Syllabus

Science Prerequisites for Health Professionals

BIOL 1030: Pathophysiology: Mechanisms of Diseases – Spring 2019

Credits - 4

Description

Overview

Pathophysiology is the study of disordered physiological processes associated with disease.

This course is an introduction to pathophysiology designed especially to meet the needs of students preparing for careers in the health professions – for example, Physician Assistant, Pharmacy,  Medicine, Nursing, and Dental Hygiene.

This course focuses on the changes in cellular and systemic physiology that occur in prevalent or important medical conditions. At the cellular level we will cover the responses to tissue injury, abnormal cell growth and the immune system. From there we will investigate the physiological basis of problems associated with most of the major organ systems. In each case we will discuss the effect upon whole body homeostasis. This course will build on prior knowledge of anatomy and physiology as we explore body functions in altered health conditions. The primary teaching methods will be online audio lectures with slides, textbook reading, and online assessments, supplemented with multi-media resources including interactive tutorials and animations.

Student Portal: Your Best UNE Resource

We created the UNE Online Student Portal specifically for you, to be a useful collection of information to support you as you navigate your online course(s).

From the Student Portal you can access:

• Blackboard
• Technical Support
• Library
• Bookstore
• UNE Email
• U-Online

The portal also features:

• Dates to Remember
• Support and Services
• Contact information for your Support Specialist
• Academic Resources – links to the Academic Calendar, Registrar and Academic Calendar
• Financial – links to eBilling, Financial Aid and Student Accounts

Study Lounge

The Study Lounge Discussion Board is a designated support forum in which students may engage with each other and grapple with course content. Feel free to post questions, seek clarification, and support each other, but be mindful of UNE’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Your instructor will monitor this forum. However, if you are seeking specific and timely answers to questions about content-matter or your personal grades, please contact your instructor via course messages. For questions about course materials, program policy, and how to navigate and proceed through the course, please contact your Student Support Specialist through the course messaging system.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Program Outcomes

In lecture courses, students should be able to:

1. Communicate scientific concepts and information clearly.
2. Illustrate fundamental laws, theories, and principles of scientific disciplines.
3. Apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to scientific problems.

Course Objectives

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

• Explain the concept, classification, etiology of disease states and imbalances. 

• Analyze how health deviations alter normal physiology. 

• Describe the alterations in cells, tissues, and organs that occur with disease and how they affect the body functions.
• Describe the clinical manifestations of diseases and the most commonly used tests and procedures to diagnose them. 

• Discuss the most frequent complications of diseases and their prognoses.
• Set the pathophysiological foundation for treatments.  

SELF PACED DESIGN

On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.

Assignments

Lectures and Assignments

This course requires the following prerequisite prior to registering for the course: Successful completion of Anatomy and Physiology (200 level preferred) or equivalent with permission of the instructors.

Students are expected to log in at least three times a week for the entire course. All required assignments and assessments will be posted inside the UNE Blackboard course module. Each module will have learning objectives, lectures, assigned reading, online activities, and self assessments, followed by a weekly quiz. 

Examination and Grading Information  

Midterm and Final Exam

Exams will be taken through ProctorU (see below), and will consist of approximately 50 multiple-choice type questions (each) with seventy-five minutes (each) allowed for completion. The Midterm exam covers material from Weeks 1-7; the final exam covers Weeks 9-15. These tests are closed book and no notes are permitted. Back-tracking is permitted on these exams. No re-takes are allowed, except under extraordinary conditions (e.g., documented technical problem).

14 Weekly Quizzes

The quiz for each week (except Weeks 8 and 16) will consist of approximately 10 multiple-choice and multiple-answer type questions. Quizzes will be taken through Blackboard, and may be taken open book, but will be timed, with fifteen minutes allowed for completion and no backtracking.

3 Student Presentations

There are three recorded presentations required in the course, due in Weeks 2, 9 and 15. 

For Weeks 2 and 9, you will be asked to record 5-minute presentations, without using slides, in which you need to exhibit deep enough understanding of specified concepts and terms to explain those concepts and terms orally. Please go to the course week in which each is due and refer to 

In Week 15, you will be asked to record a presentation with slides on a disease of your own choosing. You will need to research the disease and describe certain details about the syndrome in your presentation—see detailed instructions for list of details you are required to cover.

