courses

My philosophy as a health educator has developed from years of personal, professional and academic experiences. It is also guided by the values of The American Association for Health Education, the needs of my students, and my belief that successful education can be achieved by building dynamic, collaborative, and symbiotic relationships between students, educators, and administrators. As teachers we bring our world views to what we do. My world view is anchored in love, selfless giving, and care for my students. I strongly believe that we are all created to fulfill our life purposes. For me, this means guiding and equipping my students with the knowledge, skills and passion to engage in efforts to promote healthy lifestyles among individuals and in their communities. As a woman from a developing society, where most women and children do not have access to education, I have been fortunate to have an education. As a result, I consider the opportunity to teach a true calling and a way to equip students to make a difference in their societies. To accomplish these tasks, I create learning environments that are welcoming, open, vibrant, and thought- provoking. I also strive to stimulate the interest and enthusiasm of my students to be critical thinkers regardless of their backgrounds, fields of study, and career goals. In addition, I diligently seek ways to assist my students with their needs. I understand that effective teaching is also anchored in the use of appropriate communication and instructional strategies to enhance student learning. Thus, one of the key emphases of my teaching is to facilitate communication among students and provide opportunities for them to share in the production of knowledge in ways that foster imaginative and critical thinking. Though I employ a variety of teaching styles/tools (e.g., lecture, hands on in-class and out-of-class activities, multimedia, videos), I am drawn mostly to the participative style of learning where I involve students in the learning process. This allows me to cultivate a sense of teamwork, responsibility and collective ownership of the class. It also gives my students the flexibility to apply their own ideas, skills and knowledge to solving problems. Mentoring and advising are critical components of my teaching that deserve mention. I enjoy one-on-one interactions with my students. My mentoring style is guided by the values of compassion, quality, professionalism, and honesty. Through these sessions, I have come to know my students on a more personal level. I believe my students in turn learn greatly from these interactions. To be an effective health educator requires diverse knowledge, skills, continued assessment, and appreciation for life-long learning. In this respect, I keep abreast with the scholarship of health education and new approaches to teaching. I also look for professional opportunities to grow as a teacher. Through these opportunities, I am able to bring new materials to my classroom and new instructional approaches that have greatly enhanced my teaching. Finally, one of the most important elements of my philosophy as health educator is to enjoy what I do, for this, more than anything else, motivates me and keeps me engaged and interested in teaching.

During the past three semesters, I have taught a variety of undergraduate health education courses totaling 12 courses (see attached list of courses taught). As shown in the table, the mean score for courses I taught in the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters was 3.7 on a 4.0 scale. The mean for my summer 2009 semester courses was 2.9 on a 3.0 scale. I attribute my teaching effectiveness to a variety of factors, especially adherence to my teaching philosophy.

As indicated by students, I have consistently encouraged their active participation and ownership of learning. This is mainly because of my adherence to the participative style of learning where I involve my students in the learning process. I create an atmosphere where students feel free and open to contribute to the class discussions. Students also acknowledged that I have consistently demonstrated interest and knowledge of the subject matter. As noted in my teaching philosophy, I consider teaching in health education my “true calling” and, therefore, continually seek ways to enhance my knowledge and skills in my field. I truly enjoy what I do and, consequently, openly demonstrate my passion for teaching health education to my students. My belief and hope is that this motivates students to be excited about their own education. I believe that the use of diverse teaching methods and tools made significant impact on my teaching effectiveness. Apart from my use of multimedia tools including videos, PowerPoint presentations, Blackboard, movie clips, and others, I usually incorporate a variety of real life and hands-on experiences in my teaching so that students will understand the materials better and be able to apply them in solving practical health problems. To achieve this goal, I invite guest speakers in health careers to visit my classes and to expose students to first hand information. My aim is to effectively prepare my students for real world situations.

Students learn and retain information differently. Discussing what other people have experienced and discussing my own experiences and experiences of the students enable them to remember the information being discussed and the objective (s) for the topic. I believe that utilizing real life experiences inspire, enhance students’ understanding, and enhance their imagination which leads to creativity. The real life experiences also provoke questions and help the students’ to see and think about the realities of life and improve their interest in the subject matter. Some students are visual learners while others are auditory learners. I use video clips to stimulate and captivate students, and to provide an innovative and effective means for me, the instructor in addressing the curricular concepts and objectives. These video clips are used as enhancement to the lesson as part of the instruction. Utilizing video clips provides an entertaining way of introducing the content. Powerpoint and videos usually keep student's attention and stimulate discussions.

I invite guest speakers who work in the field of health education in my classes as a way of introducing professions and career choices to my students and giving them the opportunity to reflect on what they might become. By doing so exposes the students to new professions or gain more information about a profession with which they already had interest in. Other guest speakers who do not work in the health education field are also invited to my classes to provide topic specific presentation to the students. For example, inviting a cancer survivor to speak on cancer provides a full picture of the disease rather than only learning what literature or the text provide. A part of my philosophy is to bring my international background and experiences to my classroom. My diverse background has helped me in educating my students on situations occurring in other countries other than the United States. To accomplish this, I introduced an international health course into the Health Education curriculum in the spring of 2010. I also developed and led a Travel Study program for students from Education, Nursing, and the Arts & Sciences to Ghana, West Africa this past summer. I strongly believe that students should expect to gain knowledge that will be useful in their careers as a result of taking my classes. I am glad to note that student evaluations attest to my efforts in this area. Just as I believe in classroom instruction and learning, I also believe that significant learning occurs outside the classroom. Therefore, I actively seek opportunities to enhance student learning through a variety of avenues that lie outside my official instructional assignments. I really enjoy the one-on-one mentoring with my students outside of the classroom. I believe that spending several hours meeting with students outside of class time made a significant difference in my work as a health educator. Again, I am encouraged that my students are appreciative of the time I spend with them outside of class to “chat” about class and other relevant issues in their lives. Lastly, though my teaching evaluations are generally positive, I also see areas for continued improvement. I have high expectations of myself as a teacher and thus I will continue to seek opportunities to grow in my profession. Guest speakers

