Course Coordinator: Gillian Laven
Phone: +61 8313 6484
Email: gillian.laven@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Ground Floor, 122 Frome Street, Discipline of Rural Health

Learning & Teaching Team
Phone: +61 8313 2128
Email: undergrad_enq@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 7, 178 North Terrace

1	Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the influence of rurality and remoteness on the health of rural Australians
2	Outline the policy directions and associated challenges in rural health
3	Demonstrate an understanding of the models of rural and remote health service delivery
4	Describe and critique existing public health strategies to reduce the severity of health risks for rural and remote Australians
5	Integrate learning from a number of disciplinary areas in the development of grant writing skills.

Core text:
A Textbook of Australian Rural Health, 2008, Australian Rural Health Education Network, Canberra, viewed 2 July, 2014 <http://www.arhen.org.au/images/publications/Text_Book_of_Australian_Rural_Health.pdf>

Online:
All other resources will be available via MyUni and will include: journal articles; government reports; video resources; online data bases; web-based tutorials and activities.

None.

Students will also access a series of readings which will be made available electronically through MyUni.
The course will also include online learning resources such as relevant recorded lectures (from local teaching staff and externally eg TED talks and Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health http://lms.cucrh.uwa.edu.au/login/index.php - coordinated and accessible through MyUni.

Computer laboratories and other computing services
University information on computer laboratories and other computing services is available at:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/its/student_services/comp_lab.html
The Health Sciences computer laboratory - S118 - is situated on the first floor of the Medical School South Building.  Twenty-four hour access to computers is provided at the Barr Smith Library.
 
Rural Public Health Sciences makes lecture notes and other teaching aids available electronically to students through MyUni.
 
MyUni
MyUni is the primary entry point to online learning at Adelaide University.  MyUni provides students and staff with access to course materials, discussion forums, announcements, online and many other features to help manage study or teaching. Students can connect to MyUni on or off campus from an internet connected computer using a Web browser. 
The URL is: www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au/
Login to this resource using Username and Password.  Once logged on to MyUni students will find the information displayed is customised to present only details relevant to them and the online content for courses that they are studying.
 
For enquiries about online education services, what’s available and access, contact the Online Education Helpdesk:
Phone: (08) 8313 3335   
Email: myuni.help@adelaide.edu.au The Helpdesk is available for extended hours during the week or through voicemail.

Students will use MyUni for a number of purposes:-
Accessing announcements about changes in scheduling, course information etc
Accessing lecture notes both in pdf format and, if recording is possible in the allocated lecture theatre, in audio file format
Accessing online learning activities including self and peer-assessment tasks, discussion boards, blog posts, wikis
Accessing online resources

The Rural Public Health III course is a blended learning course including:

· online tutorials: Introduction to Rural Health and Aboriginal Cultural Orientation http://lms.cucrh.uwa.edu.au/login/index.php
· pre-readings
· week long intensive
· post-intensive grant writing assignments

Throughout the intensive students attend:
· panel discussions
· seminars
· site visits
· workshops
facilitated by a range of guest speakers and university staff with expertise in rural health and health systems, providing students with theoretical approaches and or workplace examples.

Poster development and presentation task:
· provides the students with the opportunity to further develop team work
· problem solving
· presentation skills
 
Field Trip day 2 and 3 of the intensive provides:
· interactive and practical approach to learning enabling the students to observe and apply the core concepts covered in the course within the context of rural locations. The Field Trip allows the students to frame their learning within the rural context whilst experiencing the issues relating to access and distance for rural populations.
· includes visits to key rural health organisations.

Grant writing exercises post-intensive provide the students with:
· opportunities for independent self-directed learning
· integration of learning from a number of disciplinary areas in the demonstration of community engagement & identification of community need and tools for evaluation of proposed project
·  development of work place ready skill development in the design, development and preparation of a Community Benefits South Australia (CBSA) grant application http://www.dcsi.sa.gov.au/pub/default.aspx?tabid=454

The five learning assignments will be scheduled at key learning times throughout the course: bringing all concepts together under key learning milestones.

The time commitment will be up to 13 hours per week throughout the 12 week Trimester with 1 week full time intensive, including the 36 hour Field Trip.

