University of Ottawa

Faculty of Health Sciences

Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences
Course Syllabus Fall 2016

Part 1: Course Information

Course Identification

Title: Human Activity, Occupation and Health

Prefix/Section: HSS2104A
Credits: 3
Begins/Ends: September 7, 2016 / December 7, 2016
Meeting Day/Time: Wednesday 7:00 - 10:00pm
Last Day to Withdraw: Check University calendar

http://www.uottawa.ca/important-academic-dates-and-deadlines/
Delivery Type:
Classroom
Class Location:
LEES room A130
Course Website: https://uottawa.blackboard.com
Instructor Information
Instructor name: Tracey OSullivan
Office Location: E250 Lees Campus (200 Lees Ave. E-wing)
Office Hours:
Mondays and Wednesdays 1:30 3:00pm
Please note * no office hours the day of the mid-term or final exam
no office hours during reading week
Office Telephone: 613-562-5800 x8898 (please do not leave messages
email only)
E-mail: tosulliv@uOttawa.ca
Course Description
Examination of human activity and occupation as processes affecting human
health. Workplace and environmental health hazards. Medical conditions,
disorders and diseases of occupational origin. Examination of the role of the
government, employer and employee in promoting workplace health.
Prerequisite: HSS1101

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Textbook & Course Materials

Required Text & Supplemental Readings
There is no required textbook for this course. Instead required readings
for each class will be posted on Blackboard
Course Requirements

Internet connection (DSL, LAN, or cable connection desirable)

Access to Blackboard
Required readings
Required readings and all material presented or discussed in class will be
topics eligible for inclusion on exams.
Students are responsible for studying all material presented or discussed
in class as well as the required readings for the midterms.

Course Structure

Lectures are on Wednesdays from 7:00-10:00pm (Lees Campus

room A130).

Lecture outlines, assignments, notices, and electronic readings and/or

their links will be posted on the course website. The slides will be posted
ahead of class when possible; however, the presentation may vary from
the slides posted ahead of the class. If any changes are made, the revised
slide deck will be posted. It is the students responsibility to ensure they
are studying from the updated version.

Students are expected to take ample notes in class and to read the
required readings prior to each class. The instructor will give notice of
which readings will be covered each week by posting the readings and/or
their link in the folder for each week (on the course content page of
Blackboard).

Students are expected to participate in class discussions, and in particular

to contribute to small group discussions in-class, which will include
occasional informal presentations.

To access the course website, you must log into Blackboard:

https://uottawa.blackboard.com. The link should bring you to the
following webpage.

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To login, type in your student number and your uoZone password.

Your password should be the last 2 digits of your birth year, your birth
month (2 digits), your birth day (2 digits), and the last two digits of your
social insurance number (SIN). In total, the length of your password
should be 8 digits long.
The link for the help page for Blackboard Learn is:
https://enus.help.blackboard.com/Learn/9.1_Older_Versions/9.1_2014_and_2015/S
tudent

Technical Assistance

If you have problems with your password, call the Centre for Mediated
Teaching and Learning at 613-562-5800 ext: 6555.

Sessional Dates

Classes begin:
Midterm:
Reading week:
Assignment due:
Classes end:
Final exam:

07 September
12 October
24-28 October
09 November
07 December (Monday schedule)
Please see final exam schedule ***

Exam Period: *** Final exams are not flexible. Travel/holiday plans will NOT
be accommodated. Do NOT book travel within the final exam schedule!
Website listing important academic dates and deadlines:
https://www.uottawa.ca/important-academic-dates-and-deadlines/
Important Note: This syllabus, along with course assignments and due dates, are
subject to change. It is the students responsibility to check Blackboard for
corrections or updates to the syllabus. Any changes will be clearly noted in course
announcement.

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Part 2: Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students can be expected to
1. Describe human occupation and its relationship to health;
2. Understand occupation-focused intervention in illness and disability, situated
within different contexts;
3. Describe workplace risk factors/hazards which contribute to occupational
injuries, physical and mental illness;
4. Discuss different ways to promote health and prevent injury in the workplace;
5. Explain the role of government, employer and employee in promoting
workplace health; and
6. Describe the role of health professionals in workplace health and safety.

