Course Coordinator:Katharina Merollini (kmerolli@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Public Health
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
In this advanced course you will explore the science of epidemiology which is about understanding the distribution, patterns, determinants of health and wellbeing, and disease in populations. Knowledge gained from epidemiology is used to inform research, policy, and practice decisions to protect and promote the health and wellbeing of the population. You will develop your knowledge about epidemiological concepts and study designs, and apply epidemiology skills to current and emerging public health priorities.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Online | |||
| Online – 5 hours of structured asynchronous online learning materials and an optional 1-hour online drop-in consultation session. | 6hrs | Week 1 | 8 times |
Introduction to epidemiological concepts
Measuring and interpreting disease occurrence and associations between exposures and disease
Epidemiological study designs, bias, confounding, and concepts of causation
Appraising and interpreting epidemiological literature
Applying epidemiological concepts to health surveillance, outbreaks, and disease prevention activities
700 Level (Specialised)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * International Union for Health Promotion and Education | |
| 1 | Calculate and interpret epidemiological measures of occurrence and association used to assess public health impact. | Empowered |
B.3, B.8, 6.3, 6.4, 9.4 |
| 2 | Identify and critique epidemiological study designs. |
Creative and critical thinker Ethical |
B.3, B.8, 6.4, 9.1 |
| 3 | Appraise and communicate epidemiological evidence to inform health policy decision making. | Creative and critical thinker |
4.1, 4.2 |
| CODE | COMPETENCY |
| International Union for Health Promotion and Education | |
| B.3 | The determinants of health and their implications for health promotion action |
| B.8 | The evidence base and research methods, including qualitative and quantitative methods, required to inform and evaluate health promotion action |
| 4.1 | Use effective communication skills including written, verbal, nonverbal, and listening skills |
| 4.2 | Use information technology and other media to receive and disseminate health promotion information |
| 6.3 | Collect, review and appraise relevant data, information and literature to inform health promotion action |
| 6.4 | Identify the determinants of health which impact on health promotion action |
| 9.1 | Identify and use appropriate health promotion evaluation tools and research methods |
| 9.4 | Use research and evidence-based strategies to inform practice |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
Enrolled in any postgraduate program
Not applicable
PUB210
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Weekly activities designed to provide feedback on understanding of weekly course concepts to support assessment will be available to students.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Written Piece | Individual | 60% | Completed template and short answer responses of approximately 1000 words |
Week 5 | Online Submission |
| All | 2 | Artefact - Professional, and Written Piece | Individual | 40% | Completion of a template of approximately 1500 words |
Week 8 | Online Submission |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Short answer questions and critical appraisal | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To apply your skills in epidemiology to deconstruct extracts, assess epidemiological research designs, perform calculations related to disease occurrence and measures of association, identify foundational epidemiological concepts and critically appraising a peer reviewed epidemiological study. |
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| Product: | Written Piece | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | You will complete short answer questions and a template for critical appraisal. Further details will be available on Canvas. This assessment will be submitted online. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Epidemiology Evidence Report | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | To use and apply epidemiological evidence to develop a professional epidemiology evidence report for informing public health action. |
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| Product: | Artefact - Professional, and Written Piece | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | You will you will develop a professional epidemiology evidence report to inform public health action, based on the critique of epidemiological evidence from Task 1. Further details will be available on Canvas. This assessment will be submitted online. |
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| Criteria: |
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| Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving, Information literacy |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Recommended | Webb, P., Bain, C., and Page, A. | 2020 | Essential epidemiology: An introduction for students and health professionals | 4 | Cambridge University Press |
You need access to a basic calculator.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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