Ebola

This term, you will put together an informative and educational presentation, blog, or magazine article on a health-related topic. With your project, you will incorporate both outside research and information you obtain yourself through surveys, polls, or interviews.

This project has two parts:

Part 1: Your project proposal, due Monday, March 2, 2015 by noon

Part 2: Your complete project, due Wednesday, June 10, 2015 by noon

 

Project Topics: You may use any of the suggestions and probes below as ideas for your project.

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events (including disease), and the application of this study to the control of diseases and other health problems. Field epidemiologists help figure out the source of disease outbreaks and put in place measures to control outbreaks once they identify a cause. For this topic, inform your audience about where epidemiologists work and what types of measures they use to control outbreaks. Discuss a significant outbreak that has affected a large number of people (e.g. measles at Disneyland or Ebola Virus Disease) – how many people were affected; were there deaths/hospitalizations; how did the figure out the source; what information was provided to the public; how was the outbreak controlled; what preventive measures are in place? Lastly, discuss the preparations needed to become an epidemiologist (schooling, experience, etc.).

 

Pick a health-related topic that we do not cover in detail during the semester and discuss it in your proposal. After reviewing your proposal, I will let you know if you can move forward with the topic for your final project.

Again, the questions under each of these categories are not prescriptive – they’re probes, meant to give you ideas on how to focus your project.

 

Magazine Article: We’re all familiar with glossy magazine spreads that go in-depth on a particular topic. This option is no different. You’ll assemble a multi-page article complete with captioned photos, graphics, and charts highlighting your topic of interest. The text of the article should be no fewer than 1,600 words.

 

Sources

Secondary Data: At least two sources must be from the following: peer-reviewed journal article, article from a reputable newspaper or magazine, or a book. You must site these references throughout your paper (e.g. when quoting statistics or other information) and provide detailed information about the sources in a bibliography (in the Final project only).

Original Data: Additionally, you must collect information/data from others, such as how a reporter obtains information from sources. You can collect this information using interviews (with subject matter experts or from people expressing their opinions, for example), from questionnaires, polls (e.g. you can post a question on your Facebook page and see what kind of comments/feedback you receive), or other means. You can collect this information from friends, family members, other students, or professionals (be courteous, stating that you would like to ask questions of them for a school project) – just be sure that individuals are at least 18 years of age. The point of this is to supplement the research you’ve obtained from your first two sources and provide a little color to your presentation. For example, if someone did a project on the different kinds of condoms available, s/he might ask a few friends if what they looked for when buying condoms (price, lubricant, brand, etc.).

Optional sources: These may include websites, brochures, or pamphlets.

 

 

Final Project – Due Wednesday, June 10, 2015 by noon

Upload your article, PowerPoint, or link to your blog site (you can just paste the url/website name along with your bibliography). More information about expectations for the final project will be posted at a later date.

Final Project samples are available under Week 3. A scoring rubric is posted under Course Information.