The full 12 week program:

Week 1:
Pre-reading from Textbook:
Chapter 1: Rural and remote health – definitions, policy and priorities (pp 11-30)
And current definition – ASGC RA http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/466873
Chapter 2: Understanding rural health – key concepts (pp31-42)
Chapter 3: Diversity, culture and place (pp47 – 58)

Weeks 2 and 3:
Online tutorials: Introduction to Rural Health (MyUni) and Aboriginal Cultural Orientation (http://lms.cucrh.uwa.edu.au/login /index.php)

Week 4:
This intensive course consists of five modules:

Module 1 (1 day)
· Rural Health priorities
· Projection evaluation and design
· Pt Pirie Lead Project
· Health and Industry Pt August and Pt Pirie – case study

 Modules  2 & 3 (2 days) - Field trip
· Health Issues facing the Iron Triangle
· RFDS Pt Augusta
· Connecting health to meet local needs
· Indigenous aged care
· Community and hospital services
· Complexities of working in Aboriginal health
· Rural health experience

Module 4 (1 day)
· Budgeting 101
· Citizen engagement – case study Whyalla
· Grant writing practical

Module 5 (1 day)
· Rural research opportunities
· Telehealth: what can it offer rural health?
· Group presentations

Week 5 - 12:

Self-directed, independent student learning – Grant Application Proposal Outline and Grant Application Proposal

Chapter 4: What makes communities tick? (pp59-69)

Chapter 5: Health of rural populations (pp71-81)

Chapter 6: Population health programs, performance measures and evaluation (pp83-101)

Chapter 14: eHealth, eLearning and eResearch for rural health practice (pp189-203)

CBSA funding guidelines (PDF) http://www.dcsi.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/13868/community-benefit-sa-funding-guidelines-2014.pdf

A guide to applying for CBSA grants online (DOC) http://www.dcsi.sa.gov.au/services/grants-for-organisations/community-benefit-sa/apply-online-for-a-cbsa-grant

The Field Trip is a structure learning activity and a requirement of the course. The Field Trip is listed as a mandatory requirement in the course description as there is an expectation of an interactive learning process.

However if for medical or genuine compassionate reasons a student is unable to attend the Field Trip, an alternative learning assessment will be available.

 Alternative learning activity:

Where a student is unable to attend the Field Trip for compassionate or medical reasons, they will undertake an exploratory online
review and report of the: benefits; risks; facilities; health services and associate health promotion activities, using the RPHIII Field Trip activities program as a guide. Students will provide a written report of no more than 1500 words on this review and be  submitted to the Course Coordinator on Thursday morning of the intensive or a date determined by reason for exemption ie certificate of illness.

Incidental Fees:

The FieldTrip is provided at no cost to students, although they are expected to have dress professionally for site visits. RPHIII students are required to:
·pay for one morning tea and one lunch during the Field Trip
·wear neat, tidy and culturally appropriate clothing with closed shoes
·provide their own sleeping bag/bedding, pillow and additional blankets if required

During the intensive period of the RPHIII course students work in groups of 4-5 with an academic mentor to:

·identify a rural health issue
·design and develop a health promotion intervention
·design the evaluation of the intervention
·group presentation of their proposed project

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Hurdle	Learning course objective(s) being addressed
Participation	Summative	10%	No	1 - 6
Online tutorial: Introduction to Rural Health	Summative	5%	No	1, 2, 4, 5 & 6
Online tutorial: Aboriginal Culture Orientation	Summative	5%	No	1, 2, 4 & 6
Group poster presentation	Summative	20%	No	1 - 6
Grant Application Outline	Summative	20%	No	1 - 6
Grant Application Proposal	Summative	40%	No	1 - 6

None

All assessment tasks are designed to enable students to develop and demonstrate their understanding of core health concepts and policy and strategies as they relate to the rural and remote context.

Students will work throughout the Trimester on the assessment tasks outlined here.

All assessment tasks will be guided by marking rubrics and the course handbook available on MyUni.

Participation (10%)
Student participation will be assessed through a combination of completion of online learning activities (Introduction to Rural Health and Aboriginal Cultural Orientation) and active involvement in all aspects of the week long intensive

Online Tutorial: Introduction to Rural Health (5%) – prior to module 1 - by the end of Week 3
Introduction to Rural Health. The Introduction to Rural Health is a self-paced short online tutorial designed to introduce students to some of the core concepts surrounding rural & remote health. Students are tracked in their use and completion of the tutorial

Online Tutorial: Aboriginal Cultural Orientation (5%) –prior to module 1 - by the end of Week 3
The workshop introduces students to Indigenous culture in preparation for the Field Trip and site visits. This online orientation component is associated with the Field Trip and is a requirement stipulated by the Port Augusta Aboriginal Community.
On completion, students must print a certificate of completion and submit before to the Course Coordinator on day one of the  intensive.

