Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Philosophical, disciplinary, and social groundings for inquiry, evaluation, and interdisciplinarity in health sciences research. Issues in research design, professionalism, engagement, and higher education.

COURSE DETAILS:

Faculty of Health Sciences   HSCI 903 Syllabus Interdisciplinary seminar in the health sciences: engagement in higher education, research, and citizenship for emerging health scholars [1]  

Instructor:         Dr. Tim Takaro
Phone:               778 - 782-7186                          
Email:                 ttakaro@sfu.ca                  
Office:                BLU  11518                                                                                         
Office Hours:    by appointment
Dates:                January 4 to April 5 - Thursdays 9:30 – 12:20 (or 11:30 for FHS seminars)
Location:            BLU 9920 (same as FHS Research Seminar)  

HOW TO REACH ME
After class: I'm often available for a few minutes after class. If that doesn't work out, please email me to arrange an appointment.
Canvas: For course related questions, in general please use the DISCUSSION utility on Canvas. Canvas is usually a good way to have simple questions about the course answered in a timely manner. Your question may relate to something that another student may be wondering, too, or a fellow student knows the answer.
Email: For personal/individual matters or if you don't get a response from me via Canvas within 24 hours, please contact me by email. To help me notice and quickly respond to your email, put HSCI903 at the start of the subject line. Prerequisites:  Admission to the MSc program, or the MPH (thesis) program, or the PhD program in the Faculty of Health Sciences, or consent of the instructor.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE SYLLABUS AND TIMETABLE:
Over the course of the semester, within department/university regulations and in consultation with students, I may make slight changes to the topics, specific required readings, and details regarding topics and assignments. I'm also likely to post additional recommended or optional readings and materials as the course unfolds; they will be posted in class slides or simply added to folders Canvas.  

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is third of the HSCI 900 series of courses designed to prepare students for their thesis research. It builds on HSCI 902 as an advanced seminar that examines modes of learning and research inquiry in the health sciences. It places students'/researchers' work within the context of disciplinary cultures, academia, and broader societal pressures and needs. Most professionals in the health sciences need to work effectively across disciplinary boundaries, whether this involves team research, study collaboration, serving on review panels, or simply understanding and respecting the way that different disciplines produce and apply knowledge. Clarifying and recognizing the disciplinary underpinnings, professional contexts, and assumptions that guide health professionals and research projects should help us in our interdisciplinary endeavors.

To foster interdisciplinary communication and professional and personal growth, a core theme of the course is engagement: what it means to be engaged students, scholars, researchers, and citizens. Engagement is at the heart of SFU’s strategic vision to be “the leading engaged university defined by its dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement.” HSCI 903 will explore our understandings of engagement in a number of ways, including: in our higher education activities; in our disciplinary roots, in our methodologies, in our research topics, in our interdisciplinary pursuits, in our service with the broader communities in which we live, and in our individual and collective missions. It will address issues at the core of interdisciplinarity. This will include the philosophical bases underlying research design, discipline-based norms, the valuation of different types of inquiry and evidence, the informational, technological, professional, and environmental contexts in which we live, and the ethical dimensions of being an engaged scholar and citizen.

The structure of the course is designed to facilitate discussion and communication among students who already have considerable, but highly diverse, multi- or inter-disciplinary expertise, who are increasingly comfortable with the expert and often exclusionary jargons of their own disciplines, and who have diverse visions for their professional futures, yet who can still benefit from a core seminar that addresses the shared needs of all class members. As the instructor/curator, my role is to provide a general structure, including a set of topics and resources to explore and select from. Within that structure, class members may direct their own routes through course topics to considerable extent.

