Course Syllabus

Spring 2024 | BIO-1030-VO08 - Introduction to Nutrition

Online Class

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

Faculty

Jamie Abbaticchio
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jennifer Guarino

General Education Requirements

VSCS 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 IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

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 uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Spring 2024 textbook details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

BIO-1030-VO08 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

• Weekly readings from the book Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies
• Additional readings, videos, etc posted each week to Canvas
• Participation in weekly discussion forum posts and comments on classmates' posts: see below for details
• Weekly assignments: see below for details
• Midterm research project and presentation: see below for details
• Final diet analysis and reflection project: see below for details

Assignment Descriptions:

• Discussion forum: Questions will be posted each week. Students are required to respond to the weekly question that corresponds to the group they are assigned by Thursday night (10pts). Students are required to comment on three classmates’ postings by Monday night (6pts). Discussions each week will be graded on a 16pt scale. The overall total Discussion forum grade will count for 35% of your total course grade. For full details and grading criteria, please see the Discussion Forum Guide posted on our course Canvas page.
• Weekly Assignments: These will vary and will be posted each week. They may include case studies, worksheets, reflective writing assignments, and other learning activities. Assignments will be graded on a 10pt scale. The overall total Weekly Assignments grade will count for 30% of your total course grade.
• Midterm Project: Students will be assigned a micronutrient to research and present to the class in an online presentation (powerpoint, presi, video, etc). This will count for 15% of your total course grade. For details and grading criteria, please see the Midterm Project Assignment on Canvas.
• Final Project: Students will track, record, and analyze their own diet for three days. They will calculate their own personal nutrient needs and create a “perfect day” diet. They will then write a paper reflecting on this process and research nutrients that were lacking in their diet. Finally, they will set personal nutrition & health goals. This will count for 20% of your total course grade. For details and grading criteria, please see the Final Project Assignment on Canvas.

Participation Guidelines:

Students are expected to fully participate in the course by performing all or most of these tasks on a weekly basis, which will likely lead to greater academic success:

• Engage in your online course multiple times from beginning to end of the week
• Practice good time management and don’t wait until the end of the week to complete learning activities
• Complete all required readings and review content materials prior to completing assignments and discussions
• Show respect for others in all communications
• Contribute comments based on thoughtful consideration
• Raise relevant points that add to the conversation
• Respond both to instructor and fellow students’ questions and comments
• Reference assigned readings to support comments or differing opinions
• Ask relevant questions

Evaluation Criteria

Assignment	Weight
Weekly Discussion Forum posting & comments on 3 classmates’ posts	35%
Weekly Assignments	30%
Midterm Project	15%
Final Project	20%

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.

Missing & Late Work Policy

• Assignments are due by the deadline noted on the syllabus, even when you need to be absent.
• Late participation will not be graded in the discussion forum. Interacting with classmates is an essential part of online discussions and cannot be made up after the fact.
• You are responsible for checking Canvas and getting any notes, materials and assignments for any class time you missed. Please reach out and ask questions if anything is unclear.
• Plan to complete discussions and assignments on time.
• Late work is not accepted, except in emergency situations. In the case of an extenuating circumstance, please communicate as early as you can with your instructor about the need to miss class and/or assignments.
• Students who know that they will not have course access for any given week should make arrangements with their instructor to complete assignments and participation requirements prior to the absence.

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