Please go to the course week in which each of the presentations is due to find the detailed instructions for these assignments, and study them carefully.

Presentation Rubric:

 

Criteria	Proficient	Competent	Novice	Not Evident
Coverage of concepts	Presentation touches upon all concepts/details listed in the instructions for the student to cover.	One or two concepts/details listed in the assignment instructions are not covered in the presentation.	More than two of the concepts / details in the instructions for the assignment go un-addressed.
Accuracy	Student accurately describes all concepts/details and aspects that he or she touches upon over the course of the presentation.	One or two concepts/details are incorrectly described.	Student regularly incorrect.
Presentation Mechanics	Student is able to clearly describe subject-matter concepts and, where directed, cleanly integrate media (such as slides) into presentation. If slides are not used, student does not need to refer to notes. Ideas are organized. Any sources of information are clearly cited.	Otherwise solid presentation is occasionally undermined by lack of focus or disorganization. If slides are not used, student rarely refers to notes. Any sources of information are cited.	Presentation disorganized or regularly unclear. Student regularly pauses to refer to notes. Sources of information go uncited. Slides (if used) have errors in them and/or are disorganized.

Case Studies / Quizzes

There are 6 Case Studies with associated quizzes in the course. These case studies portray a patient-provider care situation, and you will be prompted to answer Matching questions using details from the case studies to inform your answers. 

Discussions

There are several discussions in the course, in which you will be expected to draw from the course material, and sometimes material from outside the course, in order to post and participate. 

Discussion rubric:

Criteria	Proficient	Competent	Novice	Not Evident
Communication of Scientific Concepts and Information	Post and responses clearly demonstrate mastery of the course concepts and information, the ability to communicate complex ideas through writing, and relevance to the prompt or question.	Post and responses show general accuracy about course concepts, some challenges in communicating complex ideas through writing, and are largely relevant to the prompt or question.	Post and responses show some potentially serious misunderstandings of course concepts, significant challenges in communicating complex ideas through writing, or are only tangentially relevant to the prompt or question.	Post and/or responses show no clear understanding of course concepts, disorganized or incoherent writing, or are irrelevant to the prompt or question.
Critical and Innovative Thinking	Post and responses are characterized by clarity of argument, depth of insight into course content, and ability to use course content and ideas to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and responses present an argument, show some insight into course content, and attempt to use course content to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and responses lack a clear argument, show little insight into course content, or do not make a sincere attempt to create new knowledge or solve real-world problems.	Post and/or responses do not demonstrate critical or innovative thinking in response to the prompt, question, or classmates’ posts.
Response to Another Student #1	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows substantive and insightful engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows some engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that is generic (providing little detail or explanation) or that otherwise does not engage substantively with the original post.	Did not respond to classmate’s post.
Response to Another Student #2	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows substantive and insightful engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that shows some engagement with the original post, and that facilitates ongoing discussion.	Provided response to classmate’s post that is generic (providing little detail or explanation) or that otherwise does not engage substantively with the original post.	Did not respond to classmate’s post.
Writing Skill, Grammar, and AMA Formatting	Post and responses are free of grammar and spelling errors. Writing shows command of standard written English conventions. All sources are cited with AMA formatting.	Some errors in grammar or spelling, but errors do not make the meaning of the post or responses unclear. Sources used are cited, though potentially with minor errors in AMA formatting.	Regular, recurring errors that make the original post and/or responses confusing at times to the reader, or sources are not cited or are incorrectly cited using AMA formatting.	Writing was extremely difficult to follow due to regular, recurring grammatical or spelling errors, or garbled sentence structure.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Percentage Grade Value
Weekly Quizzes (14, each worth 1% of the final grade)	14%
Case Studies (6, each worth 2% of the final grade)	12%
Discussions (5, each worth 1.2% of the final grade)	6%
Student Presentations (3, worth 4%, 4% and 5% of the final grade)	13%
Dissection Labs (4, each worth 2.5% of the final grade)	10%
Midterm	20%
Final	25%
Total	100%

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00