in a folder labeled “Final Exam”.

What else should I know?

• Health topic suggestions: Mental Health neglect in Bronx/Gun Hill community; Health access inequities in Rockaway Queens New York.
  Locate topics through current events, it can be national issues or local issues/disparities. Gross burden of disease is what I am looking for and coming up with solutions that can build a healthier future for all- Healthy People 2030 objective.

IMPORTANT: LATE ASSIGNMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. All DB posts must be posted in the appropriate place on BB and all quizzes completed by the date and time specified.  NO EXCEPTIONS.

Type of post: OER Discussion Leader-Post

Frequency

• Each student will serve as a Discussion Leader at least ONCE during the semester.
• If you are the Discussion Leader, you must post by 11:59 pm on Friday of that week. The 2nd leader must create the first thread reply by Friday.

Length

• At least 150 words. This post must be free of spelling, punctuation, grammatical, or other writing issues.

For full credit

• Posting was placed in the appropriate DL by the due date indicated.
• Posting was responsive to the discussion board prompt question and consisted of substantive comments that enhanced the discussion and helped move the conversation forward. These comments may have included follow-up questions, examples, or new perspectives.
• Posting showed ample evidence of having completed the relevant readings or assignments.
• Posting was constructive and differences of opinion were expressed in a collegial manner.

Type of post: Reply posts

Frequency

• At least 2 per week, to two different students (though you may post more often).
• You must post by 11:59 pm on TUESDAY of that week.

Length

• At least 60 words. This post must be free of spelling, punctuation, grammatical, or other writing issues.

For full credit

• Posting was placed in the appropriate DL by the due date indicated.
• Posting was responsive to the Discussion Leader’s post and consisted of substantive comments that enhanced the discussion and helped move the conversation forward. These comments may have included follow-up questions, examples, or new perspectives.
• Posting showed ample evidence of having completed the relevant readings or assignments, as well as evidence that the participant read and thought about their colleague’s posting.
• Posting was constructive and differences of opinion were expressed in a collegial manner. 

In addition, ALL posts should demonstrate:

• Quality of Thinking: Develop, support and convey clear, focused and substantive ideas in ways appropriate to topic, context, audience and purpose.
• Organization and Coherence: Organize writing in clear, coherent sequences, making connections and transitions among ideas, paragraphs and sentences.
• Sentence Structure and Word Choice: Use and vary sentence structures and word choices to achieve clear and fluent writing.
• Editing: Edit for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, paragraph structure, sentence construction, formatting and, when appropriate, citations.
• Use of Researched Information: Use, integrate and cite researched information and evidence
• Reflection If appropriate, evaluate and articulate one’s own point of view supported by research and logic
• Remember: DB posts are formal written assignments for a college-level course and will be graded as if you had in your writing on a piece of paper (e.g., in the form of an essay or research paper).