Evaluating Learning

Assignments

Students were assigned questions as homework prior to class discussion of the topics to help ensure reading of assigned materials in a timely fashion. In addition students were assigned several short papers during the semester on select topics. A sample assignment is included below:

Energy Metabolism - Chapter 6

Homework Questions

1) What are the three principal components of energy expenditure and what are their percentage contributions to total daily energy output?

2) What is the difference between anaerobic and aerobic metabolism?

3) What does "Fats burn in a carbohydrate flame" mean?

4) What is a respiratory quotient (RQ) and what do they tell us?

5) What is the caloric value of oxygen and why does it vary?

6) What is metabolic rate and what factors impact it?

7) What is DIT and why is the data in humans unclear?

8) Based on what you have read about energy metabolism why is it better to avoid obesity in the first place than to try and reverse it?

9) What appears to be the most effective way to ensure oxidation of fat and why?

10) Using the Case Study on pg 225 estimate your RMR. What was the highest and lowest estimate and are there any factors not reflected in these formulas that might influence your metabolic rate?

Course Management and Strategies

The course was taught in a team-oriented format. There were 2 co-instructors who covered the majority of the biological, nutritional, and health-related curriculum. In addition, there were other faculty members who contributed to both lecture and lab in their areas of expertise: a psychologist, occupational therapist (who is well versed in the sociological issues surrounding obesity), and a physical therapist (who offered her insight into the vital role of exercise in weight control and disease prevention). Although the University of Hartford's exercise physiologist was unable to guest lecture last semester, she consulted us on lab course content. Outside speakers were also used to cover topics including bariatric surgery and obesity in the clinical treatment setting.

All materials and assignments were managed through a Blackboard website specifically designed for the course. Numerous strategies were used to engage the educational experience including group discussions.

Grading Policy

Class/homework assignments: 35%
Laboratory: 35%
Make-a-Difference Project: 30%

Evaluation and Assessment

Standardized University of Hartford AUC student evaluations were given at the end of the semester and a final brief questionnaire was also given on the last day of the semester. The quantitative and qualitative evaluations for this course were outstanding. The students almost unanimously indicated that the course had really impacted their life and had changed how they viewed science, nutrition and the obesity issue.

Laboratory

Laboratory responsibilities, expectations and grading of each lab will be discussed at
each laboratory. There are no make-up labs. Attendance at laboratory is mandatory to
pass this course. Missing 3 labs or more will result in a non-passing grade.

Make-a-Difference Project

The Make-a-Difference project will constitute a semester long project where each student will each adopt a "subject" from the University of Hartford Magnet School. The class will collect and analyze the data (including BMI, age, gender, race) from all 3rd-5th grade students at the Magnet School. All students in those grades will be asked to complete food and activity surveys over a 4 day period. The most complete surveys will be used as "subjects". Each student will then work with the data from their subject to examine diet, physical activity, caloric input and output and then make assessments and general recommendations based on "best practices". In collaboration with the school nurse, physical education teacher and visiting doctor student reports will be "screened" and then shared with the families to help make-a-difference in the families' lives. This project will be discussed and implemented in the first few weeks of class and will culminate in project presentations to all students and interested families at the Magnet School at the end of the semester.

Semester Long Research Project

Make a-Difference Project

This project constitutes 45 % of your final grade and is broken up into three parts.

Part 1 - General Term Paper

In this portion of the project you will write a term paper (~20 pages double-spaced plus references) that will bring together all that you have been exposed to and have learned in this course. This paper is your opportunity to present the obesity issue in total including discussing the following topics:

I. Introduction to the problem- statistics, prevalence, etiology, nationally and in CT.

II. Diseases associated with obesity (diabetes, cardiovascular, hypertension, dyslipidemia, etc.) and the problems they represent in health and cost.

III. Nutrition- good versus bad ("whole" vs. processed carbohydrates, fats - plant based vs animal based vs. trans fats, vitamins/minerals, water, phytochemicals, sugar substitutes, antioxidants, etc.-how do the food chemicals you consume, natural or artificial, affect biology, wellness, and the risk of developing obesity and other chronic problems. How do the chemicals that you consume, smell, or see, affect one's natural ability to regulate intake)

IV. Metabolism- how energy is stored, energy intake vs. expenditure, BMR, thermogenesis, physical activity- what you can change and what you can't change.