Group Poster Presentation (20%) – end of Module 5 - last day of intensive
Students are allocated to a group and are required to present a poster on a rural public health initiative of their choice. The  assessment provides an opportunity for students to develop skills in proposal development within a supported environment, to ask questions and to receive feedback

The aim of the final two assessment tasks is to integrate learning from a number of disciplinary areas and content from the RPHIII  course into the conception, development and production community grant application. The grant application is developed in two  stages: minor and major.

Grant Application Outline – minor assignment (1000 words) 20% - due end of Week 7
In the first (minor) stage students are asked to prepare an outline of their proposed grant application using the grant funding guidelines and template and submit for summative assessment and feedback.

Grant Application Proposal – major assignment (2500 words) 40% - due end of Week 11
For the second (major) stage, contributes to the full course workload for the final weeks of the course. students complete the grant application using the grant guidelines and template including any modifications made as a result of any feedback from the Grant  Application Outline. This will include the process of community engagement in the selection and design of the proposal, the outcomes to be measured and the process of evaluation of the intervention. They will also discuss ethical issues involved.

Assignments are submitted electronically via MyUni Turnitin unless otherwise advised.

A course cover page must be attached to each assignment. Students will include details on the cover page indicating the course, the assignment title, word count, name, student number, and contains a signed statement that the named student is responsible for the work contained in the assignment.

The cover page is available through MyUni.

If submitting an assignment in hardcopy, the student/s must also sign and date the hardcopy i.e. poster.

Assignments must be submitted by the 11.59pm on the due date.

Students must keep copies of all assignments submitted.

No assignment will be accepted by mail or by fax without prior written agreement from the Course Coordinator.

Feedback will be provided on the marked assignment.

The online Aboriginal Cultural Orientation will provide immediate feedback to the student.

Word count
Where applicable, word counts are specified clearly in the handbook and on MyUni. Word count is entered on the cover sheet by the student, which contains a signed declaration.

Assignments will be returned via the MyUni assignment submission system or via University email (if the system is unavailable).

Re-submission/redemption of work
Resubmission, redemption or substitution of work once assignments have been submitted will not normally be considered.

Extensions
All extensions for assignments must be requested, at the latest, by the last working day before the due date of submission.

Extensions will generally be granted only on medical or genuine compassionate grounds.

Only the Course Coordinator may grant extensions.

Documentary supporting evidence such as a medical certificate or a police report (in the case of lost computers, car & household theft etc.) will be required when requesting an extension.

Automatic extensions
All students are granted an automatic extension to the Sunday night following the due dates the assignments, for example, the first written assignment is due on the Friday at 11:59pm. However, provided students submit before 11:59pm on Sunday, there will be no lateness penalty.

Please note that this automatic extension does not change the Friday due dates of the assignments. If a student fails to submit an assignment by 11:59pm Sunday, they will be penalised for lateness for every day after Sunday in which the assignment is not  submitted. Any event that happens during the automatic extension period (the Saturday and Sunday) will not be considered grounds for an extension, irrespective of documentation.

Lateness
Marks will be deducted when assignment for which no extension has been granted are handed in late. The procedure is as follows:

All assignments, including those handed in late, will be assessed on their merits. In the case of late assignments, marks will then be deducted from the mark awarded, at the rate of 5 percentage points of the total possible per day. This policy will apply to  assignments submitted after the period of automatic extension described above i.e. if an assignment which is 2 days late is  awarded 65% on its merits, the mark will then be reduced by 10 (5 marks per day for 2 days) to 55%. If that same assignment is 4  days late its mark will be reduced by 20 (5 marks per day for 4 days) to 45% etc.

The School reserves the right to refuse to accept an assignment that is more than 7 days late.

Assignments submitted after the due date may not be graded in time to be returned on the listed return dates.

Students submitting examinable written work who request (and receive) an extension that takes them beyond the examination
period are advised that there is no guarantee that their grades will be processed in time to meet usual University deadlines.