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UGS 2270-001 & UGS 2275-001

Families and Health - BlockU

Fall 2015 & Spring 2016

THIS IS A SAMPLE SYLLABUS (from 2015-2016) – TOPICS, SCHEDULES, AND ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE SIMILAR, BUT ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FROM YEAR TO YEAR

Class Meeting: Fall: T R from 9:10-10:30 in OSH 113

Spring: T R from 10:45-12:05 in 212 MBH

Instructors: Dr. Rebecca UtzDr. Marissa Diener

Email:

Phone Number: 801-581-7922801-581-8750

Office Hours:T12:15 to 1:45, by apptT 12:15 – 1:45, by appt

Office Location:307 Beh-S244 AEB

Peer Mentor: Sydney

Student Success Advocate: Jon 385-232-524

Librarians: Jill Moriearty

Lorelei Rutledge

Course Description

Health is usually considered an individual-level experience or outcome, but one’s health cannot be uncoupled from the family. Not only do families provide each of us with genetic material that determines health risks and outcomes, families also share a culture, environment, and lifestyle that influence health and wellness. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course will explore how families can promote health and well-being, how they help manage chronic illnesses, and how these family-based strategies vary across developmental life stages. Students in this course will work in groups on one of several community-based projects focused on nutrition or movement as a way to improve family health.

This course is part of the BlockU program at the University of Utah. Completing this two-semester learning community course will satisfy two of your BF general education requirements, one in fall and one in spring. This course must be taken in conjunction with BIOL 1210-002 (SF requirement) and COMM 2110-003 (HF requirement) during the Fall semester, and DANC 1023-001 or DANC 1075-001 (FF requirement) and NUTR 1020 (AS requirement) during the Spring semester.

Note: This syllabus is meant to serve as an outline and guide for our course. Please note that we may modify it with reasonable notice to you. Any changes will be announced in class and posted on Canvas under Announcements.

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Define “family” and how it contributes to health

• Understand the various dimensions of health and wellness

• Develop a broad background in terminology, research, theory, and methods commonly used

in the social sciences

• Integrate a social science perspective of families & health with other disciplines including

humanities, natural/life sciences, nutrition, and fine arts

• Apply learning about families & health to a community-based setting or population

• Develop “Intellectual & Practical” and “Personal & Social Responsibility” skills (see below)

Specific Learning Outcomes & Outcome Assessments for Intellectual and Practical Skills:

  1. Creative Thinking (FALL) – Students will apply theories and concepts learned in lecture to the analysis of a novel and popular movie. Students are encouraged to create at least one “reflection” assignment using non-traditional formats such as a video, song, or visual arts.
  2. Problem Solving (FALL) – During the end-of-life conversation project, student will reflect on a problem – first defining the issues and potential strategies, evaluating potential solutions, and deciding on which one is best for self and family. During the discussion of the novel, students will discuss the actions taken by family members and propose alternate solutions to specific family-based health issues.
  3. Oral Communication (SPRING) – Students will do several presentations during Spring semester. Some will be formal with visual materials such as Powerpoint; others will be less formal and more extemporaneous. Students will evaluate peers and provide feedback on the content and delivery of oral communication.
  4. Teamwork (SPRING) – Students will work in groups to develop and implement a community-based project during Spring semester. At the end of the semester, students will reflect on their own and their team members’ contributions to the team’s overall functioning.

Specific Learning Outcomes & Outcome Assessments to Personal & Social Responsibility:

  1. Foundations and Skills for Lifelong Learning (FALL and SPRING) –This course will introduce students to the Pathbrite Portfolio, a way to manage and synthesis learning that occurs across courses and over time. Instructors will provide both support and instruction related to additional university resources, effective study skills, and personal growth issues such as independence & accountability.
  2. Ethical Reasoning (FALL)– Students will complete portfolio assignments and engage in classroom discussions on topics such as relationships, risky health behaviors, and interpersonal dilemmas including the rights of family vs. individual in cases of impaired mental capacity and end of life decision making. The prompts for relevant portfolio assignments will ask students to specifically discuss any potential ethical issues and solutions related to each case.
  3. Civic Engagement (SPRING) – Students will create and implement a community-based project focused on nutrition or movement/activity/exercise, as a way to improve family health and wellness in our community.

Teaching and Learning Methods

We will teach this course in a way that is highly interactive, integrative, and applied. This course will involve a variety of teaching and learning methods, including lectures, small group discussions, written reflections, experiential activities, and a community-based project. We will encourage students to apply what they learn to their own experiences, to other students’ families and experiences, and to families portrayed in books and media. In this learning community course, we will draw from a variety of disciplines, but most heavily from a social science perspective (e.g., sociology, psychology, human development). As part of the BlockU program, we will encourage students to integrate what they learn in BIOL 1210 and COMM 2110 (in the fall semester) and in DANC 1010 and NUTR 1020 (in the spring semester) with the material presented in this course.