V. Eating behavior, hunger, satiety...endocrinology and psychology...is our behavior hereditary or not.

VI. Treatments: The physiological and psychological impacts of
Changing Diet
Changing Physical activity
Non-behavioral approaches

VII. Why treatments work differently for different people.

VIII. What are the societal issues that are impacted by and influence obesity.

VIII. Take home lesson----the complexity of the problem.

Part 2 - Magnet School Subject

In this portion of the project you will conduct analyses of the food and physical activity logs from the Magnet School subjects. Using your general term paper as reference you will evaluate the status of your subject and then make observations and "general wellness recommendations" on nutrition and physical activity based on "best practices" that you have learned in class.

Part 3 - Posters for Health/Wellness Fair

In this portion of the project you will be broken up into groups of 4-5 and you will be assigned a topic to present in a poster format at the presentation to the Magnet School. As this project is geared towards 3rd-5th graders and their parents we will be looking for creative ways to make this event both fun and informative (puzzles, games, etc.).

Make-a-Difference Project:

In March 2004, the Center for Disease Control announced that the second leading cause of death in 2000 was poor diet and physical inactivity. We now recognize that obesity is a public health crisis in Connecticut and the nation. In 2005, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, recognizing the crisis, published Connecticut's Plan for Health Promotion entitled "Healthy Eating and Active Living". This plan has 3 major goals: "to develop a comprehensive state infrastructure for obesity prevention and control, develop, implement and evaluate a community-level model for obesity prevention and control and create a mechanism for promoting and tracking environmental and policy changes and outcomes related to promotion of increased physical activity and improved nutrition practices." Connecticut's plan is a necessary step in the fight against obesity and it's related morbidities.

Obesity prevalence in Connecticut increased from 10.9% in 1991 to 18.0 % in 2002. Childhood obesity is a major concern as it is a health condition likely to continue into adulthood and to increase the risk of development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease earlier in life. In New Haven, type 2 diabetes is being diagnosed as young as age 5, and 40% of newly diagnosed cases of diabetes in youth are Type 2. Since problem behaviors or practices significantly involve parental influence and the environment the current project is designed to focus on both of those issues.

Project Design

The Make-a-Difference project is a collaboration between the University of Hartford and the University of Hartford Magnet School. The project is defined in outline form below.

1) The following data will be collected anonymously from every student in the Magnet school and will be analyzed statistically by the University of Hartford students for correlation/causation.
- Body Mass Index (BMI)
- age
- gender
- race
- number of days absent from school
- blood pressure
- heart rate
- blood glucose (if possible)

Based on the results from the analyses, Magnet school students will be selected for possible inclusion in the study. Candidates will be selected based on BMI (normal, overweight and obese), age, gender and race to establish a balanced study. Up to 50 students will be selected so that each UH student in the course will have a test subject from the Magnet school.

2) Identities of the Magnet school students who agree to participate will never be disclosed to the UH students or any other party unless specifically requested and granted by the test subjects and their families.

3) Letters (see letter) inviting students to participate in the semester long project will be mailed to families by the Magnet school. Students, who in consultation with their families, agree to participate will be asked to do the following over the course of the semester.

- Keep a diary of their eating routine for 4 days (including over a weekend). This diary will include amounts and time of day when each meal or snack is consumed. These data will be used to calculate total caloric input.

- Keep a diary of their physical activity/inactivity for 4 days (including over a weekend). This diary will include a description of and amounts of time and time of day for all activity/inactivity.

4) University of Hartford students will also analyze the meals and snacks that are made available to the Magnet school students during a typical school day. Analyses will be used to calculate actual as well as possible caloric input based on what is selected for consumption versus what is available for consumption.

5) In consultation with University of Hartford professors and the Magnet school staff the University of Hartford students will present their research findings at the end of the semester to the families and their children at an evening event. At this event the students will be asked to share/demonstrate what they have learned regarding the benefits of good nutrition, exercise and other behavioral modifications that help to contribute to healthier lifestyles.

6) The University of Hartford professors are offering this course for the first time and intend to make this a yearly course that will continue to work with the Magnet school to benefit both communities. The professors intend to publish/present the results of their study at the Summer Institute for SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities). The project supervisors agree to acknowledge all appropriate contributors to the study and to protect the anonymity of all test subjects as well as show all completed work to the CREC administration prior to any submission for review for publication consideration.