Part 3: Topic Outline/Schedule

Date
Topics
Introduction to Occupation, Activity, Performance and Stress
September 7
Review Course Syllabus
Introduction to Human Activity, Occupation and Health
Self-Determination and Well-Being
September 14
Self-Determination and Well-Being
Motivation
Asset-Based Approaches to Health
September 21
Social Environment and Participation
September 28
Social Environment and Participation
October 5
Organizational Analysis and Leadership
October 12
Midterm 1st half of the class
Assignment discussion 2nd half of the class
No professor office hours this day*
MIDTERM: Wednesday, October 12 (7:00-8:20pm)
Environmental Influences on Occupation, Activity, and Health
October 19
Organizational Analysis
Justice in the Workplace
October 26 (no class)
Reading Week no class and no professor office hours this week
November 2
Physical Environment
SUBMIT TERM PAPER in person: no later than Wednesday November 9
November 9
Risk Management and Occupational Safety
November 16
Good Practices in Workplace Health
November 23
Good Practices in Workplace Health
November 30 (last class) To be determined
December 7 (no class)
Monday schedule no class
FINAL EXAM: See university exam schedule

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Part 4: Grading Policy

Graded Course Activities
Midterm Exam (30%)
There is one midterm exam (October 12) worth 30%, which will be written inclass starting at 7pm. The midterm will be 1h20min in duration. The format is
a mix of multiple choice and short/long answer. All class material and
required readings from September 7 to October 5th (inclusive) will be covered
on the midterm.
Term Paper (30%)
There is one assignment for this class, consisting of a written paper
(maximum 10 pages double-spaced, not including references). The
assignment is to be submitted in person no later than November 9th. The
assignment will be done in partners (2 people maximum) or students may opt
to do the assignment alone. The specific instructions will be discussed in class
and posted on blackboard.
Final Exam (40%)
The final exam will be scheduled during the official exam schedule. The final
exam will be 2 hours in duration and is not cumulative. The exam is a mix of
multiple choice and short/long answer, covering class and reading material
from October 19th to November 30th (inclusive).
Note: *** ALL of these graded course activities are mandatory components
for successful completion of this course. Failure to submit the assignment,
and/or complete both exams will result in an AUTOMATIC grade of EIN,
which indicates Failure/Incomplete.

Note: The final exam schedule is not set by me- and you should anticipate
that the final exam could be held the last day of the exam period. DO NOT
book plane tickets for travel during the exam period, as this is not a valid
reason to miss the final exam. Please inform your parents of this policy so
they will not *surprise* you with tickets.

Missed assessment due to illness or other valid reason:

If you are unable to attend scheduled midterms or the final exam due to
serious illness or other valid reason, it is your responsibility to notify the
professor via email immediately. Notification of missed assessment
immediately is absolutely essential to ensure prompt rescheduling of the
assessment. It is the students responsibility to document the absence
(medical note from campus physician, death certificate etc) and to present
the documentation directly to the professor. DO NOT RELY ON HEALTH
SERVICES TO MAIL DOCUMENTS TO FACULTY. Obtain a copy and provide it in
person to the professor. Note, absentee policies are in place only for serious
illness and death.

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Absence from any examination or test, or late submission of assignments due

to illness, psychological problems or exceptional personal circumstances must
be justified; otherwise, students will not be granted a makeup or extension.
Please see the policy below. The following types of reasons are not valid for
missing an exam or being granted an extension for the assignment:
o
o
o
o

I
I
I
I

booked a train ticket to go home and I cant get my money back

have 3 other mid-terms that week and wont have time to study
lost all my notes
couldnt get all the readings

Justification of absence from an exam or late submission of assignments:

