curriculum orientation for teachers teacher orientation to curriculum epidemiology and the energy...

Curriculum Orientation for Teachers

Teacher Orientation to Curriculum

Epidemiology and the Energy Balance Equation

Updated Feb 20, 2011

Curriculum Orientation for Teachers2

•Provide motivation for students to learn the basics about the science of epidemiology and understand its relevance in their daily lives

•Give students a background in the methods of epidemiology that allow them to better understand current and future health messages and the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) behind these messages

•Utilize timely issues about nutrition and physical activity (and related behaviors and health effects) to illustrate the application of epidemiological methods

•Get students excited about, and engaged in, epidemiology through real-world experience in designing, conducting and interpreting investigations

Immediate Goals


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

.

To become empowered as scientifically literate participants in the democratic decision-making process concerning public health policy.

To gain the knowledge to make more informed personal health-related decisions.

To increase media literacy and better understand public health messages.

To develop an understanding of the basis for determining risk.

To improve mathematical and scientific literacy.

To expand one’s understanding of scientific methods and develop critical thinking skills.

To acquire the tools necessary for exploring important, real world questions about one’s health and the health of others.

To uncover an array of career paths related to the public’s health.

Top 8 Reasons for Teaching / Learning Epidemiology

3


Epidemiology and Public Health – A Global Endeavor

4

• Epidemiology is typically taught in college in graduate schools of public health

• About 10 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took the lead in advocating the integration of epidemiology into the K-12 curriculum

• The CDC argues that learning the science of epidemiology will contribute to the development of many of the attributes of scientific literacy


… can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences.

… has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomenon.

… is able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of their conclusions.

… can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed.

… (is) able to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used to generate it.

… (has) the capacity to pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence and to apply conclusions from such arguments appropriately.

Attributes of Scientific Literacy

5


Introducing the curriculum to

middle school students

6

Epidemiology and the Energy Balance Equation


Suicide Higher in Areas with Guns

Smoking Linked to Youth Eating Disorders

Snacks Key to Kids’ TV- Linked Obesity: China Study

Family Meals Are Good for Mental Health

Students Who Bring Their Lunch to

School Eat Less Junk Food

Higher Risk of Obesity Among Teens with More

Video-Game Playing

Breakfast Each Day May Keep Colds Away

Study Concludes: Movies Influence

Youth Smoking

Study Links Iron

Deficiency to Math

Scores

Study Links Physical Fitness to Academic Achievement

Proximity of Fast Food Restaurants to Schools and Adolescent Obesity

Things That Turn Up Together

7


Where do you get your information? Are you empowered? Do you rely on other people’s interpretations?

Parents, teachers, friends, doctors, nurses, therapists, celebrities, textbooks, advertisements, cell

phones, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, television

Peer-reviewed published studies in medicine, epidemiology, behavioral

science, toxicology, and others

Your experience, knowledge, critical thinking, and common

sense

?they get from …(with filters)

you get from .. (with filters)


Energy Balance

9


Balance and Equilibrium

What does it mean to be “in

equilibrium”?

10


Which is in Balance?

11


A Balanced Diet

12


The Energy Balance Equation

13


The Subject Matters

14

• Increasing incidence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents, as well as he American population as a whole

• Increasing health consequences such as Type 2 diabetes, even among young people

• Some populations are more at risk than others

How do we know this? EPIDEMIOLOGY


Pre-Course Definition of Epidemiology

15

What is Epidemiology?


A term derived from the Greek:

epi : on, upon demos : the people logos : the study of

(Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)

Definition of Epidemiology

16


Doctor Pathologist

Epidemiologist

Professions in Health

17


Criminal Detectives

Investigate crimes

Look for clues at a crime scene

Judge quality of evidence

Form hypotheses

Identify suspects

Present evidence in court

Help control crime

Epidemiologists

Investigate diseases

Look for clues in populations

Judge quality of evidence

Form hypotheses

Identify suspected causes

Present evidence in scientific journals and at scientific meetings

Help control disease

All in a Name

18


CDC

-

What is an Epidemiologist?

19

. . . a scientist who specializes in tracking the occurrence and causes of disease

. . . a disease detective

Curriculum Orientation for Teachers 20

What do epidemiologists look like?


A picture of the occurrence, the distribution, and the types of the diseases of mankind, in distinct epochs of time, and at various points on the earth's surface, and ... render an account of the relations of those diseases to the external condition.(Hirsch, 1883)

How Epidemiology Was Defined More Then 100 Years Ago

21


A Grown-ups’ Definition

of Epidemiology

22

... the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations and the application of this study to the control of health problems. (Gordis, 2004)

Epidemiology is the study of populations in order to determine the patterns and causes of health and illness, and to be able to apply the learned information to the control of health problems.

