Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Introduction to Epidemiology (Face-to-Face)

BIOL 3340-01

Course: BIOL 3340-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: BIOL
CRN: 32989

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to the fundamental principles and methods used in epidemiology. Students will learn to investigate disease patterns, explore determinants of health, and apply epidemiological tools to control public health problems. Key topics include the design and interpretation of epidemiological studies, measures of disease frequency and association, and the role of bias and confounding in research. Case studies of real-world outbreaks will illustrate the practical application of these methods, providing students with a hands-on understanding of outbreak investigation and public health interventions. Students are encouraged to complete MATH 1040 or MATH 1190 prior to taking this course. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Prerequisite(s): (BIOL 1610 and BIOL 1615) and (BIOL 1620 and BIOL 1625) - Prerequisite Min. Grade: C

Required Texts

  1. Textbook of Epidemiology, 2nd Edition (2023). Lex Bouter, Maurice Zeegers, Tianjing Li. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: 9781119776048
  2. Deadly outbreaks: How medical detectives save lives threatened by killer pandemics, exotic viruses, and drug-resistant parasites. Levitt, A. M. (2013). Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN: 9781628734546

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
  • Integrate and Apply Foundational Concepts: Students will integrate knowledge from earlier coursework in biology and statistics to develop a deeper understanding of how disease patterns are studied and controlled within populations.
  • Demonstrate Knowledge of Epidemiological Terminology and Concepts: Students will demonstrate a critical understanding of specialized terminology, such as incidence, prevalence, risk factors, bias, and confounding, and apply these to real-world epidemiological scenarios.
  • Understand and Apply Epidemiological Methods: Students will show proficiency in key epidemiological study designs (e.g., cohort, case-control, cross-sectional studies) and statistical measures (e.g., relative risk, odds ratio) used to investigate health outcomes.
  • Interpret and Analyze Data in Public Health Contexts: Students will be able to interpret epidemiological data and draw evidence-based conclusions from statistical analyses, making sound judgments about public health interventions and outcomes.
  • Critical Evaluation of Case Studies: Students will critically analyze case studies, such as those in Deadly Outbreaks, to propose solutions to public health problems and evaluate the effectiveness of past outbreak responses.
  • Inquiry-Based Learning and Problem Solving: Through inquiry-based activities, students will investigate real-world health issues, formulate research questions, and apply epidemiological methods to answer these questions.  
  • Communicate Epidemiological Findings: Students will develop the ability to effectively communicate epidemiological findings and public health recommendations to various audiences, including healthcare professionals and the public.
  • Apply Epidemiological Concepts to Broader Public Health Issues: Students will articulate how epidemiological principles are applied within public health and medical fields, connecting classroom learning to real-world situations, such as infectious disease control, chronic disease prevention, and global health challenges. 
  • Ethical Considerations in Epidemiology: Students will identify and discuss ethical issues in the practice of epidemiology, including the handling of sensitive data and the implementation of public health policies during outbreaks.

How These Learning Objectives Will Be Achieved:
  • Attend class each day: Consistent attendance is crucial for staying engaged with the course material and participating fully in the learning process.
  • Engage in daily discussions: Learning goes beyond simply listening to lectures. Actively participating in class discussions will help bring the material to life. Take notes, ask questions, volunteer answers, and contribute to small-group discussions. Engage thoughtfully with the material by making connections between course concepts and real-world situations or your personal experiences. Active participation is key to deepening your understanding and retention of the material.
  • Extend your learning outside of class: The process of learning continues after each class session. Reflect on the material discussed and conduct further research to deepen your understanding. Daily homework assignments will help reinforce the concepts, but to maximize long-term retention, it’s highly recommended that you create your own study questions. Identify key ideas from each class discussion and formulate open-ended questions to test your understanding. Tools like Anki (which uses spaced repetition) can help with long-term retention.
  • Form study groups: Collaborative learning can be an excellent way to reinforce the material. Meet regularly with study partners to quiz each other, discuss difficult concepts, and offer mutual support. Study groups provide an opportunity to clarify ideas and test your understanding in a supportive environment.
  • Utilize instructor office hours: Make use of office hours to ask questions, review course content, and seek clarification on challenging topics. Regular one-on-one or small-group discussions with your instructor can provide valuable insights and prepare you for exams.

By actively engaging with the course material both inside and outside of the classroom, you will enhance your ability to meet the learning outcomes and retain key concepts for long-term success.