Medical grounds/Psychological problems
a) Students must directly notify their professor or the academic secretariat of
the faculty where they are registered, before the exam or before the
assignment deadline.
b) If the medical problem is not foreseeable, students must notify their
professor immediately or the academic secretariat of the faculty where they
are registered and submit a medical certificate bearing the date of the
absence within 5 working days of the exam date or the assignment
deadline, except if extenuating circumstances prevent them from doing so;
these circumstances must be documented.
Absence from an examination or test and the late submission of assignments
due to exceptional personal circumstances must be justified in writing within
5 working days of the date of the examination or test or the assignment
deadline. The academic unit and the faculty reserve the right to accept
or reject the reasons presented. Reasons such as travel, work and
misreading of examination schedules are not accepted, except in exceptional
and properly documented circumstances.
Acceptable personal circumstances may include: participation in an important
sport competitions justified in writing by a coach, the death of a loved one
justified by an obituary or death certificate.
Make-Up Exams/Midterms
In the event a make-up exam is required and approved - the date is set by
the professor, it is denoted as official, and is therefore subject to same
academic regulations as other official midterms/exams. Make-up dates are
not subject to negotiation. Exam conflict (with obligatory course attendance /
laboratory / midterm / exam) or new, or ongoing medical illness requires
documentation.
Midterm and Exam Procedure
Students are responsible to obtain the date and location of all assessments.
Students who fail to attend or are late and miss assessments due to absentmindedness or misinterpretation of the schedule will not be granted a make-

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up.
Students must bring student cards (with photo ID) to all midterms and
exams and may be requested to show the student card to the examination
proctor upon submitting their assessment or at any time during the
assessment period.
The following items are prohibited during midterms and examinations:
cameras, radios, (radios with earphones) tape recorders, pagers, calculator
watches, cell phone or any other communication device. Further, all
extraneous material (bags, notes etc) must be inaccessible to the student
during the assessment period.
Final Exam: Admission into the exam room will be denied to candidates who
arrive over 15 minutes following the distribution of the examination booklets.
As well, no candidate shall leave the room until at least 1 hour after the
beginning of the exam. Further, no candidate will leave the exam during the
last 15 minutes of the examination period.
Questions: There will be no questions during midterms or final exams. It is
your responsibility to interpret the questions and multiple choice options to
the best of your ability. For students whose first language is not English,
non-technical terms in the question will be defined or replaced by a synonym.
Final Exam DFR
Students who are eligible to write a DFR (deferred) final exam may be
scheduled during the exam period or during the official exam makeup session.
It is the prerogative of the professor to select the official makeup date for the
final exam.
The professor will select the date/time for the official makeup exam. Students
are REQUIRED to attend this session if they wish to complete the course.
Travel/work/volunteering etc are NOT valid reasons to miss a final
exam/makeup.
Assignment Policy
The assignment policy is designed to encourage students to plan in advance
when managing their workload. Assignments received early will be given
bonus marks and assignments received late will have marks deducted.
Early submission: Assignments received by the instructor on or before
Wednesday November 2nd will receive 2 bonus marks added to their
assignment.
Late submission: Assignments received on November 10th or later will have 2
marks deducted per day (including weekends). No assignments will be
accepted after November 14. Please note that the term paper is a mandatory
component required for successful completion of the course.
All assignments must be time-stamped for confirmation of when they were
submitted/received.

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Viewing Grades in Blackboard

Scores will be posted to the Virtual Campus Grade Book system. Click on the
MyGrades link on the left navigation to view your assessment scores. Scores
are hand-entered and human error may cause errors in the data entry. Errors
will be corrected as soon as possible and communicated with affected
students. The official scores used to tabulate grades are the scores students
legitimately received on assessments.
Letter Grade Assignment
Final grades assigned for this course will be based on the percentage of total
marks earned and are assigned as follows:
Letter Grade

Percentage
Scale Value

Numerical
Value

A+

90-100%

10

85-89%

A-

80-84%

B+

75-79%

70-74%

C+

65-69%

60-64%

D+

55-59%

50-54%

40-49%

0-39%

ABS

Absent

EIN

Failure/Incomplete

Passing grades
At the undergraduate level, the passing grade is usually set at D.
At the Faculty of Education, the passing grade is C.
At the School of Nursing, the passing grade is C+ for six clearly specified courses.
At the Faculty of Engineering, the passing grade is D+ for all level-2000 courses and
above.
At the graduate-studies level, the passing grade is C+.

