Teaching MethodsOrganizationIn an introductory course such as this, the lecture method of teacher-centered expository discourse relegates students to the role of listeners who are not actively engaged in the learning process. Higher level learning requires the student to become actively involved in applying concepts and methods to problems, and to exercise critical judgment by attempting to reach a solution or draw conclusions when faced with a complex set of findings. These higher level thinking skills will be continuously called upon in the classroom method, Cooperative Learning, used throughout this course.Cooperative learning is an instructional technique that brings students together in small, fixed groups to work on structured learning tasks. It enables all students to become more involved with the course material and to articulate their understanding of this material through problem-solving exercises with other members of their group. Students "who become involved in active discussion of their ideas with other students are more likely to have less irrelevant or distracting thoughts and spend more time synthesizing and integrating concepts than students who listen to lectures" (Bligh DA. What's the Use of Lectures. Penguin Press, 1992). Student-to-student interaction is positively related to critical thinking outcomes and to study habits characterized by more active thinking and less rote memorization (Smith DG. College classroom interactions and critical thinking. J Educ Psych 1977;69:180-190.) Based on these pedagogical principles, this course has been organized
such that:
Learning GroupsStudents are assigned to small groups of 8-10 students. Students are assigned to these groups at the beginning of the semester. A Teaching Assistant is assigned to work closely with two of these groups for the entire semester. Students work together in their groups each week on the module's discussion forum question. (Forums are discussed later.) Students evaluate the performance of their group members twice during the semester using a set of criteria developed by the faculty. (Peer evaluations are discussed later.)ExamsYou will be given two open book exams based on the material covered in the course. Check your Schedule for date that the exams are handed out and dates that they are due.(THE UNC HONOR CODE APPLIES HERE).PapersTwenty-five percent of your final grade will be based on a written paper. Each student will receive the same two journal articles based on current epidemiologic research. Each student will be expected to critique the epidemiology studies presented in the articles. The students will use a written set of criteria to critique the studies. Each student must work on their paper alone. (THE UNC HONOR CODE APPLIES HERE). Please Note: the articles and other materials for the written paper can be found linked under "Written Paper" under the "Modules" part of this course. A note of caution: The written paper is meant to act as a culmination of all the concepts that you have studied this semester. Even though you are given the journal articles and all the guidelines at the beginning of the semester, you will not have the tools to do this assignment until 3/4ths of the way through the semester. Guidelines for paper.
1. Articles to critique: The two journal articles for this semester will be found linked under "Written Paper" under the "Modules" part of this course. They will be announced during the semester. 2. Length: The paper can be up to 10 typewritten, double-spaced pages (excluding bibliography) with 1" margins on all sides. The paper can be shorter, as long as you can cover all the required points in less than ten pages. Please no papers more than 10 pages long! 3. Title Page: Include a title page (not included in the 10 page requirement) with the title of your paper, your name, your team number, and your PID. Show your PID on each page of your paper (you can use the header or footer utilities in your word-processor). 4. Deadline: Check the Schedule for the due date for your paper. Strict adherence to this deadline is necessary! 5. Penalty for late papers: Late papers will be penalized. For every day that a paper is late its
final grade will be lowered by one grade. (For example a student that hands in a H paper
two days late will receive a P+ on that paper. ( An H, drops to an H-, an H- drops to a
P+) 10% of your grade for the paper will be based on spelling and grammar. Please make use of the spell-check utilities in your word processing programs. Proof-read your paper for spelling, grammar, etc. If you would like some guidelines on writing papers check out this site - Online writing guide 7. Content: A. First every paper should contain the following elements: Introduction to the topic B. Remember: We expect that each student will show critical thinking in the evaluation of the literature. C. When you use information from the literature in your paper, please
reference the paper. D. When preparing your paper, follow the guidelines, and evaluation criteria for student papers that will be used to grade your paper. These guidelines tell you exactly what we are looking for. For example, a good paper requires an introduction (more substantial than saying that you will cover points 3-7) and a conclusion. Also, it is more important to demonstrate critical thinking than to describe studies. E.Consider the following points when reviewing epidemiologic studies: What question is the study attempting to address? What is the
hypothesis? How many subjects were in the target population? What is being measured in the study? How did the authors deal with potential confounding bias? Were the authors' conclusions appropriate? Evaluation Criteria for Student
Papers 1. Very Poor: L or D Organization of the paper (10% of the grade) 1. The paper is relatively free from distracting errors in spelling,
grammar, etc. Students: Please use the spell-check utilities in your word processing
programs. All articles that are referred to in the paper are properly
referenced. Students
please refer to this online writing guide 1. The paper reflects the students basic grasp of epidemiologic terminology. 2. The articles critiqued in the paper are summarized briefly and accurately, following the guidelines provided. 3. Did the student provide a clear statement of the purpose of their review? 4. Did the student provide a summary of the main points he/she was trying to make? 5. Did the student state a clear conclusion? 6. Did the student evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the studies reviewed? 7. In reviewing the literature, did the student discuss how the authors evaluated the role of chance, that is, how statistical analysis was used to test their results for significance? 8. In their critique of articles, did the student evaluate the authors consideration of potential sources of selection or information bias? 9. In their critique of articles, did the student evaluate whether the authors controlled for confounding factors in an appropriate way? 10. If appropriate, did the student discuss and apply the criteria for causality to the findings of the literature? 11. Overall, did the presentation reflect critical thinking about the
subject, i.e., the importance, background, and/or approach of articles critiqued, rather
than merely a report on the findings in the literature? NOTE: This item integrates
all the prior questions related to the written paper, and represents your grade on this
paper. Use the outline found linked on the module path to help you organize your thoughts. Remember this is just an outline! You must still write a 10 page maximum paper!
They are: Breast cancer and dietary fat by Van't Veer et al Breast cancer and dietary fat by Willett et al
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