A Middle-School- Friendly Definition

of Epidemiology

Epidemiology helps answer how and why diseases occur among a population in order to control and prevent diseases MedMyst Disease Defenders

Epidemiology is the study of patterns of health and illness and associated factors at the population level Wikipedia


A Working Definition of the Science of Epidemiology

23




24




25




26



Control of Health

Problems

27

Population patterns in health-related behaviors

and in health and illness

Possible strategies and actions that can change

the patterns of health and illness in populations

As related to this definition, here are three areas that epidemiology tries to address (among others)

Causes

Patterns

Causes of health and illness in populations


This curriculum concentrates on the first two . . .

Population patterns in health-related behaviors

and in health and illness

Possible strategies and actions that can change

the patterns of health and illness in populations

Causes of health and illness in populations

Control of Health

Problems

Causes

Patterns


Curriculum Organized Into Two Teaching Modules

29

Module 1 DESCRIPTIVE

EPIDEMIOLOGY Finding patterns and trends

Formulating Hypotheses

Module 2 ANALYTICAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

Testing hypotheses Finding

causes

Addresses Causes

Addresses Patterns

Hypotheses about

associations

Generate

Descriptive epidemiology Studies patterns of disease and health-related events and behaviors, and used the information to generate hypotheses about why these patterns exist.

Test

A Bridge: How Study of Patterns and Causes are Related

30Lesson 2-1: Looking for Associations

Analytical Epidemiology Involves testing hypotheses by examining potential connections (associations) between health-related exposures and outcomes.

Hypothesis

Module 1

Descriptive Epidemiology

Module 2 Analytical Epidemiology

An Example About the Energy Balance Equation

Description of the increase in teenage overweight

Description of increases in teenagers eating junk food

Hypothesis: Eating junk food

can cause teenagers to become overweight

Scientific studies of the association between

teenagers eating junk food and their weight status

31Lesson 2-1: Looking for Associations

Hypotheses about

associations

Generate Test

Curriculum Orientation for Teachers 32

Disease Detectives and the Energy Balance Equation


•Curriculum of two modules suitable for middle or high school students, being tested in middle school learning environments

•Premise is to teach epidemiology with the use of examples from the science around nutrition and physical activity as examples and as the basis for realistic epidemiology experiences for students

•Immediate goals:

– Provide a grounding in epidemiology methods that allows students to better understand current /future health messages and the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) behind the messages

– Utilize timely issues about nutrition and physical activity and related topics to illustrate the application of epidemiological methods

– Get students excited and engaged about epidemiology through real-world experience in designing, conducting and interpreting investigations, helping them to grasp the understandings needed to think like an epidemiologist

Quick Summary of Curriculum


Pedagogical Principles

Enduring Understandings The big ideas that reside at the heart of a discipline

and have lasting value outside the classroom

34


Enduring Understandings (EU)

1. Health and disease are not distributed haphazardly in a population. There are patterns to their occurrence that can be identified through surveillance. Analysis of the patterns of health and disease distribution can provide clues for formulating hypotheses about their possible causes.

2. Causal hypotheses can be tested by conducting investigations of the exposures and outcomes of selected groups of people as they go about their lives. Information from these observational studies can be used to determine if an exposure and an outcome are associated. Because observational studies are complicated by factors not controlled by the observer, other explanations also must be considered.



Enduring Understandings (EU) The big ideas that reside at the heart of a discipline


Essential Questions The questions, that when answered,

create the enduring understandings

36


37

Examples of Essential Questions

What are the patterns of eating and physical activity

behaviors among our classmates?

What are the possible causes and/or

consequences of patterns in eating and physical

activity?

EU 1: What are the patterns of health-related

events or behaviors in populations?

EU 2: What may have caused these patterns

to occur?

Energy Balance QuestionsGeneral Questions



Enduring Understandings The big ideas that reside at the heart of a discipline


Essential Questions The questions, that when answered,

create the enduring understandings

Authentic Assessments Real-world experiences designed to assess

students’ grasp of the Enduring Understanding(s)38


Authentic assessments should be able to elicit acceptable evidence of students’ comprehension of the Enduring Understandings

Authentic epidemiology assessments are designed to capture students’ attention and

challenge their scientific reasoning

The goal is to have students learn, do, and get excited about epidemiology

Application of Authentic Assessment* Model

* From: Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe 39


• Are realistic; simulate the way a person’s understanding is tested in the real world

• Ask students to “do” the subject rather than simply recall what was taught

• Require judgment and innovation to address an unstructured problem, rather than following a set routine

• Require a repertoire of knowledge and skill be used efficiently and effectively

• Are messy and murky

• Allow opportunities for rehearsal, practice, consultation, feedback, and refinement

Characteristics of Authentic Assessments*

* From: Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe 40


41

A Continuum of Assessments*

Perform

ance ta

sks

Informal c

hecks f

or underst

anding

Observa

tions a

nd dialogues

Tests and quizz

es

Academic

prompts

* From: Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe


“Inquiry is a multifaceted activity that involves making observations; posing questions; examining books and other sources of information to see what is already known; planning investigations; reviewing what

is already known in light of experimental evidence; using tools to gather, analyze, and interpret data; proposing answers, explanations,

and predictions; and communicating the results. Inquiry requires identification of assumptions, use of critical and logical thinking, and consideration of alternative explanations. Students will engage in

selected aspects of inquiry as they learn the scientific way of knowing the natural world, but they should also develop the capacity to

conduct complete inquiries.”

National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Research Council

Copyright National Academy of Sciences, 1996, http://www.nap.edu/catalog/4962.html.

National Science Education Standards

Excerpted from: Perspectives and Terms in the National Science Standards

Value

42


Authentic Assessments

What are the patterns of eating and

physical activity behaviors among our

classmates?

What are the possible causes

and/or consequences of patterns in eating

and physical activity?

Cross-sectional studies of health-related exposures and outcomes

Module 1 – EU 1

DESCRIPTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY

Finding patterns and trends Formulating

Hypotheses

Module 2 – EU 2 ANALYTICAL

EPIDEMIOLOGY Testing hypotheses

Finding causes

Surveillance studies of health-related

behaviors


Lessons:1-1 Introduction to Curriculum1-2 Surveillance1-3 Patterns and Hypotheses1-4 Describing Health-Related Behaviors in Youth1-5 Creating a Surveillance Question1-6 Respect – Part I1-7 Surveillance Studies – In Class1-8 Surveillance Studies – In School

Module 1 Lessons

Teaching to the Assessment

44


Authentic Assessment for Module 1 of the Epidemiology and the Energy Balance Equation Curriculum

Students will conduct and interpret a descriptive epidemiological survey among students in their class and again among students outside their class. Working in teams, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to request informed consent, ask questions about a health-related behavior, accurately record responses, calculate prevalence of the behavior, make accurate statements about the prevalence of the behavior among their classmates, look for patterns, and formulate hypotheses based on the patterns they observe. Deliverables will include either written reports or presentations about the surveys. Specific performance criteria will be used to help ensure that the experiences allow a genuine, realistic, and fair assessment of students’ comprehension of the Module 1 Enduring Epidemiological Understanding.

45


Lessons:

2-1 Looking for Associations

2-2 Cross-Sectional Studies

2-3 Developing Hypothesis and Study Questions

2-4 Respect – Part II

2-5 Planning Study Conduct

2-6 Cross-Sectional Study - In Class

2-7 Cross-Sectional Study – In School

Module 2 Lessons

Teaching to the Assessment

46

Authentic Assessment for Module 2 of the Epidemiology and the Energy Balance Equation Curriculum

47

Students will conduct, analyze, and interpret observational, cross-sectional studies among students in their class and then among students outside their class. Working in teams, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to select a reasonable hypothesis of interest to them, design study questions about exposure and outcome, obtain informed consent, collect and manage data, calculate and compare prevalence rates, make accurate statements about whether their data support that hypothesis, and consider alternate explanations for what they observed. Reporting of results will be required, such as a written report, an item for the school newspaper, or an oral presentation or poster for students, teachers, and/or parents. Specific performance criteria will be used to help ensure that the experiences allow a genuine, realistic, and fair assessment of students’ comprehension of the Module 2 Enduring Epidemiological Understanding.


Epidemiology and the Energy Balance

Long-Range Goals

48

To increase students’

scientific literacy and

abilities in science in

general and

epidemiology in

particular

To increase students’ potential to apply what they have learned in this curriculum to future health issues, both in their personal lives and as

responsible health policy decision-makers in a democracy.

To increase students’

understanding of

some critical health

issues, thereby

leading them to be

more likely to make

informed personal

health choices



Give a man a fish, he has food for a day,

Teach a man how to fish, he has food for a lifetime.

Remember . . .

49

curriculum orientation for teachers teacher orientation to curriculum epidemiology and the energy...

Documents

curriculum epidemiology

curriculum orientation

teachers epidemiology

methods of epidemiology

science of epidemiology

ones health

public health messages

health effects