Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Effects that social and ecological factors have on human growth, development and health. Challenges such as epidemics, natural catastrophes, industrialization, globalization, migration, poverty, war, global warming, etc, leading to evolution and adaptations. Relationships between socio-ecological challenges, their health consequences and related gene-population variations and effects on growth, development, sexual maturation, reproductive investment, and senescence and health.

COURSE DETAILS:

THE CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS IMPACTED THE CONTENT, METHOD OF DELIVERY AND EVALUATION SYSTEM OF THIS COURSE. THE INSTRUCTOR AND TEACHING ASSISTANTS ARE STILL WORKING TO ADAPT THE COURSE TO THE CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES. CONSEQUENTLY, THIS SYLLABUS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A DRAFT. IT MAY CHANGE ACCORDING TO VARIATIONS IN THE AVAILABILITY OF HUMAN AND TECHNICAL RESOURCES AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEMS INITIALLY PUT IN PLACE.

THIS COURSE WILL BE DELIVERED IN AN ONLINE FORMAT ONLY (see details below).

What technology will I need to complete the course? 

You will need a computer with access to internet that fulfils the requirements to use Canvas as listed here: https://wnc.instructure.com/courses/1065621/pages/canvas-technical-requirements?module_item_id=7762987

Do I need to be online during the posted class times?

Although the lectures will be pre-recorded, being online during the posted lecture times will be optimal to your learning, as Pablo will attempt to include “live” Q & A periods (subject to overcoming the technical difficulties associated with the large class size of this course). You can, if needed, watch the lectures after they premier.

Being online during the posted tutorial sessions is paramount, as tutorials are critical to understanding the course readings and to you having a chance to ask questions you may have about content from the tutorials and lectures.

TEAM

Instructor: Dr. Pablo A. Nepomnaschy (who prefers to be called “Pablo”)

Lectures: Wednesdays 2:30 – 5:20 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST) via CANVAS*¹
Office hours: Thursday 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM via CANVAS Blackboard Ultra Collaborate

E-mail: pablo_nepomnaschy@sfu.ca

TAs, their contact information and office hours:

To request changes in tutorial assignments (i.e., switch tutorial sections) please contact: fhs_advising@sfu.ca. Do not contact Pablo because he cannot make changes to the tutorial assignments or any issues relating to course enrollment and registration.

DISCLAIMER: THIS SYLLABUS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE TO ACCOMMODATE EVENTS TAKING PLACE DURING THE COURSE. ANY CHANGES WILL BE ANNOUNCED THROUGH CANVAS ANNOUNCEMENTS. PLEASE CHECK CANVAS REGULARLY TO LEARN ABOUT ANY CHANGES THAT MAY OCCUR.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course examines the effects that social and ecological factors have on human growth, development and health. How and why do epidemics, natural catastrophes, industrialization, poverty, war, etc, affect the evolution of our bodies and the way they work today? What phenotypic traits have they shaped?  Why would it be important to understand the evolutionary history and the ecology of the human body? Would understanding the selective forces of the past help us be healthy in the present? This course explores the links between social and ecological selective pressures of our past, evolution (changes in allele frequencies) and adaptations (modifications in the dynamic interaction between genotype, epigenotype, environment and the resulting phenotype) to modern challenges. By comparing populations exposed to a variety of social and ecological environments, we will investigate how everyday modern challenges can affect growth, development, sexual maturation, reproductive investment, and senescence and health.

The SFU Calendar describes the course as follows:

HSCI 216-3 Ecological Determinants of Human Growth, Development and Health

Effects that social and ecological factors have on human growth, development and health. Challenges such as epidemics, natural catastrophes, industrialization, globalization, migration, poverty, war, global warming, etc, leading to evolution and adaptations. Relationships between socio-ecological challenges, their health consequences and related gene-population variations and effects on growth, development, sexual maturation, reproductive investment, and senescence and health. Prerequisite: HSCI 100 or BISC 101 (NOTE: THESE PRE-REQUISITES WILL NOT BE WAIVED).

REQUIRED TEXTS

There is no textbook available for this course. It is based entirely on journal articles and book chapters. Articles are available online or digitally posted in Canvas. Slides of the lectures will be available after the day the lecture takes place. PLEASE do not ask for them beforehand. Slides are not ready before I deliver them.

PREREQUISITES

HSCI 100 or BISC 101. THESE PRE-REQUISITES WILL NOT BE WAIVED.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE

This course includes four main components: lectures, readings, tutorials and a term paper. Reading materials corresponding to each lecture/tutorial are indicated in the syllabus. Students are expected to read the assigned materials before the corresponding lecture. Students can expand on subjects of their interest by accessing the additional materials provided in Canvas.

