Course Introduction & Design

Course Introduction | Considerations in Course Design

Course Introduction

The Module is designed to provide a critical overview of built environment and health topics organized in a coherent curriculum for a full academic semester or as individual modules for instructors interested in teaching a particular aspect that integrates into their specific course topic.

Within this curriculum framework, there are opportunities to customize the materials to reflect school and instructor interests, experiences, and resources.

The current model curriculum design covers four broad topics over a fifteen-week semester:

Additional website resources include:

Course Offerings and Joint Programs
- A list of Planning Programs that engage the intersection of Planning and Public Health divided into four tiers:
  - Tier 1, faculty who have a teaching and or research interest in built environment and health
Readings
- Articles linked to either the full PDF when available for free online or to the abstract on Medline
Course Assignments
- Sample handouts and instructions (coming soon)
- Sample products from student submissions (coming soon)
Additional Resources
- organizations
- conferences
- videos

The aim of the course is to provide understanding of the interactions between the built environment and health, and skills to engage these issues as professional planners, public health practitioners and other related professionals. More specifically, the learning goals are for students to:

Understand public health and planning history, evolution and significant movements to the present, and historical and current theories on the relationship between the built environment and public health.
Identify contemporary features of the built environment such as patterns of development, parks, public works projects, houses, and transportation systems that reflect past efforts to influence health, and use methods developed by architects, urban planners, public health professionals, sociologists and anthropologists to address current health impacts of the built environment.
Learn about oneself and the context in which others operate to better integrate that understanding when evaluating differing built environments, socioeconomic positions, social and cultural backgrounds, and health status.
Adopt new feelings, interests or values based on issues addressed throughout the semester.
Develop skills to identify studies and engage communities, critique methods and findings, and apply lessons from planning and public health research to current and future problems.
Integrate current evidence regarding the impacts of the built environment on health with information and perspectives from other courses and/or personal experiences.

Considerations in Course Design

This curriculum was developed in collaboration with faculty from U.S. planning and public health schools, based on their experience teaching built environment and health courses. The semester outline and modules provide a mix of foundational knowledge and significant learning opportunities for students to engage this interdisciplinary course material.

Creation of this curriculum and the modules is informed by the course design strategy of L. Dee Fink, a leader in course design who argues that traditional, content-based methods of teaching are insufficient because they focus on information, not transformation, and on teaching rather than learning. He proposes an integration of situational factors, learning goals, teaching and learning activities, and feedback and assessment to promote significant and interactive learning, and training of self-directed learners.

Fink’s strategy integrates content-centered approaches with learning-centered approaches, where students engage in critical thinking, application of course knowledge to solve real-world problems, and thoughtful reflection. Fink’s approach also stresses the importance of contextual or situational factors, such as the difficulty of teaching students with varied levels of experience and knowledge. With Fink’s strategy, situational factors are addressed directly in the learning goals and activities.

Feedback and assessment procedures respond directly to the learning goals, and active learning or collaborative activities that help build skills faculty want students to have at the end of the semester. Such activities may include students developing design characteristics for a built environment that acts to decrease the prevalence of a chronic disease, or conducting a case study that applies methodologies from various disciplines to a place-based health problem. Assessment focuses on various characteristics of high quality contributions; students are also involved in assessing and determining appropriate criteria for evaluating their work, preparing to do so once they begin working in the field.

Course learning objectives were developed to follow Fink’s learning taxonomy that includes the following dimensions:

foundational knowledge: understanding and remembering information and ideas
application: developing skills; thinking critically, practically, and creatively; and managing projects
human dimension: learning about oneself and others
caring: developing new feelings, interests, and values
learning-how-to-learn: improving learning skills
integration: connecting ideas, people, and realms of life