Required Course Materials

  1. Families and Health (2nd Ed.) by Janet R. Grochowski. ISBN: 978-1412998932

[FALL & SPRING semesters]

  1. The Middlesteins: A Novel byJamie Attenberg. ISBN: 978-1455507207

[FALL semester]

  1. Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food: Taming our Primal Instincts by Terry Burnham & Jay Phelan. ISBN: 978-04655031245.

[SPRING semester]

4. Additional readings, web links, and videos will be posted on Canvas. Refer to weekly “module”

Course Grades & Grading Policies

According to the allocation of points assigned to each required assignment (see next pages, % in red), a weighted average of all grades will be calculated to determine your semester course letter grade. Letter grades will then be awarded based on the following point distributions:

A (100-93 points) A - (90-92 points)

B + (89-87 points) B (86-83 points) B - (80-82 points)

C + (79-77 points) C (76-73 points) C - (70-72 points)

D + (69-67 points) D (66-63 points) D - (60-62 points)

E (< 60 points)

Course letter grades will be independently assigned and calculated each semester.

Performance during one semester will not affect the grading of the other semester.

- Instructors will provide grades and/or comments via Canvas within 7 days of submission.

- It is the student’s responsibility to report and discuss grade discrepancies with the instructors.

- Instructors will entertain grade change requests, but such discussions should occur outside of class time and at least 24 hours after the assignment/quiz was handed back. (i.e., take a day to reflect on the comments provided and review the material prior to disputing a grade with the instructor)

- No late assignments or make-up exams will be accepted.

- You cannot make-up any missed attendance or participations points that are assessed in-class.

- No extra credit is available.

AssignmentsFALL 2015

Class Participation and Engagementwill be assessed via random attendance checks or graded in-class activities. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the topics and provide thoughtful input. This will require that you have done the assigned readings beforehand and that you disengage from electronic devices to focus on the class activities at hand. 10% of grade.

Quizzes will be used to evaluate learning and comprehension of course concepts.

  1. Quiz 1. Online. Covers weeks 1, 2, 3. Multiple choice. 10% of grade.
  2. Quiz 2. In class. Covers weeks 1-6. Multiple choice, short answer, essay.20% of grade.

Integrated Learning Portfolio Reflections – over the course of the semester, students will be given prompts asking them to reflect on, integrate, and apply course material. Each reflection assignment will enable students to reflect on the concepts and theories presented in class, while applying them to materials that from outside of the classroom such as on youtube, social media, the news media, real life, etc., as well as to material learned in the affiliated Block-U courses (biology & interpersonal communications). We will use Pathbrite Portfolio to assemble these reflections; this software can be used to organize and integrate learning that occurs throughout the entire undergraduate career (Additional information and instruction will be provided in class). Most students will create written essays to satisfy these assignments; however, students are welcome and encouraged to consider more creative products such as videos, songs, or visual arts to respond to each prompt. Please speak with the instructor and obtain approval before submitting an alternate (non-written) reflection.

  1. Reflection #1. How has your family influenced your health? Make sure you define and apply concepts (i.e., theories, models) learned in class so far. 5% of grade.
  2. Reflection #2. Choose at least one of the 7 domains of health; reflect on how your current status as a college student has the potential to affect your and your family’s health and well-being. Apply concepts and theories related to the life course. 10% of grade.
  3. Reflection #3. Using the characters and situations presented in the Middlesteinsnovel, write an essay describing how and why relationships affect health and well-being of families. Pick at least one concept from Interpersonal Communications, define and describe it, and explain how it applies to the health and well-being of the characters in the Middlesteins.10% of grade.
  4. Reflection #4. Using the characters and situations presented in the movie Still Alice, discuss how families cope with chronic illness. Consider the role of genetics/biology in determining how families cope with and manage their health. Pick at least one concept from your Biology class, define and describe it, and apply it to the characters and situations in Still Alice.10% of grade

The Conversation Project - Students will plan and execute a conversation with a family member about aging and end-of-life preferences. During this conversation, you will draw upon interpersonal communication strategies to guide your discussion on this sensitive but critically important topic. You should engage in basic problem-solving techniques to identify the best solution for self and family member, as well as consider and evaluate different ethical perspectives for end-of-life choices. 25% of grade. This assignment has three separate artifacts:

  1. Documentation of Conversation. This could be a video, a transcript, a legal-like document, or some other artistic rendition of the most important topics, issues, and themes that you and your conversation partner discussed.
  2. Portfolio Reflection #5. Using what you learned from this conversation, write a final reflection assignment commenting on the following two issues:
  3. How has your family influenced your thoughts about later-life health and your conversations about end-of-life preferences? Consider how you think you will age/die and what you are doing now to ensure your health goals.
  4. Describe the conversation that you had? Was it difficult? Why or why not? Was it useful? Why or why not?

More detailed assignment descriptions and grading rubrics will be posted to Canvas

at least 7 days prior to each assignment due date.

AssignmentsSPRING 2016

The assignments this semester are intended to help students integrate and apply the material learned in the “Families & Health” BlockU program. The assignments will be assessed (i.e., graded) by you, your peers, and your instructors.