Communication: Communications will take place through Canvas Discussion, Blackboard Collaborate Chat and Announcements. It is your responsibility to check announcements daily. You are expected to receive and deliver all course-materials through Canvas. All questions related to content must go through those Canvas communication channels. This is a large course (enrolment 275) with only 1 instructor and 4 TAs. Thus, please minimize one-to-one communication and use email only for inquiries that are of an urgent, private nature.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand the basic biological principles that underlie human life history
• Analyze basic interactions between genotype, environment and the phenotype
• Understand how ecological (i.e.: social and physical) challenges can affect life history patterns and impact health and well-being
• Evaluate the role that evolutionary theory could play in medicine and public health

Core Competencies for the BA and BSc Programs addressed in this course include:

• Core Concepts in Population and Public Health                                                             primary
• Strategies for Preventing Disease and Promoting Health                                               reinforcing
• Measuring Health and Disease                                                                                   reinforcing
• Systems and critical thinking                                                                                     reinforcing

GRADING

Assignments                                   Grade      Grade %               SFU Grade Point

Pre-lecture quizzes          33%                 A+      90-100                       4.33

Participation in tutorials   17%                  A         85-89                         4.00

Presentations in tutorials 17%                  A-        80-84                        3.67

Term paper                     33%                 B+      77-79                          3.33

                                                              B        73-76                          3.00

                                                              B-       70-72                          2.67

                                                              C+      67-69                         2.33

                                                              C        63-66                          2.00

                                                              C-       60-62                          1.67

                                                              D        50-59                          1.00

                                                              F          0-49                          0.00

NOTE 1: THERE ARE NO MID-TERMS OR FINAL EXAM IN THIS COURSE, ONLY QUIZZES EVERY LECTURE STARTING WITH THE SECOND LECTURE.

NOTE 2: In accordance with FHS Grading Guidelines for lower division (100-200 level) courses, the median course grade will be in the B range, with approximately 5% A+s given.  Professors are asked to comply with those guidelines in regular presential courses and those with large student enrollments like this one, tend to naturally present that pattern. The instructor may make changes to this syllabus if necessary, within Faculty/University regulations. This includes the possibility of scaling final grades, if they are too high or too low, to meet FHS grading guidelines.

COURSE DELIVERY:

 Lectures will be provided asynchronously. They will be pre-recorded and “premiered” (be shown for the first time) on the date and time (PST) originally scheduled*¹ before on-campus courses were suspended. Students will access lectures, attend tutorials and office hours on Canvas Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (Bb):https://canvas.sfu.ca/courses/53220/external_tools/3544

Each lecture will contain breaks as well as “synchronous” (live) questions and answer (Q&A) periods for students to ask for clarification on topics being presented. After premiering, the lectures will be posted on Bb so that students that are not able to attend the premier can have access to the material. When possible, the Q&A will be recorded and posted as well.

This course will not have midterms or final exams. Instead, starting on the second class, each lecture will start with a 4-questions multiple choice quiz which you will have 10’ to complete. This quiz will aim toevaluate your understanding of the material covered in the previous lecture and tutorial session.

 Tutorials (for details read Tutorial Protocols in Canvas Modules): Tutorials are comprised of two parts: presentations, and participation. The goal of the tutorials is to review the assigned scientific articles for each lecture (see “Readings Schedule” below). These articles are meant to complement the topics discussed during lecture. To achieve this goal, each tutorial will start with brief individual student presentations on one of the assigned articles. TAs will randomly assign articles to students at the onset of the course. Each student will prepare and record a 5-minute oral presentation highlighting the main conceptual points made by the assigned article. The other students will have the opportunity to ask conceptual questions to the presenter in writing, through Bb chat. TAs will evaluate presentations based on the accuracy of the review, overall clarity, succinctness and quality of delivery as well as the quality of the responses the presenter provides to their classmates’ questions. The details can be found in the Oral Presentation Module in the documents Oral Presentation Guidelines and Oral Presentation Marking Rubric.

After the oral presentations, students will have the opportunity to ask their TAs further questions about the scientific articles assigned as well as the materials covered in the previous lecture. These questions together with those they ask to presenters will be the base for TAs’ evaluation of students’ “Participation in tutorial”.

Term paper: Students will write a research term paper (TP) on one of the topics covered in this course. You can find examples of successful TPs from the past in the Canvas module on Term Papers. This paper shall not be longer than 5 double-spaced pages (not including references and title page).  To help on you with your TP, we will hold two workshops during lecture with the participation of Dr. Julia Lane, Writing Services Associate from the Student Learning Commons (jhlane@sfu.ca). The first will take place on Sept 23^rd and the other on Nov 4^th.

We recommend you being the TP by first writing an outline (a skeleton of your argument, perhaps in the form of a flowchart). If you want feedback on this outline, please submit it to your TA by Oct 7^th. You are encouraged to exchange drafts with a classmate for review and editing no later than Oct 21^st and that you and your peer return each other’s drafts with constructive feedback by Nov 4^th; providing 3 weeks to you to incorporate said feedback before submitting your final version on Nov 25^th  (see deadlines on LECTURES, EXAMS AND PAPERS’ SCHEDULE below).  The final grade of the TP will be based on the quality of the final paper, including the accuracy of the literature review, its overall clarity, structure, succinctness and the quality of analysis (see TP Guidelines and Rubric on Canvas Module Term Paper, and use it to guide your writing process).

