University of North Carolina School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology

EPID600, Principles of Epidemiology for Public Health

EPID600 on the Internet - workload and time management considerations

The Internet version of EPID600 is a full, 3-credit course providing a graduate-level introduction to epidemiology. The "virtual classroom" avoids the inconvenience and loss of time associated with transportation and difficulties of coordinating daily appointments around weekly classes. Along with the convenience and comfort of your home or office, however, comes a workload approximately equivalent to the classroom version of EPID600 as taught at the UNC School of Public Health, which comes with the UNC Graduate School’s expectation of 9-12 hours/week (including time spent in class) for 3 credit-hours.

EPID600 is taught through a series of weekly modules. Each module introduces a new topic and also builds on the ones before it. Most modules include: (1) a lecture, (2) a textbook reading assignment, (3) case study questions based on a published article or hypothetical data, and (4) an online Discussion Forum in which each small group develops consensus answers to the case study questions.

Additionally, there are three examinations, the last of which consists of essay questions about an epidemiologic study. Participants are also asked to contribute peer evaluations to provide feedback to their peers on Discussion Forum participation.

To help you plan your other commitments during the semester in which you take EPID600, we offer this background about what each of the components involves.

Lectures

Each lecture is available as a one-hour (approximately) audio tutorial, which may be viewed online or downloaded. The lecture slides include verbatim speaker notes, so it is also possible to read the lecture instead of (or as well as) listening to it.

Assigned reading

One or occasionally two chapters from the course textbook are assigned each week. People read at different speeds, and some of the material may require more than one pass, so we estimate 2 hours per week.

Case Studies

Case studies are designed to give you practice in recognizing epidemiologic concepts as they arise in actual studies and in applying the concepts and measures you are learning through the lectures and textbook. Sometimes new concepts will be introduced in the case study. The case study questions will guide you through reading and analyzing an epidemiologic study and help prepare you for the examinations (several case studies have been adapted from past exams). For 4-5 of the questions you are invited to submit your answers via webform in advance of the group discussion. We estimate that the case study will require 4-5 hours.

Discussion Forums

Small-group discussions are a key component of EPID600 online. In place of a classroom discussion, a weekly Discussion Forum provides an opportunity to interact with other members of the class. Discussion forums are oriented around the case study questions. Participating in the Discussion Forum means working the case study and answering the questions, reading the contributions of the other 6-10 participants in your small group, and making substantive contributions of your own.

Each Discussion Forum generally lasts about 5 days (please refer to the current course schedule). Discussion of the case study questions stimulates your thinking and deepens your understanding of epidemiologic concepts and how to integrate them with background knowledge possessed by you and your peers in the small group. A teaching assistant serves as a consultant to your group.

Each group member facilitates one or two forums. In order that the Forum functions as a real discussion, contributions should be spaced out during the period of the forum. The objective is a true interaction among the group members, carried out over a period of days to avoid the difficulties of finding a two-hour time-slot for a synchronous or "real time" discussion.

The Discussion Forums require time for thinking and possibly reading about the discussion question(s), reading the postings from others, composing and submitting one's own postings, and reading and responding to responses from others. (Note that there is an option to collect all of the postings to date into a single document, rather than read postings one by one on-line, which can be time-consuming and tedious, especially if the system is not responding rapidly.) Because of the time to read posts, please use techniques to make reading more efficient. For example, if your comment is very brief, put the comment in the Subject line and say "no text" (e.g., "I agree - no text"). That way others can simply read your message in the subject line of the post and know they do not need to click it.

Although it can be fun to use the Forum for informal chatting as well, if you wish to have such conversations with your small group, ask your teaching assistant to create a separate forum for "off=line" discussions so that these won't interfere with ease of scanning the regular forums.

Exams

Exams are take-home, open book, and are given over about a week. All exams come under the UNC Honor System. UNC regards the Honor Code very seriously, and the EPID600 instructors are committed to enforcing its requirements. Be sure to pay careful attention to examination instructions.

We estimate that each exam requires 8-12 hours not including time for reviewing lectures, textbook, and case studies. It is recommended that one read the exam questions and the article on which they are based the day or day after they become available, so that one's mind begins to reflect on them. Then one has some familiarity when returning to actually work the exam, ideally a few days before the due date. Exam answers are submitted through on-line webforms.

Travel and vacations

Many of us have responsibilities that involve travel, and especially during summer most of us take a vacation. The Internet course is more flexible with respect to travel and vacations than is the classroom course, because there are few activities tied to a specific day or time. Case studies can be completed in advance, exams can be submitted early, and Discussion Forums do not require daily participation (except for the facilitator). However, EPID600 is a semester-long course, and the expectation is that all those who register are committing to be available through the entire semester.

The instructors attempt to accommodate conflicts by making available course materials sufficiently in advance so that students can "get ahead" and can provide limited flexibility in due dates for examinations and the final paper (see Final paper instructions). However, the instructors also have a need to schedule their work, and in a large class it is impossible to accommodate much variation from the published schedule.

Although EPID600 is not sufficiently flexible to accommodate extended time away from the Internet (though we of course do make allowances for illness, family emergencies, employer requirements, etc.), it is certainly possible to pass the course - indeed, to do very well in it - without doing every assignment. Since most of us find ourselves having to make compromises across our various responsibilities and desires, we encourage a philosophical attitude. With the widespread availability of the Internet, it is possible to continue to participate from many kinds of vacations, so arranging a vacation that is compatible with the course requirements may avoid even that sacrifice.

 

Updated 8/2/2005vs, 8/20/2007vs