** Important: Grades are not negotiable. **

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Part 5: Academic Fraud and Plagiarism

Academic fraud http://www.uottawa.ca/about/academic-regulation-14-

other-important-information
Academic fraud is an act by a student that may result in a false academic evaluation
of that student or of another student. These include:

Not work of the student: academic paper, an essay, a test, an exam, a

research report (written or oral)
Presents research data that has been falsified/concocted;
Attributes a statement of fact or reference to a concocted source;
Submits same piece of work or significant part thereof for more than one
course;
Falsifies an academic evaluation, forged or falsified academic record;
Undertakes any other action for the purpose of falsifying an academic
evaluation.

Possible repercussions of academic fraud:

Letter written by the dean

Dossier will go to the faculty committee for review
Sanction by the faculty committee can be recommended
Dossier can go to the executive where a decision is made
Dossier may go to the university committee where a decision is made
Student may receive a mark of 0 on the work; may receive a mark of 0 for
the course; and in extreme circumstances, be expelled from the school

Plagiarism
Please do not copy work from other people and pass it off as your own! Reference all
information that does not come from your own head, even if its from an email or a
conversation you had with someone. If you are using a direct quotation, remember
to include quotation marks and the source reference.
Important Note
Any form of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, will be reported
to the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences.

Part 6: Class Code of Conduct

Honesty and Integrity
Adherence and demonstration of the highest level of honesty in all academic
activities
Refraining from unfairly attempting to advance academic standing, or assisting
other students in such attempts. This includes not making attempts to obtain any
confidential information, or assist anyone else in doing so, prior to, during or
after any examination

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Altruism and Respect

Display and expect non-discriminatory and respectful behaviour towards and
from peers, teachers and support staff
Use of appropriate salutations and methods of address for all email
correspondence
Address academic concerns in a respectful manner with the professor, before
going to other members of the University community (ie. program director,
dean).

The University of Ottawa does not tolerate any form of sexual violence. Sexual
violence refers to any act of a sexual nature committed without consent, such as
rape, sexual harassment or online harassment. The University, as well as student
and employee associations, offers a full range of resources and services allowing
members of our community to receive information and confidential assistance and
providing for a procedure to report an incident or make a complaint. For more
information, visit www.uOttawa.ca/sexual-violence-support-and-prevention.

Responsibility and Accountability

Demonstration of an ability to work independently while accepting direction from
supervisors
Acknowledgement and recognition of personal strengths and limitations, and seek
assistance as necessary
Demonstration of accessibility, attendance, punctuality and trustworthiness
Dedication and Self-Improvement
Continually strive to develop knowledge, skills and competence
Promote and uphold the educational standards of the Interdisciplinary School of
Health Sciences
Pursue self-education through the use of appropriate resources and preparation
for all learning sessions
Demonstrate a willingness to teach and share in the learning process with peers,
staff and faculty
Cell Phones
Cell phones must be put on the silent setting during class. Under no circumstances
will cell phones or any other technological device be permitted for use during exams.
They must be turned off and left in the students backpacks / bags at the
front of the classroom.
Noise and Conversation
Students are asked to refrain from sidebar conversations and non-course-related
computer use during lectures out of consideration and respect for both the
professor and your classmates.
Email Policy
Please note, I cannot guarantee that student emails will be answered within 48
hours. To ensure that your questions are answered, make sure to see me after
class or during office hours.
If the answer to your question is available on the course website, I will refer you
to the site for the answer. Please check there before sending an email inquiry.

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All email inquiries should include a partial answer to the question. This will
demonstrate that you have thought carefully about the question and have
searched for plausible explanations prior to sending the email.

Part 7: Student Resources

Mentoring Centre http://sass.uottawa.ca/en/mentoring
Academic Writing Help Centre - http://sass.uottawa.ca/en/writing
Career Services - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/careers/
Counselling Service- http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/personal/

Access Service - http://sass.uottawa.ca/en/access

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