Course Syllabus

Summer 2026 | BIO-1030-VO02 - Introduction to Nutrition

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Mary Lothrop
View Faculty Credentials

Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jen Guarino

General Education Requirements

Natural Science

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course introduces students to the physiological basis of nutrition and evaluates dietary requirements. Emphasis is placed on metabolism, digestion, and nutrients used in the human body and the nutrition involved in health, disease, and aging.

Essential Objectives

1. Utilize the scientific method to distinguish between well-researched evidence on nutrition and some of the basic fallacies and myths in this field.
2. Discuss how Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are established and how they compare for individuals based on nutrition, disease, and aging.
3. Outline dietary strategies now recommended to minimize the risks of disease and describe the nutritional and caloric needs of individuals throughout the lifecycle.
4. Describe the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids with an emphasis on organs, hormones, and enzymes.
5. Evaluate and discuss the biological role of vitamins and minerals in maintaining homeostasis.
6. Analyze how carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are broken down to harvest energy and describe the conditions by which each of these molecules is metabolized.
7. Examine, record, and evaluate diets for nutritional and caloric adequacy and safety.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in understanding, interpreting, evaluating and applying quantitative data and information.
9. Explain how knowledge created in the natural sciences has contributed to the creation, maintenance and dismantling of social inequalities and discuss the impacts of diversity and inclusion on scientific research and practice.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

*** This is a no cost textbook or resource class. ***

This course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Methods

Self study topics to include assigned readings, learning modules, and/or videos

Discussion Forums

Assignments

Quizzes

Midterm Exam

Diet Analysis Project

Evaluation Criteria

o Discussion Forums (20%)–There will be a discussion forum each week. Initial responses to the forum should be posted by 11:59PM Friday; two responses to classmates by 11:59PM Monday.

o Assignments (30%) – Specific instructions, expectations, and grading requirements will be communicated with each weekly assignment. The goal of these assignments is to demonstrate the real world application of content covered in class. All assignments will be submitted electronically though the course site.

oQuizzes (20%) – There will be six, non-cumulative, online quizzes given during the semester. You will have 30 minutes to complete each quiz, which will be a combination of multiple choice, fill-in the blank, matching, and short answer questions. Throughout the semester the lowest quiz grade will be dropped.

o Diet Analysis Project (20%) – You will be asked to record and analyze your dietary intake for seven days (5 weekdays and 2 weekend days) utilizing a free, web-based, diet-tracking program of your choosing. You will then generate a short analysis of your finding by responding to several question prompts.

o Midterm Exam (10%) –Mid-way through the semester will be an exam covering topics from the first 7 weeks of the course.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity within the stated course week. (Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.)

Missing & Late Work Policy

While I understand that things come up - and my primary goal is to support each student's ability to learn the content over the course of the semester - meeting deadlines and participating in the class in real time are also important. Students are welcome to work ahead on assignments/quizzes.

*Late quizzes will not be accepted, however the lowest quiz grade is automatically dropped.*

**There will be a 10% grade deduction per day for assignments that are turned in after the deadline for any reason.**

***In the event that there is a true emergency, students should reach out to me via e-mail as soon as possible and I will do my best to help them get caught up.***

Note: It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the correct, completed document has been submitted.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/student-support/accessibility-services/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

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