	Course Introduction & Design Course Introduction \| Considerations in Course Design Course Introduction The Module is designed to provide a critical overview of built environment and health topics organized in a coherent curriculum for a full academic semester or as individual modules for instructors interested in teaching a particular aspect that integrates into their specific course topic. Within this curriculum framework, there are opportunities to customize the materials to reflect school and instructor interests, experiences, and resources. The current model curriculum design covers four broad topics over a fifteen-week semester: Unit 1: Planning and Public Health Foundations (Planning History, Public Health History, Interdisciplinary Applications) (2 weeks) Unit 2: Natural and Built Environments (Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality, Water Quality, Food Security, Land Use and Transportation, Planning Design Approaches, Environmental Impact Assessments, Health Impact Assessments) (6 weeks) Unit 3: Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities (Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities, Mental Health, Social Capital, Environmental Justice) (3 weeks) Unit 4: Health Policy and Global Impacts (Health Policy, Sustainable Planning and Global Warming, Healthy Housing) (3 weeks) Final Learning and Reflection (1 week) Additional website resources include: Course Offerings and Joint Programs A list of Planning Programs that engage the intersection of Planning and Public Health divided into four tiers: Tier 1, faculty who have a teaching and or research interest in built environment and health Tier 2, planning programs that offer a course connecting planning and public health disciplinary topics with a description of the course and where available a PDF of the syllabus Tier 3, planning programs that offer such a course and opportunities for students to concentrate at this intersection and or earn a certificate upon completition of an approved curriculum Tier 4, planning programs that offer items from Tiers 1, 2 and 3 in addition to an opportunity for students to earn a joint degree in planning and public health Readings Articles linked to either the full PDF when available for free online or to the abstract on Medline Course Assignments Sample handouts and instructions (coming soon) Sample products from student submissions (coming soon) Additional Resources organizations conferences videos The aim of the course is to provide understanding of the interactions between the built environment and health, and skills to engage these issues as professional planners, public health practitioners and other related professionals. More specifically, the learning goals are for students to: Understand public health and planning history, evolution and significant movements to the present, and historical and current theories on the relationship between the built environment and public health. Identify contemporary features of the built environment such as patterns of development, parks, public works projects, houses, and transportation systems that reflect past efforts to influence health, and use methods developed by architects, urban planners, public health professionals, sociologists and anthropologists to address current health impacts of the built environment. Learn about oneself and the context in which others operate to better integrate that understanding when evaluating differing built environments, socioeconomic positions, social and cultural backgrounds, and health status. Adopt new feelings, interests or values based on issues addressed throughout the semester. Develop skills to identify studies and engage communities, critique methods and findings, and apply lessons from planning and public health research to current and future problems. Integrate current evidence regarding the impacts of the built environment on health with information and perspectives from other courses and/or personal experiences. Back to top Considerations in Course Design This curriculum was developed in collaboration with faculty from U.S. planning and public health schools, based on their experience teaching built environment and health courses. The semester outline and modules provide a mix of foundational knowledge and significant learning opportunities for students to engage this interdisciplinary course material. Creation of this curriculum and the modules is informed by the course design strategy of L. Dee Fink, a leader in course design who argues that traditional, content-based methods of teaching are insufficient because they focus on information, not transformation, and on teaching rather than learning. He proposes an integration of situational factors, learning goals, teaching and learning activities, and feedback and assessment to promote significant and interactive learning, and training of self-directed learners. Fink’s strategy integrates content-centered approaches with learning-centered approaches, where students engage in critical thinking, application of course knowledge to solve real-world problems, and thoughtful reflection. Fink’s approach also stresses the importance of contextual or situational factors, such as the difficulty of teaching students with varied levels of experience and knowledge. With Fink’s strategy, situational factors are addressed directly in the learning goals and activities. Feedback and assessment procedures respond directly to the learning goals, and active learning or collaborative activities that help build skills faculty want students to have at the end of the semester. Such activities may include students developing design characteristics for a built environment that acts to decrease the prevalence of a chronic disease, or conducting a case study that applies methodologies from various disciplines to a place-based health problem. Assessment focuses on various characteristics of high quality contributions; students are also involved in assessing and determining appropriate criteria for evaluating their work, preparing to do so once they begin working in the field. Course learning objectives were developed to follow Fink’s learning taxonomy that includes the following dimensions: foundational knowledge: understanding and remembering information and ideas application: developing skills; thinking critically, practically, and creatively; and managing projects human dimension: learning about oneself and others caring: developing new feelings, interests, and values learning-how-to-learn: improving learning skills integration: connecting ideas, people, and realms of life	Welcome Course Introduction & Design Unit 1: Planning and Public Health Foundations Unit 2: Natural and Built Environments Unit 3: Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities Unit 4: Health Policy and Global Impacts Final Learning and Reflection Course Offerings + Joint Degree Programs Readings Course Assignments Additional Resources Curriculum News + Comments Contact
		Back to top

Built Environment + Public Health : Course Curriculum

Course Introduction & Design

Course Introduction | Considerations in Course Design

Course Introduction

Considerations in Course Design