Course Requirements

  • Syllabus Quiz: To encourage each student to read the syllabus and to help ensure that you understand the requirements of this course, a syllabus quiz will be administered after the first day of the class. 
  • Pre-class activities (watch video; take and submit a copy of your notes): A key component of our flipped classroom format is the preparation you do before each class. Every day, you will be provided with a video lecture that introduces the material we’ll discuss in class. It is essential that you watch the video and take thorough notes on the content before coming to class. You will need to submit a copy of your handwritten notes before the start of each class session. This preparation is vital to ensure that you are ready to actively participate in discussions and activities. By making an honest effort to engage with the material ahead of time, you will be better equipped to contribute to class and deepen your understanding of the subject.
  • In-class activities and quizzes: Daily in-class activities, which may include a variety of writing assignments and quizzes, will be administered with the dual objective of gauging understanding and recording attendance. Students must be present and on time to receive credit for these activities. These activities will range in value with the value of each activity stated in class at the time the activity is assigned. 
  • Deadly Outbreaks Group Presentations: Students will work in small groups to analyze and present real-world outbreak investigations described in Deadly Outbreaks by Alexandra Levitt. In Phase 1 (mid-semester), each group will present one chapter, focusing on foundational epidemiologic tools and concepts introduced in the first half of the course. In Phase 2 (later in the semester), a different group will be assigned the same chapter and tasked with building on the initial presentation using more advanced methods such as stratified analysis, causal diagrams, and evaluation of diagnostic or prognostic tools. This two-phase structure is designed to promote cumulative learning, teamwork, and critical application of epidemiologic reasoning.
  • Case-Control Simulation Activities: Students will participate in two immersive simulations designed to model real-world outbreak investigations. In each session, students are assigned a role as either a case or a control and must work collaboratively to define the illness, design a questionnaire, collect and analyze data, and identify the likely source of disease. The first simulation focuses on foundational epidemiologic tools (e.g., study design, odds ratios), while the second builds on these concepts with stratified analysis and diagnostic test evaluation. These activities reinforce applied reasoning, collaboration, and core skills in epidemiologic research.
  • Final Project: Comprehensive Outbreak Investigation: In this culminating assignment, student groups will select and analyze a published epidemiological investigation of a real-world outbreak (not covered in the Deadly Outbreaks text). Each group will submit a proposal, deliver a 7–10 minute presentation, and submit a written summary that critically evaluates the epidemiologic methods used in the investigation. This project emphasizes the application of core course concepts and the development of scientific communication skills.

Course Outline

Lecture                Topic                                                                                          Chapter (Textbook of Epidemiology)
1                          What is Epidemiology?                                                                                  Ch. 1.1.1 – 1.1.2
2                          Describing and Explaining Health Outcomes                                                 Ch. 1.1.2 – 1.1.5 
3                          Defining Health and Disease                                                                         Ch. 2.1 – 2.3, 2.5
4                          Measures of Disease Frequency                                                                   Ch. 2.3 – 2.4, 2.6 – 2.7
5                          Understanding Association in Epidemiology                                                  Ch. 3.1 – 3.2
6                          Measuring Association with Continuous Outcomes                                        Ch. 3.3 – 3.4 
7                          Modeling Outcomes and Applied Measures                                                   Ch. 3.2 – 3.4
8                          Study Design                                                                                                 Ch. 4
9                          Error, Bias, and Validity                                                                                  Ch. 5
10                        Bias, Confounding, and Effect Modification                                                     Ch. 5
11                        Etiology and Causality                                                                                    Ch. 6
12                        Genetic Epidemiology: Foundations, Study Designs and Data Sources          Ch. 7.1 – 7.2
13                        Discovering Genetic Risk                                                                               Ch. 7.2 – 7.5
14                        Applying and Interpreting Genetic Risk                                                           Ch. 7.6 – 7.10
15                        Outbreak Epidemiology                                                                                   Ch. 8
16                        Diagnostic Research                                                                                       Ch. 9.1 – 9.5
17                        Prognostic Research                                                                                       Ch. 9.6 – 9.9
18                        Intervention Research                                                                                     Ch. 10

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

 Assignments are due at the date and time listed on Canvas. In general, late assignments will automatically receive a 10 percent deduction for each day they are late, beginning one minute after the assignment is due. If you have plans to be away from your computer when an assignment is due, you need to plan ahead and ensure that you submit your work in advance. Technical problems are not an excuse for late submissions; it is your responsibility to ensure that submissions have been successfully uploaded by the submission time by submitting early and by ensuring that you have a strong and reliable internet connection. The only exception for this late policy would be extended hospitalizations or deaths in the immediate family; in these cases, you may submit a petition to have late work considered; such petitions are intended to cover one assignment or, at most, one week’s worth of assignments, and must be submitted within 1 week of the assignment due date. 

Attendance Policy

Attendance is Required
Attendance is crucial and is required at all class meetings. Attendance will be recorded daily and will be part of the Assignments portion of your grade; students must be present in class and on time to receive credit. Note that students who sign in and then leave the classroom will be counted as absent for that day. The only absences that will be excused are those that meet the definitions outlined in SUU Policy #6.30 [summarized below], and which are approved in writing by the appropriate SUU administrative office.

SUU Policy 6.30 (https://www.suu.edu/policies/06/30.html) provides specific guidelines for excused absences. The following is a summary of policy 6.30; follow the link above to read the full policy.

  • The following activities may be eligible for the excused absence policy:
    • Academic Events. Academic events include competitions (related to a major or an academic department), fine arts performances, course-related field trips, and conferences associated with professional organizations and honor societies.
      • Course-related events must be approved by the program’s Department Chair and Dean.
      • Other academic events or for events serving the University interest (e.g., conferences, department/major events, Board of Trustees meetings) must be approved by the sponsoring organization committee, advisor, Department Chair, Director, and appropriate Dean. 
    • NCAA Intercollegiate Athletic Competition events. These events must be approved by the Athletic Compliance Director, the SUU Athletic Director, and the Faculty Athletics Representative.
    • Legally mandatory events. Jury duty, military, or emergency law enforcement mandatory activities; appropriate documentation must be provided.

  • The following are examples of events that specifically DO NOT qualify for the SUU Excused Absence Policy:
    • Practice or rehearsal for an event.
    • Any event that would require absence from academic endeavors that require the completion of a predetermined number of contact hours, as in clinical/lab/studio experiences, field placements, or internships. 
    • Sports clubs
    • Intramural events
    • Greek activities (events/rushes)
    • Career fairs

  • Student responsibilities for Excused Absences
    • Students shall inform their instructor of dates they will miss class due to an excused absence prior to the date of that anticipated absence. For activities whose schedules are known prior to the start of the semester, students must provide their instructors a written schedule during the first week of the semester showing days they expect to miss class. For other university-excused absences, students must provide each instructor the earliest advanced notice of the classes they will miss.
    • Make-up Work:
      • It is the responsibility of the student to arrange with the instructor an opportunity to complete missed assignments, activities, and labs that will be missed during excused absences. The student must work with the instructor prior to the absence to develop a plan and document the following for each assignment or activity missed (in an email or some other form):
        • Any modifications or changes to the original assignment required in lieu of the in-class element.
        • Due date for the assignment or date when activity must be completed.
      • Students are responsible for all material covered in classes missed, even when their absences are excused.

  • Students should be aware that excessive absences, whether excused or unexcused, may affect their ability to do well in class.

  • Students falsifying information in order to obtain a sanctioned excused absence or sharing information about a make-up examination with other students is considered in violation of Policy 11.2 and/or the Academic Honesty Section of the Student Handbook. Examples of University activities that will not be sanctioned as excused absences include.

For this class, to ensure consistency and fairness to all students in the course, no other absences will be excused than those specifically outlined in SUU policy 6.30.

Canvas

We will be using Canvas (https://suu.instructure.com) as our course management system; this is where you will access and submit assignments and where your grades will be reported. Please make certain that you have access to this important tool; become familiar with it and check it often (particularly the Modules and Syllabus pages).  

Grading Policy

Your overall grade will consist of work performed in two categories: assignments and exams, with 50% of the grade coming from each category, as follows: 
  • Assignments (50% of Grade)
  • Exams (50% of Grade)

Please note: The Exam portion of your course grade will be the higher of a) the average of all five exams (the four unit exams and the final exam), or b) your score on the Final Exam. Even if you performed poorly on one or more of the unit exams, keep working hard and don’t give up. By using each exam as a learning tool, you can master the material; if you can demonstrate improvement on Final Exam, that score can serve as the score for the Exam portion of the final grade. The purpose of this policy is to help you remain engaged and motivated all the way through the semester.

Course Format

Flipped Classroom: This course will follow a flipped classroom format, designed to enhance your learning experience and make the most of our time together in classroom. In this approach, you will be required to watch lecture videos and review course materials before coming to class. The in-class sessions will then focus on reviewing, discussing, and practicing the concepts presented in the videos.

Benefits of the Flipped Classroom:
  • Active Engagement: Class time will be dedicated to interactive activities that promote a deeper understanding of the material, such as discussions, problem-solving exercises, and collaborative projects.
  • Personalized Support: With more time available for hands-on learning, I will be able to offer more individualized support and address any questions or challenges you may have.
  • Paced Learning: You can watch the lecture videos at your own pace, allowing you to pause, rewind, and review as needed to ensure you grasp the content.
  • Enhanced Retention: By engaging with the material both before and during class, you will reinforce your understanding and improve retention of key concepts.

Expectations:
  • Preparation: You are expected to watch the assigned lecture videos and take complete and thorough notes over the material before each class session; you will then submit a copy of your notes online. This preparation is crucial for you to actively participate in class activities.
  • Participation: In-class time will be used for interactive learning, so active participation is essential. You will be expected to engage in discussions, group work, and other activities that reinforce the material.
  • Responsibility: Take charge of your learning by reviewing the material thoroughly outside of class and coming prepared with any questions or topics you would like to discuss further.

By embracing this format, you will gain a more personalized and engaging educational experience, ultimately leading to a stronger grasp of the course content.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.