Infection and Disease is an upper-level Liberal Arts and
Sciences course on infective diseases and disease processes to be offered online
primarily for BSN but that is available to other students who have taken the
prerequisite course(s). Objectives are to explore the nature of infectious
diseases and the organisms that cause them. This will primarily be based on case
studies of infectious diseases that demonstrate not only the basic principles of
microbiology but the nature and etiology of infection. The course will also
cover microbial adaptation and change in light of recent discoveries and
discussion in microbiology on ways to control infectious diseases by influencing
the adaptations of microbes to their environment.
A 4 credit hour laboratory-based course in General Microbiology similar to BIOL 230 General Microbiology offered at SUNY Delhi.
This course focuses on the biological aspects of
infectious microbes and their human hosts. The
student should, at the close of the course, be able to
1)
recognize and describe chief factors in the transmission, etiology,
diagnosis, treatment, and control of diseases caused by a wide range of
infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa
and prions).
2)
discuss the current thought and research into the evolution of pathogenicity
of microbes in order to more successfully control the development, spread,
and treatment of infectious diseases in the future.
3)
exhibit an understanding of the social, economic, and environmental factors
that influence disease processes.
4)
assess primary and secondary scientific literature and abstract relevant
information and synthesize that information into coherent
arguments.
Marsha S. Stock, Ph.D. Professor of Biology
e-mail: stockms@delhi.edu OR
mstock@stny.rr.com
home page:
http://faculty.delhi.edu/stockms
phone: 607.746.4370
office: 519 Evenden Tower
This is an online course but it is NOT self-paced. The successful operation and completion of the course depends upon your timely submissions of assignments and quizzes. Each of the 7 units starts and ends on Sunday night. In many cases although you may do reading ahead of time, you may not submit answers to questions or contribute to discussions until the week that discussion is assigned.
Glossary entries, when assigned, must be completed by 11:55PM (2355 hours) on Wednesday of the week they are assigned. Late entries will get no points.
Discussions:
initial posting must be contributed by 11:55 PM on Wednesday of the week the are assigned. Late postings will get no points.
final postings must be completed by 11:55 PM on Sunday ending the unit. Late submissions will not be acknowledged (get any points). Posts contributed in the last 24 hours of the week will have points deducted. Extraordinarily good posts may obtain points above that assigned for the discussion.
Quizzes will be available at 11:55PM on Thursday of the week they are due and must be completed by 11:55 PM on the following Sunday. You will have 24 hours after you sign into a quiz to complete the quiz. Late submissions will not get credit.
Most other assignments will be due on Sunday night (11:55 PM) as well. Any exceptions to this due date and time will be posted. These assignments will have points deducted each day they are late (generally 20% deduction per day). (Assignments 5 days or more late will get zero points.)
All submissions must be in your own words. [It is your responsibility to make sure I know that you understand the material.] If you find it necessary to use information word-for-word, use quotes.
Always use correctly formatted citations for specific information, even when it is not directly quoted. Follow APA guidelines for all formats of papers, citations, and works cited sections of papers.
It is your responsibility to know and follow APA guidelines!
Failure to give credit to sources of information is plagiarism and will not be tolerated.
Initial failure to follow these guidelines will result in a zero for the assignment.
Subsequent infractions will result in the assignment of an F in the course and will be reported as to the Judicial Misconduct Council for potential action and will follow SUNY Delhi's Academic Integrity Policy.
Anderson, Rodney P. 2008. Outbreak: Cases in Real World Microbiology. American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington DC
Additional information will come from assigned readings in online texts, reliable web sites (i.e. Centers for Disease Control), various articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals as well as news papers and other journals.
| Week 1 | Section I: Diseases that Illustrate Basic Microbiological Principles (Discussion on phage therapy.) |
| Week 2 | Sections II and III: Diseases of the Respiratory system and GI Tract. (Short project on prevention of foodborne illnesses.) |
| Week 3 | Section IV: Diseases that are Sexually Transmitted (Discussion/assignment about issues around vaccination.) |
| Week 4 | Section V: Zoonoses and vector-borne diseases; Section VI: Diseases of the Skin, Eyes, and Deep Tissue |
| Week 5 | Section VII: Diseases of the Central Nervous System (Discussion about how pathogens avoid of the immune system.) |
| Week 6 | Section VIII: Diseases Associated with Environment; Section IX: Diseases Associated with Bioterrorism |
| Week 7 | Discussion: The Evolution of Pathogenicity; Final projects (research paper) due. |
What are the common links of organisms that infect the system in question?
What specific problems must the microbes have solved in order to cause these diseases?
What specialized structures or functions do these organisms have that help them cause disease in this way?
What specific problems arise in the treatment and prevention of these diseases? How are these problems related to the type of organism or mode of transmission?
Are there specific health care policies that are related to any of these diseases? If so, what are they and why?
Note that unit glossaries are automatically compiled into the course glossary. You may only make entries into the sub or unit glossaries and only for the week we are covering that unit.
The number of required terms will vary depending upon the chapter as well as the number of students enrolled in the course. [I expect that earlier chapters will have more terms than later chapters.]
The total number of points assigned will also vary depending upon the chapter. Most will total 20-25 points per unit.
A separate document, "Guidelines for Glossary Entries", will contain a complete explanation and a grading rubric for glossary entries.
Quizzes will usually be specific to the case histories for that unit but may evaluate your knowledge of unifying principles.
Quizzes are intended to be taken by individuals without cooperation from others. Generally they will be created in such a way that no two quizzes will be identical and they will be available over a specific amount of time (generally 2 days) and they will be timed.
Each quiz will count 25-50 points.
Evaluation criteria for each quiz will be posted with the posting of the unit information.
These web pages are constructed within Vancko Hall using a "Wiki" or editable web page. It is not technically difficult to do and each group would initially be the only ones who could see and work on their web page until is is finished, at which time it would become available for everyone to see.
Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified students with documented disabilities. If you have a disability requiring accommodations in any class, contact and meet with the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities. The office is in the Resnick Learning Center in Bush Hall and the office number is 746-4593. Your request for accommodation will be discussed and if determined to be reasonable, you will be provided with the verification letter that must be returned to your course instructor.
Section 224-A allows a student to be excused from any examination or study or work requirements because of religious holidays. Each student must notify the instructor in advance so that an equivalent opportunity to make up any examination, study or work requirements he or she may have missed because of such absence may be given.