[Objectives] [Schedule] [Evaluation/Grading] [Important Note] [Inclement Weather Policy]

Instructor: Drs. Mecham and Reid

Dr. Mecham will be at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya during Spring ’06
Office: 131 SMB
Phone Number: 760-8409
Email address: kenya@meredith.edu

Course Web Site: http://meredith.edu/kenya

Texts:
Fan, H., Conner,R.F. and L.P. Villarreal, 2004. AIDS: Science and Society, Fourth Edition. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
NSTA Press, The Science of HIV, 2nd ed.

Course Objectives:

Understand how HIV invades the human body

Understand why finding a “cure” for AIDS is difficult

Explore ways in which HIV might be targeted

Explore a topic more fully and design a lesson plan to teach this topic to Kenyan students and Meredith College students as well as present the material to your peers in class

Develop your communication skills

Explore the societal issues surrounding HIV/AIDS

This seminar course is designed to explore both the biology and the societal issues surrounding the epidemic HIV/AIDS. The course is designed to engage you with students and faculty at Kenyatta University in Kenya, North Carolina Wesleyan College (NCWC), and your peers on campus. In order to communicate with the Kenyatta and NCWC students, and Dr. Mecham at Kenyatta, you will be accessing the website indicated above on a regular basis. Thus, in addition to class time, you will also be participating in online discussions on a regular basis.

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Tentative Schedule of Classes and Activities

Date	Topic	Text Pages to Read	Specific Assignment
	Introduction and Case Study		Explore Kenya web site: http://www.meredith.edu/kenya Summarize (at least 3 typed pages) what you learned about the role of Europe in Kenya, the economy, the government, the people and other interesting things you learned. Due date:
	Finish Case Study
	Exploration of Kenya and Crisis in Africa
	How Healthy Cells Operate (Presentation from 2 students)		Study for Quiz
	Quiz & HIV Structure and Replication
	HIV Structure and Replication
	The Immune Response (Presentations from 2 students)		Study for Quiz
	Quiz & Disease Transmission
	Disease Transmission
	HIV Diagnostics (Presentation from 1 student)
	HIV Therapeutics (Presentation from 1 student)		Study for Quiz
			Write up (2 typed pages) on what you learned from presentations and how it relates to what you have been learning about Kenya. Due date:
	Quiz & Communication and Prevention
**4/26	Meredith College: interaction w/students and attendance at "Day of Celebration" (Research from students)		Write up (1 typed page) on what you learned from the Day of Celebration. Due date:

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Evaluation and Grading

Students are expected to perform honestly in all of their work. Please refer to the College Honor Code. Working with one another in study groups is a fantastic idea on individual homework assignments and is highly encouraged; however, any individual final work must be done by your own efforts.

• Presentation of Topic (50% of overall grade)

Based upon assigned topics, you will be provided with some background material to read (from The Science of HIV, 2nd Edition, by NSTA Press). You will then review your textbook, and explore the web more fully to develop your thoughts and understanding of the topic. Then you will devise a lesson plan to teach the topic (you will be given an outline guide to help you with this). This topic will then be organized in a powerpoint presentation and presented to your colleagues in class (you will be allotted about 25 minutes total for the presentation as well as questions and answers from your peers). You will also be emailing students at Kenyatta University in Kenya and students at NCWC. Part of the lesson plan will involve posing questions to the students that they will answer. You will also be asked questions to which you must respond. The due dates of the presentation will depend on the topic.

Possible Topics:

• A Healthy Cell: DNA and Building new DNA
• A Healthy Cell: How Cells make Proteins from a DNA code
• The Immune System: The Immune Response Overall
• The Immune System: Primary and Secondary Immune Response to HIV
• HIV Diagnostics: Testing and Monitoring HIV Infection
• HIV Therapeutics: Treating HIV Infection and HIV Vaccines

• Attendance and Participation (20% of overall grade)

Attendance at all sessions is required. We only meet one day a week; thus it is important for all students to be present. Much of what we do during class will be discussions, case studies, and presentations. Without participation from everyone, the learning environment of the course will decrease. If you have more than two unexcused absences in class, you will be dropped from the course.

Participation is three-fold: (a) the ability to interact with your peers during class (e.g. asking questions, participating in case studies, etc.); (b) the email interaction you will have with the Kenyan and NCWC students; and (c) the activity planned at Meredith at the end of April. You will meet with NCWC students and attend the “Day of Celebration” where the students present their research. Please plan for this accordingly in your schedules.

• Quizzes (25% of overall grade)

Make-up quizzes, as well as in-class assignments will only be given when there are extenuating circumstances (and you must have a documented excuse). If you anticipate a conflict with a scheduled examination, see the instructor as soon as possible. In addition, the quizzes will be given during the first five to ten minutes of class. If you are late to class, you will not be given additional time to take the quiz. You will need to turn in the quiz when the last person who was on time turns in his or her quiz.

• Pre and Post Surveys (5% of overall grade)

At the beginning and again at the end of the semester, you will be required to take a short on-line survey. The survey takes about 10-20 minutes and asks a series of opinion questions. The survey is anonymous.

The grade earned will be based on the total number of points accumulated, divided by the total possible to obtain a percentage. The grade earned will be based on a ten-point scale.

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Important Note

Please talk with me if you have any disabilities of which I need to be aware. We can talk about alternatives to help you study and strategies for taking exams. Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact disability services at 760-8427.

Inclement Weather Policy

In the event of inclement weather, call 832-8878 for the latest information on class cancellations and office closings. Also listen to 101.5 FM and WRAL Channel 5 or check the WRAL Web site at: http://www.wral-tv.com/

Information also will be phoned in to other local television and radio stations as time allows.

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