Course:  Seminar

Teachers: Ms. Christensen, Ms. Wernersbach, and Mr. Paramore 

Course Description:  WECHS H.E.A.L.S  (Health Equity Advocates Learning & Solving) Seminar course is a student-driven problem-based learning (PBL) program where students research and help solve a health science inequity in their community and/or world.

Students in this project will explore targets and develop solutions for the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health & Well-being through a local lens and with a focus on utilizing community partners to support this inquiry-based PBL learning experience. Through the PBL experience, students will learn writing and critical thinking skills, critical reading skills, research and study skills, and life management skills such as health, self-esteem, motivation, goal-setting, diversity, and effective communication. Upon completion  of this course, students should be able to function effectively within the college environment to meet their educational objectives.   

Problem Based Learning (PBL) Objectives:  

• Collaboratively explore and develop solutions for the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health & Well-being through a local lens and with a focus on utilizing community partners to support this inquiry-based PBL learning experience.

• Experience a field trip to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discover connections between public health and the environment.

• Meet with and interview experts in the health field to inform research and develop solutions.

• Design an app to help solve an issue within your researched target.

• Create a podcast compiling your research and describing your app.

• Present to school and community members.

Course Outline:  Each week we will focus on the following topics: 

The Writing Process: The writing component focuses on mastery in organization, coherence, and the mechanics of   

                                       writing and editing. We will learn parts of speech, grammar, usage, mechanics, sentence

                                       structure, paragraph structure, and essay structure.

Critical Reading Skills:  Comprehension skills, critical reading skills, and active reading will be covered to help us             

                                           improve our literacy, reading, research and communication strategies. 

Study Strategies: We will learn and apply a variety of study strategies to help us be successful in our high school classes 

                               as well as future college classes.

Seminar: We will have a Socratic seminar on a variety of topics many of which are based on our    

                 Health/Science Theme. 

Anchor Texts: The primary text is My Quest for Health Equity by David Satcher and the two supplementary Better and Complications by Atul Gawande which explore various issues within the medical profession. 

PRIDE Social Agreement

Classes will develop expectations and social agreement together for our PRIDE components:

Perseverance

Respect

Integrity

Discipline

Excellence

Grading:

45% - Major Assessments

40% - Minor Assessments

15% - Classwork / Homework.

Absences: If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you have missed and complete the work.  You should contact the teacher during lunch or after school to determine what was missed, get copies of any materials given out, prepare for the next class, and schedule make-up assessments.

Additional Assistance:

I would be happy to provide additional assistance to any student.  Please see me if you have any questions on the course material, an assignment, or a grade.  

I look forward to getting to know each of you and making this year a positive learning experience for all of us.

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Please sign that you have read the syllabus for Special Interest Seminar, and that you agree to follow the expectations for this class.

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