COURSE FORMAT: One class session each week. The 3-hour sessions will usually consist of a bit of background, followed by in-class exercise(s) and/or discussion and/or presentations. This will be supplemented by contributions by a number of FHS faculty during the term.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENTS: The goal of the course is to build students' competencies regarding partnerships, professionalism, collaboration, and communication, as they gain knowledge and build skills in interdisciplinarity in the health sciences. At the end of this course, course participants should meet the learning objectives of being able to:  

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM: SFU’s Guidelines for Student Conduct state, “All acts of intellectual dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action by the University.” FHS adheres to SFU policies regarding academic dishonesty. These include having a report submitted for every case to the Academic Integrity Advisor of FHS and SFU. Students should read SFU's general policies on student conduct including the Code of Student Conduct, Code of Academic Honesty, and Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Procedures: seehttp://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/ or in the current SFU Calendar. Students are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is, as explained in this tutorial:http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/tutorials/plagiarism-tutorial.  Any student found cheating on an HSCI 903 assignment is likely to receive a grade ofzero on that work. In this course, this includes significantly drawing on a paper or assignment you yourself have done for another course; don't do that unless you get permission from me first. If you are working in pairs on a written or video assignment, realize that both people get the same grade (or penalty) which is for all the work regardless who contributed what. If you find for whatever reason that you are tempted to plagiarize or otherwise cheat, do not do it! Instead, get help. If you find yourself overwhelmed – as can happen to anyone - SFU has resources to help. SFU’s Academic Advice Centre has drop-in hours.  Seek out SFU’s resources to help you.  

STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Simon Fraser University recognizes and affirms the rights of students with disabilities who are academically qualified to have full, fair and equal access to all University services, programs and facilities and to be welcomed as participating members of the University community (see http://www.sfu.ca/policies/general/gp26.htm). Students seeking academic accommodation for a disability should contact the SFU Centre for Students with Disabilities. Any student with a disability who would like to discuss any assistance or accommodation that he/she may require should contact me early in the course.

EXPECTATIONS FOR PROFESSIONALISM IN BEHAVIOUR: As an advanced seminar, the course's success will depend on the active involvement of all members of the class. Alert and appropriate, participatory attendance is the first requirement. Ground rules for the class thus include: a) adequate preparation, especially reading/viewing; all students should come to class with comments and questions in mind; b) attendance (you cannot participate if you are not present), and c) no use of laptops, personal computers, or cell phones please, except in the case that we use them for in-class exercises, searches, or a tutorial session. Possible exception: If your custom is to take notes on class lectures/exercises on your computer, let me know at the beginning of the course. The use of cell phones in any capacity (phone, texting, internet, email, etc.) is prohibited in this class. You are expected to turn your phone off or put it on silent during the class. For any exceptions (i.e., an emergency), let me know.  

GUEST FACULTY INSTRUCTORS One of the goals of the course is to provide students with an opportunity to discuss the research and academic work of a number of FHS faculty members. Accordingly, during the term, various members of the faculty will be invited to speak to the class, normally on issues related to the focus of that particular week’s readings. (However, in some cases the ‘fit’ may not be quite perfect, given their schedules.) During these presentations, students will also have the opportunity to ask faculty more general questions associated with faculty members’ overall research programs and their perspectives on academic and university issues.   

[1] This course outline was originally designed by Dr. Kitty Corbett and modified by Dr. Marina Morrow and Dr. John Calvert

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Learning Objectives	Activities and Assessments
1. Demonstrate scholarly and personal engagement with current issues relevant to higher education and interdisciplinarity in the health sciences.	Class / online exercises and reflections. Preparation for classes (reading, online work).
2. Demonstrate understanding of methodologies and processes of conducting diverse types of health science research, including interdisciplinary work.	Class / online exercises and reflections. Interviewing exercise & interview.
3. Demonstrate an enhanced capacity to describe and cope effectively with professional expectations and contextual constraints.	Class / online exercises and reflections.
4. Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively their own research frameworks, topics, and work activities to non-specialist audiences as well as to students in other disciplines.	Poster or video preparation. Class / online / homework exercises.
5. Demonstrate the capacity to describe and foster a supportive community of practice for FHS thesis-based graduate students.	Class participation, class facilitation, and reflections.

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

READINGS & TECHNOLOGY:

An assortment of readings from websites and journal articles can be found online or via the SFU library webpage. The course schedule, some materials, and various other essential links will be available to students on SFU’s Canvas online course utility. The lists of readings (especially the sets of optional or recommended ones) for each module are likely to grow week by week over the course - check folders with readings periodically, and note that not all readings in syllabus or recommended in class (i.e., in class slides) will be available there. Slides or notes from class, including the instructor's and students' materials, should be posted within three days of their presentation in class. Access Canvas frequently! Announcements may be posted there or in class slides.

REQUIRED READING:

RECOMMENDED READING: