Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | BIO-1030-VO04 - Introduction to Nutrition

Online Class

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

Faculty

Laura Gannon-Murakami
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
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 course only uses free Open Educational Resources (OER) and/or library materials. For details, see the Canvas Site for this class.

Artificial Intelligence(AI) Policy Statement

CCV recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools are widely available and becoming embedded in many online writing and creative applications.

Integrated: This course's generative AI policy acknowledges the use of AI is an essential skill in today's world. By using genAI for specific purposes, students become equipped with relevant skills and tools necessary to thrive in a technology-driven society. Emphasizing the mastery of generative AI should empower you to harness its potential, enhancing your problem-solving abilities and preparing you for future challenges and opportunities. Be aware, however, that any time generative AI is used at any point in the assignment without attribution it may be considered a violation of CCV's Academic Integrity Policy.

Methods

We will be doing:

Assignments and Activities

Discussions and Blogs

Essay Quizzes

Multiple Choice (TYK) Mini Quizzes

Reflection

Capstone

Evaluation Criteria

Assignments/Activities:There will be a variety of fun assignments and activities to help you learn more about nutrition.

Discussions/Blogs: Discussions are one of the best things about online classes. It is a chance for you to learn about a particular topic and to be the class expert in that area. It is also a great chance to learn from each other. In order to receive credit you will need to check into the discussion folder several times each week. It is expected that you contribute at leastone initial postingand respond to at least two other postings and respond to any questions or comments in your forum. You will be graded on the depth of your posting, the number of responses to other posts and the answers to questions posted in your forum.

New discussion folders will be opened at the start of each week. You will have untilFridayto do the initial posting andMondayto respond to other postings. If you do not post or respond, you will receive a 0 for that week. You cannot go back and post once the week has ended.

For some weeks, we will have blogs instead. Blogs are usually a little longer than a good first posting but they are not shared with your classmates and you do not have to respond.

Essay Quizzes: There will be 6 quizzes on the reading and lecture material. These are open book and not timed but your answers must be your own.

Short Mini (TYK) Multiple Choice Quizzes : Each week there will be a short multiple chooice quiz on the lecture and reading material.

Reflection: At the end of the semeeter, you will reflect on what you learned in Nutrition.

Capstone: Throughout the second part of the semester you will be working on your Capstone Project, "Food and Your Community"

	Number	Points/each	Total Points
Assignments/Activities	10	25	250
Discussions/Blogs	12	25	300
Career Community Discussion	1	30	30
Essay Quizzes	5	50	250
Mini Multiple Choice Quizzes (TYK)	12	10	120
Reflection	1	30	40
Capstone	1	60	60
Total			1050

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

To earn full participation points for the week, students should:

• Read the assigned material and demonstrate an understanding of those resources in your assignments and posts.
• Post an original response to the weekly prompt(s) before Friday at midnight (11:59 PM) and a minimum of two responses to peers before Monday at midnight (11:59 PM). You are also required to respond to any questions or thoughtful comments in your own forum. You are welcome to post early and/or more frequently, as your schedule allows, but you will not receive full credit if you do not meet these minimum requirements and/or deadlines.
• Posts should be substantive and demonstrate college-level writing. A substantive post is well-developed, a minimum 150 words, and references the reading or another appropriate source. A substantive post is NOT one or two sentences of general statements or unsupported opinion.

Missing & Late Work Policy

For Quizzes, Activities, and Blogs, there is an extra one-week grace period to complete the assignments. This is automatically given and permission is not needed. After that time, there is a 20% penalty for late work.

It is expected that all discussion postings are done on time. The initial posting must be done by midnight on Friday to give your classmates time to respond to your posting. There is a 2 point deduction (out of 25 points) for late posting. You are also required to post to at least 2 other postings. Postings after the week has ended will not be allowed.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
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

Apply Now for this semester.