Outline

Overview

This core unit of study introduces students to evidence-based health promotion as a fundamental approach to promoting and improving health and wellbeing, preventing disease and reducing health inequalities in populations. The unit is divided into three modules: (i) the building blocks of disease prevention and health promotion, (ii) using evidence to develop disease prevention and health promotion interventions, and (iii) evaluating disease prevention and health promotion programs to inform policy and practice. This unit will give students an understanding of disease prevention and health promotion and their relationship to public health, introduce design, implementation, and evaluation of disease prevention and health promotion interventions, and develop and refine students' research, critical appraisal, and communication skills.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Public Health
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	James Kite, james.kite@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s)	Philayrath Phongsavan, philayrath.phongsavan@sydney.edu.au
	Bronwyn McGill, bronwyn.mcgill@sydney.edu.au
	James Kite, james.kite@sydney.edu.au
	Margaret Thomas, margaret.thomas@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Participation	Tutorial participation Participation, including completion of the scenario-based learning task	10%	Multiple weeks	8 weeks
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Project plan and evaluation Written assessment	45%	STUVAC Due date: 01 Jun 2023 at 23:59	2500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Problem analysis Written assessment	25%	Week 05 Due date: 23 Mar 2023 at 23:59	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Solutions scoping presentation Recorded presentation	20%	Week 10 Due date: 04 May 2023 at 23:59	5 minutes
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Tutorial participation requires students to attend and contribute to discussions during their assigned tutorial each week. Students also need to complete a short ‘Getting to know you’ exercise and an online scenario-based learning task.
Assessment 1 requires students to conduct a problem analysis for a particular health issue.
Assessment 2 requires students to identify an appropriate goal and objectives for addressing their chosen health issue, appraise relevant evidence, and propose a solution.
Assessment 3 requires students to draw on their work in Assessment 1 and 2 to propose a solution to their health issue and an evaluation framework for their solution.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Students at this level demonstrate an advanced understanding and application of all the key concepts addressed in this unit. They also demonstrate an exceptional ability to synthesise relevant evidence, critically appraise this evidence, and apply their findings to a given context. Students show initiative and creativity in their work.
Distinction	75 - 84	Students at this level demonstrate a very good understanding and application of all or most of the key concepts addressed in this unit. They also demonstrate an ability to synthesise relevant evidence, critically appraise this evidence, and apply their findings to a given context.
Credit	65 - 74	Students at this level demonstrate a good understanding and application of all or most of the key concepts addressed in this unit. They demonstrate an ability to synthesise relevant evidence and their work exhibits some characteristics of critical appraisal.
Pass	50 - 64	Students at this level demonstrate an acceptable understanding and application of all or most of the key concepts addressed in this unit. They demonstrate an ability to identify and describe relevant evidence.
Fail	0 - 49	Students at this level have not met the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Assessments 1 and 3 - 5% of total possible marks will be deducted for every day late. Assignments submitted more than 10 days late will not be marked, except with prior approval of the unit coordinators. Assessment 2 presentation - Because of the nature of the assessment task, we cannot accept late submissions except with prior approval from the unit coordinators.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Ongoing	Scenario-based learning task	Independent study (1 hr)
Progressive	Mini lectures	Independent study (5 hr)
Week 02	T1: What are health promotion and disease prevention? What do they look like in practice?	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 03	The building blocks of health promotion	Seminar (4 hr)
Week 03	T2: Understanding the problem	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 04	T3: Prioritising risk factors and enablers	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 05	T4: Setting goals and objectives	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 06	Using evidence to develop disease prevention and health promotion programs	Seminar (4 hr)
Week 07	T5: Using evidence to inform intervention design	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 08	T6: Formative evaluation	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 10	Evaluating disease prevention and health promotion programs to inform policy and practice	Seminar (4 hr)
Week 10	T7: Process, impact, and outcome evaluation	Tutorial (2 hr)
Week 12	T8: Hierarchies of effect	Tutorial (2 hr)

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. identify and define fundamental disease prevention and health promotion concepts
LO2. synthesise and critique existing disease prevention and health promotion evidence
LO3. identify and define fundamental evaluation concepts
LO4. critique the design, implementation, and evaluation of disease prevention and health promotion interventions
LO5. apply evidence, values and principles, ethics, theories, and frameworks to the design and evaluation of a public health action (intervention), to prevent ill-health or promote health
LO6. conduct effective literature searching strategies.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Student feedback suggested that many students were very happy with the unit. Many highlighted the level and usefulness of the feedback on assessments and the dedication and responsiveness of the teaching staff as particular strengths of the unit. Others mentioned the assessment structure and support, the tutorials, the applicability and relevance of the learning to the real world, and the flexibility of the unit as other strengths. The peer review process was also described by some as an enjoyable and useful process, although some also described this as an area for improvement as they felt unqualified to be judging the quality of their peer’s work. Some of you mentioned the workload as in need of attention, feeling it was too great for a 6 credit point unit, and there were also requests for more time to be spent on evaluation levels and study designs, as well as requests for marks to be provided as standard, not just grades. In light of this feedback, we have reviewed the workload requirements of the unit, with an eye to ensuring that students are not overwhelmed at any point in the semester. In particular, we have looked at the advice and support available for the literature reviews for the assessments and have engaged the Library to help on this matter. Additionally, we have reviewed the peer review process to make sure that the benefits gained from the process are maximised, while also minimising the concerns about workload and lacking the knowledge required to appropriately assess the work of peers. We have also introduced an explanation on feedback in the unit, including why we do not provide marks as standard, which will be available to students from the beginning of the semester. Based on this feedback, we will review the workload of the unit, with an eye to reducing it or better communicating what we expect of you. This may result in changes to tutorials or mini lectures and/or changes to the assessment instructions and requirements. In addition, we will provide more information up-front on the benefits of peer assessment and how best to approach the task. We will also review our Canvas site and work with the Faculty’s Education Design team to improve the usability of our Canvas site. Lastly, we will explore ways to provide more practical instruction on critical appraisal to strengthen the connections between tutorial tasks and assessments.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

PUBH5033: Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Semester 1, 2023 [Block mode] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect