Curriculum

This course will provide an overview of quantitative and qualitative research methods that are commonly used in the field of exercise and health science. The course will focus on acquainting students with skills to identify the questions to address the research questions or real world problems, to understand and apply different study designs, to design different approaches to evaluate a real world program, and to collect, analyze, integrate, and report data.

This course is designed to provide the graduate student with an overview and understanding of the significant issues and trends in chronic disease. Topics include: heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases will be studied. In addition, risk factors, extent, and modern public health approaches to prevention and control of major chronic diseases will also be covered.

The capstone seminar provides guidance and assistance to graduate students in designing and implementing their capstone project, through group or one-on-one meetings with the course instructor. It also creates a learning community in which students will share their capstone work with others to gain constructive feedback and to generate ideas about the best ways to complete the capstone project. The seminar format of the class means that students should come prepared to discuss their own work as well as carefully consider the work of their peers so they can offer insights as to how projects can be improved. The capstone advisor will provide feedback on student work, answer questions, provide advice, and facilitate successful planning and implementation of the capstone project.

This course examines both the theoretical and practical aspects of leadership and business concepts focusing on the role of the leader within health science organizations. Topics to be discussed include personal leadership preferences, leadership theory and practice, organizational communication, developing teams managing change in organizations, financial leadership, basic marketing concepts, and program development. How these theories and concepts are practically applied in the field will be a major focus of this course.

This course describes the health policy development process, including problem conceptualization, agenda setting, role of interest groups and public opinion, needs assessment, analysis of alternatives and policy selection and evaluation. Topics to be discussed include healthcare system structure, management and leadership in organizations, health policy, law and healthcare reform, issues of diversity and international policies.

This course examines place-based community organizing and development from a social justice perspective. Through case studies, students learn about current issues and approaches to community change. The course emphasizes organizing in low-income communities and provides an assets-based approach. The course will address key issues such as housing, economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and sustainability, with a focus on the social and political aspects of development.

This course examines the research of adult learning theories, including such topics as aptitude, motivation, cognitive development, psycho-social development, intelligence, and learning styles through the prisms of gender, ethnicity, race and social class. The course looks at implications for the teaching and learning process, curriculum design, and instructional practices. The course also provides an overview of relevant developmental issues, with specific implications for applied settings.

In this course, students will learn to systematically assess and analyze the health promotion needs of a specified target population, at the individual, community and organizational levels. Students will learn to develop a holistic, theoretically based and culturally appropriate comprehensive program to address identified health needs of a population, create thorough program implementation plans and systematic methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the health promotion program. Students will also gain an understanding of effective health communication strategies used in health promotion programs with an opportunity to practice these communication skills.