HED 201-004: Healthful Living Course Description: The Healthful Living course is designed to provide an overview of different health topics and to help students understand how practices and appreciation of health of individuals, groups, and community may be maintained. In my opinion, all of us want optimum health. However, many of us do not know how to achieve that. Through lectures, readings, discussions, panel presentations, and behavior modification projects, this class will introduce you to the tools needed to affect health. This course again will review relevant definitions and health topics as they relate to lifestyle. HED 363-Consumer Health Literacy Course Description: This course is designed to enable students to become critical consumers of health products, health services, and health protection as well as educate others in a school/community setting regarding consumerism. HED 410-Environmental Health and Bioterrorism Course Description: To develop an extensive basis of knowledge of the effect that humans have on the environment and, in turn, the way in which the environment affects our health and life in general. This course will also examine possible future approaches to control the major environmental health problems in our country and globally. KIN 460-Internship in Exercise/Wellness Course Description and Objective: The internship in Exercise and Wellness provides an experience for the undergraduate student to observe, assist with, and otherwise engage in various duties related to the fields of sport, exercise, fitness, wellness, and rehabilitation. A total of 200 hours is required in order to receive credit (3 semester hours) for the internship experience. Students must have a 2.75 GPA (overall) and must have completed KIN 420 prior to enrolling in the internship (KIN 460), and have an active American Red Cross CPR/First Aid/AED training. KIN 555-Internship in Kinesiology Course Description and objective: The internship in Kinesiology provides an experience for the graduate student to observe, assist with, and otherwise engage in various duties related to the fields of sport, exercise, fitness, wellness, and rehabilitation. A total of 80 hours is required in order to receive credit (3 semester hours) for the internship experience. Fall

HED 462-002-Travel Study Course Description: The course is intended to introduce an international internship/service learning experience for our students - HED 499-002-International Internship (9 credit hours), and service learning experience for students not majoring in Health Education-HED 462-002-International Service Learning (6 credit hours). The international internship/service learning program is aimed at providing health education students with a unique field experience. It will provide students with opportunities for academic, social, cultural and personal enrichment. Students will have the opportunity to learn about health issues in developing societies. Students will work with non-profit and government organizations that provide health related services. They will assist in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health programs. They will also have the opportunity to experience the Ghanaian culture and investigate the social and cultural factors that impact health education, promotion, prevention and care in developing societies such as Ghana. HED 499-002- International Internship Course Description: The course is intended to introduce an international internship/service learning experience for our students - HED 499-002-International Internship (9 credit hours), and service learning experience for students not majoring in Health Education-HED 462-002-International Service Learning (6 credit hours). The international internship/service learning program is aimed at providing health education students with a unique field experience. It will provide students with opportunities for academic, social, cultural and personal enrichment. Students will have the opportunity to learn about health issues in developing societies. Students will work with non-profit and government organizations that provide health related services. They will assist in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health programs. They will also have the opportunity to experience the Ghanaian culture and investigate the social and cultural factors that impact health education, promotion, prevention and care in developing societies such as Ghana. Summer

HED 201- 002 &003- Healthful Living Course Description: The Healthful Living course is designed to provide an overview of different health topics and to help students understand how practices and appreciation of health of individuals, groups, and community may be maintained. In my opinion, all of us want optimum health. However, many of us do not know how to achieve that. Through lectures, readings, discussions, panel presentations, and behavior modification projects, this class will introduce you to the tools needed to affect health. This course again will review relevant definitions and health topics as they relate to lifestyle. HED 355-001: Introduction to Public Health Course Description: This course examines the role of community agencies and organizations in addressing the health needs of its population. Specific attention is given to how local communities network with state, federal and global bureaucracies to pursue health promotion goals. Examination of the role of the health educator throughout these initiatives will be highlighted. HED 462-001: International Health Course Description: The health and well being of people, especially the very poor, has significant effects on our national security, global peace and individual freedom. Epidemics can de-stabilize a country’s economic foundation and shorten the life expectancy for entire populations as seen in many African and Asian countries. This course will introduce students to the key principles and concepts in global health. It is intended to expose students to the most critical issues and debates in international public health and provide an overview of the determinants of health, and how health status is measured. Students will also review the burden of disease, risk factors, and key measures to address these in cost-effective ways. The course will be global in coverage but with an important focus on the developing world and the health of the poor. HED 499- 001: Field Study in Health Education Course Description: The internship is designed to be full-time work for fifteen weeks in a community health-related agency or worksite. This is 300 hours total on-the-job experiences. The duration of the internship is planned to allow the variety of experiences that will provide the most benefit to the student. The student must follow the schedule that is typical of the agency including work hours during the day and any holidays that may fall during the course of the internship. The students will assume the tasks and projects that are assigned to them by their internship site supervisor. Each student should consider the internship to be a professional job and follow all the requirements of the internship placement site including dress code, communication protocols, scheduling etc. The community health education internship is a critical component of the undergraduate student’s curriculum in the Community Health Education concentration. It provides the student with invaluable experience in a professional setting and also allows them to contribute their ideas and skills to the internship. Hopefully, it is an experience that benefits both the student and the agency and its personnel. In some cases it can also benefit clients if that is an opportunity they experience. It is hoped the internship will provide some professional opportunities that would allow the community health education student to put “theory into practice” and also use their new community health knowledge during the course of the internship Spring