LECTURE AND TERM PAPER SCHEDULE:

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

The lecturer, instructors and students are all expected to be passionate about wanting to transmit and receive knowledge. Life is too short to take courses that bore you.

All lectures and tutorials will, technology permitting, include a Q&A periods. Asking well thought questions denotes interest in a subject. We, Instructor and TAs, will do our best to answer as many of your questions as the circumstances allow.

Please be respectful of others during synchronous activities, such as tutorials. Disruptive behavior may result in exclusion from the activity.

All lectures are made available to you through CANVAS, however said materials are copyrighted and it is illegal to download, record or share them without your Instructor’s written permission.

Cheating is considered the lowest possible academic behaviour. SFU’s Guidelines for Student Conduct state that “All acts of intellectual dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action by the University.” The Faculty of Health Sciences (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 policy on academic dishonesty at https://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html. Students are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is, as explained here: https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/academic-integrity/plagiarism

SFU advocates a zero tolerance policy for academic dishonesty. Any form of academic dishonesty will result in zero points for that assignment and the instructor will recommend to the Associate Dean Education at FHS that the student get a failing grade for the course. The instructor may also recommend a formal reprimand and possible referral to the University Board on Student Discipline for potential suspension from the university.

If you find for whatever reason that you are tempted to plagiarize or otherwise cheat, don’t do it!Instead, get help. If you find yourself overly challenged or overwhelmed – as can happen to anyone -- SFU has resources to help. Instructors and TA’s hold office hours in which they can assist you with your work. SFU’s Student Learning Commons is providing  online assistance athttps://www.lib.sfu.ca/about/branches-depts/slc/online-services-during-covid-19

TURNING IN LATE ASSIGNMENTS OR MISSING A QUIZ

Students who need an alternate due date for an assignment or must miss a class quiz must send your TA and me a written request for accommodation during the first week of classes. If you know you are going to be away for an exam, contact me about it as early as possible.

What happens if you miss an assignment or an exam without having send us a previous note?

You can expect to receive an alternative exam or I may give you an oral exam. If you are late with an assignment or absent due to a medical reason or if there is a family problem that you must attend to, I require a written explanation of the reason for your absence, and some means of verification, but in the current situation I will not ask for a medical note to avoid overwhelming the medical system. Timely, professional communication and follow-through are expected. It is your responsibility to keep me posted.

Please note that regardless of the circumstances, if you must make up an exam/assignment, I reserve the right to write a new exam/assignment that could include any formats such as an oral exam, alternate essay, etc. I also reserve the right to increase the percentages of other assignments rather than have you write the missed exam/assignment.

SPECIAL COVID 19 PANDEMIC CONSIDERATIONS:

What happens if the instructor gets sick during the semester?

As a precaution to make sure that you can finish this course if the instructor unexpectedly gets sick, arrangements will be made for TAs, who are also graduate students in Pablo’s lab and are extremely knowledgeable on the courses’ topics, to continue with the course. While we hope this doesn’t happen, please rest assured that you will be able to complete the course.

Can I withdraw or switch to pass/fail like I did last semester?

There will not be specialized grading or P/F options for students in the summer term.

The withdrawal period will be extended to give you additional time to assess your comfort with remote learning.  The new dates for Intersession is June 4^th, 2020.

What grade will I get if I miss the final exam or can’t turn in a major assignment because I am sick?

If you are missing a substantial assignment or exam from your course work, you are likely to receive a letter grade including N or DE.

SFU uses the letter grade N (incomplete) when a student has enrolled in a course but did not write the final examination or otherwise failed to complete the course work and did not withdraw before the deadline date. An N is considered an F for purposes of scholastic standing.

If you negotiate a make-up schedule with your instructor, you may receive the letter grade DE (deferred). A deferred grade is a temporary grade assigned at the end of the term for incomplete course work.  Please refer to the SFU undergraduate dates and deadlines for summer term for more information on deadlines.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

COURSE OBJECTIVES  
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
•     Understand the basic biological principles that underlie human life history
•     Analyze basic interactions between genotype, environment and the phenotype
•     Understand how and ecological (i.e.: social and physical) challenges can affect life history patterns and impact health and well-being
•     Evaluate the role that evolutionary theory could play in medicine and public health  

Core Competencies for the BA and BSc Programs addressed in this course include:

• Core Concepts in Population and Public Health (primary) 
• Strategies for Preventing Disease and Promoting Health (reinforcing)
• Measuring Health and Disease (reinforcing)
• Systems and critical thinking (reinforcing)  

Grading

Materials

MATERIALS + SUPPLIES:

REQUIRED TEXTS   There is no textbook available for this course. It is based entirely on journal articles and book chapters. Articles available online or digitally are posted in Canvas. Slides of the lectures will be available after the day the lecture takes place. PLEASE, do not ask for them before hand. Slides are not ready before I deliver them.

REQUIRED READING: