HLHP 1103/1104 - Wellness  

2 Semester Hours
Dr. Robert Stauffer
Professor
Auburn University

Prerequisites: Basic computer skills, such as word processing, along with basic experience using email and the internet is necessary.

Delivery Systems:

This course requires a computer with Internet access. You will need to be able to adjust settings, install software and plug-ins, and be able to create files on the computer you will be using. Please be advised that public\lab computers often prevent these types of activities. You should check to ensure that you have these capabilities before participating in this course.

This course is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve optimal wellness. Wellness is a condition of positive health and fitness. Wellness is the product of the many choices individuals make every day. Wellness is determined by such factors as maintaining a level of physical activity, foods eaten, the ability to manage stress, the capacity to build and maintain satisfying relationships, the ability to avoid abusing substances, and the adoption of safe sex practices. Optimal wellness is achieved by making the right choices, which can only be done if individuals are aware of the different choices and strategies and understand all the issues and implications surrounding the decisions.

This course is provides a comprehensive discussion of the various dimensions of wellness, including such topics as physical fitness, nutrition, psychological well-being, stress management, preventing AIDS and STDs, substance abuse and addictive behaviors, and chronic diseases. Throughout the course, practical advice is provided for adopting a wellness lifestyle that takes into account individual interests, goals, and life situations. The goal is to encourage the student to make healthy choices which will lead to a lifetime of wellness.

The purpose of this course is to provide accurate and current information on today’s most important fitness and wellness related topics. This course provides information on issues based on the latest findings in exercise physiology and sports medicine. It also deals with the necessary tools for self-assessment and guidelines to achieve optimal wellness.

1. Show you that becoming fit and well greatly improves the quality of your life.
2. Show you how to become fit and well: and
3. Motivate you to make healthy choices and provide you with the tools for change.

The topics covered in this course provide a thorough coverage of the basic components of wellness, up-to-date information, and a host of strategies for implementing healthy lifestyle changes. Specifically, the topics covered in this course are:

* Lifestyle choices for wellness - An overview of key concepts related to individual wellness. Health, wellness, health promotion, and disease prevention is discussed in relation to lifestyle choices.
* Becoming physically fit - Explains the principles behind the training effects from exercise and the ways in which muscles generate energy during exercise. These principles are applied to developing a personal exercise program.|
* Achieving aerobic fitness - Covers the structure of the cardiovascular system, the basic concepts of aerobic fitness, and the principles for designing an aerobic fitness program to meet personal needs.
* Building muscular strength and endurance - Discusses the basis of muscular fitness and it’s benefits and provides the necessary information on how to develop a personal program of muscular fitness.
* Flexibility and back health - Addresses the importance of including flexibility and back health exercises in a fitness program and in daily activities, to include a comprehensive program for back health and selected stretching exercises to improve range of motion.
* The wellness diet - Covers the basics of nutrition and presents a strategy for dietary planning to ensure adequate intake of carbohydrates, fats, protein, water, vitamins, and minerals to meet daily needs. Food intake and energy expenditure is relation to weight management is emphasized.
* Body composition and managing your weight - Describes the functions of fat in the body, the methods of measuring body fat, and criteria for evaluating what level of fatness may present a health risk. The physiological controls of body fat and ways to maintain an appropriate body fat level is discussed. Additionally, health related issues related with obesity is covered.
* Stress and well-being: Facing life’s challenges - Introduces the complex interaction between psychological perception, physical challenges, and health-damaging physiological responses. Factors that contribute to individual stress, actions that individuals can take to avoid, coping with, and management of inevitable stress and strains of living are covered.
* Addictive behavior: Substance use and abuse - Information concerning risk factors and warning signs of substance abuse and addictive behaviors is presented. Strategies for making lifestyle choices to prevent or reduce the negative impact of substance abuse and addiction, and to promote enhanced wellness, is presented.
* AIDS and STDs - An overview of the major risks from sexually transmitted diseases and ways to prevent their transmission is presented. Risks associated with sexual activities is discussed. Personal responsibility for sexual behavior is emphasized.
Chronic diseases - Discusses the major chronic diseases, the risk factors associated with them, and lifestyle modifications that can be made to reduce risk.

The textbook used for this course is: Donatelle, Rebecca, Snow, Christine, and Wilcox, Anthony. Wellness: Choices for Health and Fitness, Second Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999.

This course deals with 11 chapters spread across 15 sessions. For each chapter, you are required to do the assigned reading, study the content outline, memorize key terms, and take a quiz. The content outline covers significant points shown in the text, figures, tables, and labs of the textbook. For each Chapter there are specified learning objectives. The outline is based on these specified objectives. A short quiz consisting of multiple choice questions is administered upon the completion of each chapter. There are three non-textbook activities to be completed for this course: Interview a stressed individual, attend an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting, and performance of a one and a half mile run. More information is given about these activities in the Course Requirements section. There is a midterm examination, and a final examination. The midterm examination will consist of 43 multiple choice questions and final examination will consist of 51 multiple choice questions. Both will be proctored examinations. The proctor should be recognized by the DLOT office of Auburn University. More information about the proctors is given in the ‘Midterm and Final Examination Process’ section in this syllabus. A variety of media will be used to communicate with me. Most of these media will be part of the software Auburn University supports for distance course delivery, that is, WebCT software. WebCT includes many types of communication tools, including online submission of assignments.

Course Requirements:

1. Quizzes:

There will be multiple choice questions covering each of the chapter’s learning objectives. The length of each chapter quiz is dependent upon the number of chapter learning objectives. There will be 5 to 11 multiple choice questions in each chapter quiz. The WebCT communication tool, Quiz, will be used.

2. Interview of Highly Stressed Individual:

There will be a 45 minute to one hour interview of a highly stressed individual.

3. Attendance of Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting:

There is a requirement to attend one of the weekly meetings of the AlcoholicsAnonymous Organization. The meeting locations can be found here to locate a meeting site nearest you.

4. Self-administered Mile and one-half run evaluation

Your cardiovascular efficiency will be evaluated by your ability to run a mile and one-half.

5. Midterm Examination:

The examination will cover the material from Chapters 1-5. The midterm examination is designed to give an opportunity to review the material you have learned until this point in time. It includes forty-three multiple-choice questions similar to the questions asked in the quizzes. This is a proctored examination that will be administered on WebCT. More information about the proctors is given in the ‘Midterm and Final Examination Process’ section in this syllabus.

6. Final Examination:

This final is designed to give an opportunity to review all that the students have learned from the Midterm examination to the end of the course. The examination will cover the material from Chapters 7,8,10-13. It includes fifty-one multiple-choice questions similar to the questions asked in the quizzes. This is a proctored examination that will be administered on WebCT. More information about the proctors is provided in the following ‘Midterm and Final Examination Process’ section.

The class will be fully web-based and semi-self-paced. Each week assignments will be due. You should stay on track, so the quizzes can be focused on each week's topic. This type of course allows quite a bit of freedom, for instance, in determining at what time of day and where they do their course work. It does, however, as you can see, entail quite a bit of self-discipline and determination in order to keep up with assignments.

Midterm and Final Examination Process:

You must select a proctor to supervise your examination. Distance Learning and Outreach Technology (DLOT) approved proctors are academic administrators in the student’s locale: school superintendent or principal, academic dean or department head at a college, another independent learning office test supervisor at a college, or an education officer at a military installation. All proposed proctors are verified for appropriateness by DLOT student service staff. Examinations are given under the same circumstances as they would be on campus, e.g. closed book, no notes, for 80 minutes. You are expected to get the Examination Proctor Information form properly filled in and signed by the proctor, just before sending it to the DLOT office. Then the DLOT office will verify the proctor and lets the student know about it. After the proctored exam is done, the proctor will sign a document and sends it to DLOT. The exam will be graded by the instructor. Copies of the completed grade report form are distributed to the instructor, the DLOT office, the registrar, and the student.

Evaluation:

The on-campus and distance education students are identically evaluated. The final grade for this course is determined by: Eleven quizzes (30%); Mid-term examination (20%); Final-examination (20%); Highly-stressed individual interview (5%); Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting observation (5%); Self-administered mile and one-half run cardiovascular assessment (5%); and Completion of course evaluation (5%). Each quiz will consist of 5 to 11 multiple-choice questions, depending upon the number of chapter learning objectives. One multiple-choice question will be asked of each learning objective. The quizzes will be administered via WebCT in a limited short-duration amount of time depending upon the number of questions asked. The quizzes will be electronically graded and the results will immediately be posted on WebCT for the student to see. The Mid-term examination will consist of 43 multiple-choice questions. A multiple-choice question will be asked of each of the learning objectives in Chapters 1-5. This examination will be proctored. Please note the mid-term and final-examination proctor process in the next section. The Final-examination will consist of 51 multiple choice questions. A multiple-choice question will be asked of each of the learning objectives in Chapters 7,8, and 10 through13. Likewise, this examination, like the Mid-term examination, will be proctored.

The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting observation; Highly-stressed individual interview; and Self-administered mile and the one-half run cardiovascular assessment will be sent to the instructor via electronic mail attachment. The instructor will grade these learning experiences in a timely way and provide the student with the result(s) via WebCT. The Distance Learning Office will inform the instructor when the student has satisfactorily completed the course evaluation. The instructor will apply a maximal grade to the student’s final grade.

Mid-term and Final-examination Proctor Process:

Students must select a proctor to supervise their examinations. Arrangements to take the mid-term and final examination are made by contacting the Auburn University Distance Learning Office at (334)-844-3106, or via electronic mail at qualljo@auburn.edu. Students must obtain the consent of an approved proctor and have the proctor complete the Examination Proctor Form. The form must be signed by the proctor and returned to the Auburn University Distance Learning Office at least ten days prior to the examination date. Distance Learning Office Test (DLOT) approved proctors are academic administrators in the student’s locale. Examples are city and county school superintendents, college or university academic deans or department heads, principals of accredited senior high schools, an education officer at a military installation, or another independent learning office test supervisor at a college or university. Without exception, only persons in these positions are approved to supervise examinations. All proposed proctors are verified for appropriateness by DLOT student service staff. Examinations are administered under the same circumstances as they would be on campus, e.g., closed book, no notes, and completed within one hour, except in special cases where legitimate disabilities are present. Examinations are sent directly to the proctor only after the Distance Learning Office has received and approved the completed Examination Proctor Form. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the proctor and arrange to take the examination within the deadline time frame. Once the proctored examination is over, the proctor collects the examination, seals it in an envelope and immediately forwards the examination in the mail. When the examination is received by DLOT, it is handled in the same method as an assignment. An examination and course grade report is provided by the instructor.

Letter grade percentages for the course are: A=90-100, B=80-89, C=70-79, D=60-79, and F=below 60. All evaluations are rounded to the nearest whole number. For example, a quiz score of 89.6 becomes a 90 and a 74.3 becomes a 74. Importantly, because of the aforementioned grading procedures, students will receive their upgraded overall grade percentage in a timely fashion after each assignment is submitted. You are not allowed to redo quizzes, midterm and the final examinations. Therefore, you should check your work carefully with criteria statements before turning in assignments or examinations. You will be required to complete the online Course Evaluation Questionnaire, worth 5% of your grade, before the final course grade is officially recorded.

Late Submissions:

As a distance education student, it is your responsibility to share a significant responsibility for preparing and discussing course material. All the required readings must be completed prior to class. If a serious situation arises and you anticipate you will not be able to meet a deadline, it should be discussed with your instructor, before the due date. If the instructor is contacted, regarding the problem at least several days before the due date, and judges it to warrant special consideration (usually due to illness or injury) you and the instructor will negotiate an alternate due date. If the instructor has not been contacted and special consideration has not been granted, assignments turned in after the due date will be penalized 10% of total possible points for each day late. Assignments completed later than four days will receive a failing grade.

Auburn University is committed to providing accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities.  Students who have questions or need special accommodations to participate in distance education courses should contact The Program for Students with Disabilities, 1244 Haley Center, Auburn University, AL 36849; PH: (334) 844-2096; FAX: (334) 844-2099; E-Mail: haynemd@auburn.edu; URL: http://www.auburn.edu/disability.  

Plagiarism is the act of presenting directly or indirectly someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism is a major type of academic dishonesty and will not be tolerated. Similarly cheating on tests in any way, falsifying bibliographies, fraudulent quotes, and similar practices are intolerable forms of academic dishonesty. The University’s policy for academic misconduct in the Student Code of Conduct will be followed for this course (Tiger Club, pp. 83 and 92). If any questions regarding its contents, please contact the instructor.