Personal Health Relevance Inspires Student Engagement

in Life Science Courses

Presented by Debra F. McLaughlin, PhDChair, Natural Sciences

The Working Group classified consumption of red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A).

-Bouvard et al. (2015) Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncology Retrieved from http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanonc/PIIS1470-2045(15)00444-1.pdf

Question: Does this sound like a life-altering, behavior-modifying statement to you?

Enrollment in UMUC health-related courses

indicate that students are highly interested in courses that emphasize decisions about health and nutrition.

Human Health and Disease CourseBIOL 301-upper level elective-credit for general education science• Initially offered in the face-to-face classroom• Typically 1-2 sections per semester in the

physical classroom• Transformed for online and section numbers

went to nine (9) sections the first semester it was offered

Nutrition CourseNUTR 100-lower level credit for general education science• Initially offered in UMUC overseas division• Ran fully online Fall 2014• Fall 2014- Fall 2015 enrollments went from 9

sections to 43 sections

BIOL 301 Enrollment for Fall Semesters

2008(Face-to-face)

2009(1st online offer)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2013 2014

Number of Sections

1 7 9 10 9 10 12 15

Health-oriented course enrollment

NUTR 100 Fall 2014(1st online offer)

Spring 2015

Summer 2015

Fall 2015*

Number of Sections 9 17 28 43

*Driven by student requests

Adding Value?

Human Health and Disease• Course designed in collaboration with

physician faculty member• Physician faculty member who

– authored embedded course content modules

– Co-authored patient scenario assignment with test results

– Co-authored patient disease information pamphlet assignment

Human Health and Disease

• Introduces students to components of a physical examination

• Introduces students to scientific basis of making a diagnosis (evidence-based medicine)

Human Health and Disease• Focus on Health (Homeostasis) and Disease

throughout all five course modules• Addresses multiple disease categories for

every organ system• EXAMPLE:

Human Health and Disease• Patient Scenario

Assignment– Diagnostic test results

with reference values, including blood, urine and imaging results for a complex diagnosis

Human Health and DiseasePatient information Pamphlet Assignment

– Explains the mechanisms and treatment of a disease in lay terms

– Students selects disease topic

BIOL 301 Course Design

BIOL 301 Course Design Score (max. 5.0)

Fall 2014 4.22

Spring 2015 4.32

Summer 2015 4.23

Fall 2015 4.36

Nutrition

• Addresses science foundations (chemistry and biology) of nutrition

• Requires quantitative reasoning• Addresses nutritional needs of

individuals and families• Authored and taught by certified

nutritionists and dieticians

Nutrition – Questions Addressed

• What is the difference between organic and inorganic compounds?

• How do you use averages and simple statistics in modern nutritional science and why is it important?

• How are epidemiologic studies used in nutritional science and why is it important?

• What are the key processes of human digestion and elimination?

• What do I eat on a typical day?• What information is on a food label and how is that used with

food guide pyramids?

Nutrition – Questions Addressed (con’t)

• What are the leading causes of death and disability affecting U.S. Americans today? How are they related to nutrition?

• What is a calorie? How many calories do I need to consume every day

• What are saturated or trans fats, refined carbohydrates and amino acids? What foods contain these things?

• How do I make healthier food choices for optimal health?

Nutrition

Assignments• Diet History Analysis• Diet Journal• Primary Research Article Analysis

NutritionDiet History Analysis• Diet analysis using an online food database

and analysis program• Enter a provided menu into a food database

and compare the analysis to your dietary needs

• Conclude what changes or modifications need to be made to the diet to better meet the recommended intake for nutrients 

NutritionDiet History Analysis• Website for Diet Analysis Tool

• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/tools-supertracker

• Rubric for Diet Analysis Components• Student usual food diet analyzed for three (3) days• Includes every item consumed during the three days• Create a profile at Supertracker• Obtain a Nutrient Intake Report• Complete Tables 1 and 2 (next slide)• Submit answers to ten (10) questions related to the Nutrient

Intake Report (next slides)

NutritionDiet History AnalysisComplete Table 1

NutritionDiet History AnalysisComplete Table 2

NutritionDiet History AnalysisAnalysis (10 questions)

Example questions:2. (20 pts) Calculate your energy needs using either the Estimated Energy Requirements (EER) equation or the Harris Benedict equation that you learned about during Week #6 of this class. You will need to convert your height and weight to the appropriate units. Be sure to include your work. How do your calculated energy needs compare with the calories you consumed, on average, in Table 1? 8. (50 pts) Describe what changes you would need to make to your diet to better meet your recommendations for calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients. Be very specific! If you are lacking in a nutrient, what can you do to increase your intake of that nutrient and if you are getting too much of a nutrient and too much can be bad for you, what can you do to reduce your intake of that nutrient.

Nutrition

Journal Article Assignment Criteria• 1. What question(s) was the paper addressing; please include

the reason why this question is interesting to the authors.• 2. What is the hypothesis of hypotheses the authors are

attempting to answer?• 3. What is the key experiment and its conclusion• 4. Do the authors have any conflict of interests?• 5. Why did you pick this paper?• 6. Submit to assignment folder along with a copy of the paper

Nutrition

Faculty member’s experience with primary science article assignment“The students selected their own articles. They typically chose articles with a personal relevance. They did very well on this assignment.”

Student FeedbackNutrition*

• “All material was useful in everyday life.”• “The knowledge busted a lot of myths I had about

nutrition.”• “This course teaches you to make better choices in

food and exercise for yourself in addition to understanding the general concepts. It makes you more self aware and helps you learn from other student posts as well.”

*Similar student feedback is often received for the Human Health and Disease course.

Student Engagement

Course No. Posts Per Week*

Introduction to Biology BIOL 101 2.2

Human Biology BIOL 160 4.0

Nutrition NUTR 100 4.3

Human Health and DiseaseBIOL 301

4.9

*Average from Summer 2010 through Spring 2015

Student Success compared with other biology courses*

General Biology

Human Biology

Nutrition

Human Health and Disease

*Average from Summer 2010 through Spring 2015

Course Success Comparison

• Statistical comparison using t-Test (p values)

• All courses are statistically significantly different from BIOL 101—which has a relatively lower success rate

• Course completion success percentages are most similar for BIOL 160 and BIOL 301, which are both focused on human biology

Wrap Up

Students are drawn to health-related courses Nutrition and Human Health and Disease

Enrollments in these courses outpace course counterparts Data indicates that students exhibit relatively high engagement with content

in these courses Higher success rates are seen in these human-health related courses

compared with success rates in general biology. This performance difference is statistically significant.

Currently, general biology is the highest enrollment general education science course at UMUC due to its associated laboratory component With new laboratory kit resources available for online courses, adding a relevant human health-oriented lab component could be the answer to improved success in general education science