Course Coordinator: Professor Peng Bi
Phone: +61 8313 3583
Email: peng.bi@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Level 8, Hughes Building

Learning and Teaching Team
Phone: +61 8313 2128
Email: undergrad_enq@adelaide.edu.au

1	Use core epidemiological concepts in assessing, monitoring and protecting population health;
2	Interpret key epidemiological measures in the health literature and report findings appropriately
3	Describe the role that quantitative measures of health and social welfare play in the development and evaluation of health policy;
4	Explain the rationale and uses of surveillance, and compare the strengths and limitations of surveillance approaches;
5	Demonstrate understanding of the need for, and approaches to, evaluation of public health initiatives;
6	Judge both the potential for and the limitations of evaluating complex interventions and policy change;
7	Explain how social determinants influence health and interpret measures of social determinants of health.

The teaching will be organised into three modules covering a range of topics and applications within each. For this reason, no one text book would be appropriate to all three modules, the reading material will be in the form of relevant chapters from a range of books, digital copies of literature (both recently published and seminal) and links to relevant websites.

Please see 'Required Resources' section.

We assume that you have access to student e-mail and that your address is the University of Adelaide student’s e-mail address that was assigned to you on enrolment.

We will send our messages to your official University of Adelaide student e-mail address and assume that you read your e-mail. The announcements page of the MyUni site for this course will also display relevant notices from time to time.

MyUni is the primary entry point to online learning at the University of Adelaide. MyUni will be used to provide students with access to course materials, announcements, and other features to assist your study.

Some assessments (quizzes and assignments) will be required to be submitted online through MyUni. There may also be other online learning activities to supplement lectures and/or practical face-to-face sessions.

Within each module of the course there are a number of teaching and learning modes.
Lectures are intended to introduce concepts and illustrate their use, providing both factual information and reinforcing numerical concepts in public health.

Practicals provide an interactive forum to apply concepts from lectures and clarify understanding. These are generally problem-solving sessions, providing an opportunity for ‘hands on’ work with the concepts taught and applied to population data. Some lectures may also contain practical and interactive components.

Each module uses a quiz to confirm understanding of fundamental concepts and allow for identification of areas requiring further study prior to undertaking the relevant assessments.

Three assignments (one for each module) provide an opportunity for independent application and exploration and analysis of key concepts, for wider reading and for synthesis of concepts and literature.

The exam will provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they have learnt, drawing together concepts and showing that they have developed their understanding through the course.

Teaching in Essentials of Epidemiology II begins with the assumption that students are active participants in the learning process, rather than passive recipients of information. We assume that you are willing and able to prepare fully for classes, to participate in discussions and to carry your share of the workload. Students are expected to attend all sessions.

As a general rule, in any university course you will need to allow a minimum of three independent study hours for every hour undertaken in formal class work contact. As a 3-unit course, Essentials of Epidemiology II will require approximately 3 contact hours per week by attending lectures (2 hours) and practicals (1 hour). This means that you will have to set aside at least a further nine hours per week for reading around topics, preparation for class activities, and work on assignments.

You are urged to bear this in mind when planning your university timetable, particularly if you are also engaged in paid employment. In our experience, students may not be able to demonstrate their full capacity if they are working full-time and studying full-time.

A detailed timetable of classes and assessment tasks will be available in the course Handbook, and on MyUni. The topics covered in lectures and practicals include:

· Methods of surveillance of chronic conditions and infectious diseases, including strengths and limitations of different approaches
· Social determinants of health and theories of disease causation
· Measuring social determinants of health and health inequalities
· Public health policy and health inequalities
· Evaluating public health interventions using methods including randomised controlled trials, non-randomised studies, economic  evaluations and qualitative and quantitative approaches.

None.

Elements of small group discovery experience will be introduced in some practical sessions.

Assessment Task	Assessment Type	Weighting	Learning Outcome(s) being addressed
Module 1 written assignment	Summative	15%	1, 2, 3, 4
Module 2 written assignment	Summative	15%	1, 2, 3, 5, 6
Module 3 written assignment	Summative	15%	1, 2, 3, 7
Quizzes @ 5% per module	Summative	15%	2, 4, 6, 7
Exam	Summative	40%	2, 3, 4, 5, 7

Students are required to attend, and expected to actively participate, in practicals. A sign-in sheet will be provided for each practical for students to sign.
Attendance at lectures is expected. While attendance at lectures will not be checked, we strongly recommend that you attend. You will get more from the lectures if you are involved, and try to make sense of the material being presented. There will be many opportunities throughout the lectures for interaction, discussion and questions.

There will be at least one summative quiz in each module, with a weighting of 5% per module and a total weighting of the quizzes   across the three modules of 15%. The questions will generally be multiple choice or short answer and will cover core concepts  addressed in the lecture, practical and reading material. Students will access the quizzes on MyUni. Results will be automatically  available or fed back to students.

Students are required to submit a 1500 word assignment (weighting 15%) for each module (a total of three written assignments,  45%). Further details, including range of topic choice, will be available by the first week of each module, but each will include the  following components: literature review; information evaluation and synthesis; reporting to a defined audience. Students will be asked to use core epidemiological concepts, to assess and interpret epidemiological measures in health literature, to explain how  health inequalities are measured, and to demonstrate their understanding of the approaches to evaluate public health initiatives.

A two-hour exam at the end of course (weighting 40%) will involve multiple choice and short answer questions, and will assess your  learning on the content of all three modules.

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.  Supporting documentation must be  provided at the time a student requests an extension.  Without documentation, extensions will not be granted.  Late requests for extension will neither be accepted nor acknowledged.

Only the Course Co-ordinator(s) may grant extensions.

Supporting documentation will be required when requesting an extension. Examples of documents that are acceptable include: a  medical certificate that specifies dates of incapacity, a police report (in the case of lost computers, car & household theft etc.), a  letter from a Student Counsellor, Education and Welfare Officer (EWO) or Disability Liaison Officer that provides an assessment of  compassionate circumstances, or a letter from an independent external counsellor or appropriate professional able to verify the  student’s situation.  The length of any extension granted will take into account the period and severity of any incapacity or impact  on the student.  Extensions of more than 10 days will not be granted except in exceptional circumstances.

Late submission
Marks will be deducted when assignments for which no extension has been granted are handed in late.

All assignments, including those handed in late, will be assessed on their merits.  In the case of late assignments where no  extension has been granted, 5 percentage points of the total marks possible per day will be deducted.  If an assignment that is 2  days late is awarded 65% on its merits, the mark will then be reduced by 10% (5% per day for 2 days) to 55%.  If that same  assignment is 4 days late, the mark will be reduced by 20% (5% per day for 4 days) to 45%, and so on.

The School of Public Health 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.
 
Resubmission
If a student is dissatisfied with an assessment grade they should follow the Student Grievance Resolution Process  <https://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/grievance/process/>.  Students who are not satisfied with a particular assessment result should raise their concerns with Course Co-ordinator(s) in the first instance.  This must be done within 10 business days of the  date of notification of the result.  Resubmission of any assignment is subject to the agreement of the Course Co-ordinator(s) and will only be permitted for the most compelling of reasons.