  1. Teaching Presentation.

Description: Students will choose one of four chapters from the book Mean Genes to present to the class. Groups will be formed based on self-selection of the topics (i.e., not the same groups as the final project). Each group will have approximately 15 to 20 minutes to teach the class the material covered in their chapter. Groups are encouraged to use creative presentation and pedagogical techniques to discuss and present the material. For example, your dance class involves the creative process or composition. Is it possible to incorporate music, movement and other forms of creativity into a teaching presentation? Teaching presentations must include a review of the major concepts of the chapter; a handout with prepared notes is required. The presentation will be graded on its quality, accuracy, creativity, professionalism, comprehensiveness, length, and teamwork.

Grading: 30 points. 15 points for comprehensiveness and accuracy of material presented in oral presentation and handout - as assessed by instructors. 5 points for creativity, quality, and effectiveness of presentation- as assessed by instructors. 5 points for time-management - as assessed by time-clock. (All group members will be given the same grade for these first 25 points.) The last 5 points will be for each students’ contribution to the team – as assessed by peers.

15% of grade

  1. Annotated Bibliography.

Description: Students will use the databases provided by the library to find at least 12 peer-review journal articles that could be used to provide background and research findings related to their final project. Because your capstone project should integrate your affiliated classes (biology, communications, dance and nutrition), you should consider how these topics might intersect with the health and well-being of the populations you will serve, and find articles on these intersections. Students will read and create an annotated bibliography of at least 6 of the articles, as well as a bibliography listing all 12 identified articles. Articles should span the topics and concepts addressed in your BlockU courses.

Grading: 30 points. 6 points for quality of articles.(i.e., peer-reviewed, relevance to topic,). 12 points for formal citation style used in bibliography. 12 points for quality and comprehensiveness of summaries.

10% of grade

  1. Participation & Preparation. AKA, quizzes & exams!

Description: Throughout the semester, there will be multiple exams,quizzes, and in-class activities to ensure that you are reading, preparing, and integrating assigned course materials. Activities may be announced or unannounced. Most will be completed in-class. Quizzes/exams may be multiple choice, short answer, essay. The final exam counts towards this grade.

Grading: Quizzes and exams typically have right/wrong answers. Point allocations will be specified on each quiz, exam, activity. Assessed by instructors.

25% of grade

  1. Teamwork & Collaboration.

Description: This assignment requires students to reflect on what they learned about the dynamics of teamwork throughout the semester. Students will be asked to reflect on their own and others’ specific contributions to the overall team project, as well as what skills they learned to help them more effectively work in groups in the future.

Grading: At the end of the semester, each student will anonymously complete a ballot in which they assess themselves and their peers on a scale of 0 to 100 to show how well each team member participated and contributed to the completion of the overall team project and all of its accompanying assignments throughout the entire semester. In addition to numerical grades, the ballot requires a brief narrative justifying the points allocated to each person. The grade is assigned by peers; ballots will be averaged for each student to determine grade. [Instructors reserve the right to adjust ballot-assigned grades,if there appears to be malicious penalty not reflective of accompanying narratives.]

10% of grade.

  1. Capstone Integrative Community Project.

Description: Groups of students will work together or individually with a community partner to design a program or product that emphasizes the role of nutrition and/or movement as a way to promote family health and wellness, and/or that integrates other topics of learning from Falland Spring semesters. Interpersonal communication is critical to working with other students, community partners, and individuals and families in the community and should be integrated into all projects. This project includes several required assignments.

  1. Project Proposal & Approval. A document outlining the proposed project, evidence of a community partner, a timeline for completion, consideration of any necessary budget or supplies, clear delineation of specific roles for each team member, and thoughts to how you will integrate knowledge from your BlockU courses in the project. Not graded; feedback only
  1. Progress Report. A short informal presentation to discuss progress on your project. Each group will receive feedback and advice from peers and instructors. Not graded; feedback only
  1. Practice Poster Presentation. Each team member will prepare and video record an“elevator speech”(1 minute or less) to describe their team projects and posters. The team should elect one spokesperson to deliver the team’s “elevator speech”to the class; the team will receive feedback from instructors and peers on how to describe the project. Peers and instructors will also ask the team questions; all team members will have a chance to discuss the work they did this semester. This assignment is intended to help you practice for the BlockU symposium.

Not graded; feedback only

  1. Final Materials. Students will submit all final materials produced for their team project. Given the different focus of each project, final materials may include documents or other products created by the team for their community partner, videos or photographs documenting their efforts, and notes describing what they did. The team should assemble all products and submit them to the instructors, as well as to the community partner.
  1. Poster. Each team will create a formal poster presentation that describes their project and highlighting their efforts. Final posters will be presented at the BlockU symposium. Examples and templates will be given to students.

Grading: All group members will receive the same grade. Instructors will assess the quality, creativity, and professionalism of the final team project. Instructors will also solicit feedback from community partners when assigning the overall grade for the team project.