PE 181 Health and Wellness // Spring 2023
5 Credits
Faculty: Tiffany Morton
tmorton@whatcom.edu
Office: online
Required Text: none // Required Resource: Access and understanding of Canvas LMS
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Health and wellness explores physical and emotional health and wellness topics, such as stress reduction, proper nutrition, and physical fitness. Students will examine major health and lifestyle issues of contemporary society and will participate in personal assessments and develop a wellness plan. (LE)
COURSE OUTCOMES
Differentiate between eustress and distress and identify and practice lifestyle choices to reduce distress.
Identify and evaluate healthy nutritional habits.
Assess and identify health implications of obesity.
Identify the basic components of an exercise plan.
Collect data and evaluate physical fitness levels.
List, define and identify the prominent sexually transmitted infections and methods employed to reduce the transmission of these diseases.
Identify and differentiate between infectious and non-infectious diseases.
Locate and evaluate health and wellness related information.
CORE LEARNING ABILITIES
WCC's core learning abilities (CLAs) - quantitative literacy, information literacy, communication, critical thinking, and global consciousness - are skills taught and reinforced throughout our curriculum. These skills are integral to students' professional and personal lives. This course will give you the opportunity to practice and develop critical thinking and information literacy.
STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Any student with a disability requiring auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations should contact the Access and Disability Services (ADS) office in the Entry and Advising Center in Laidlaw.
ETIQUETTE
This class requires establishing a safe learning environment. This requires the dedication and engagement of all students.
Be on time and prepared for class.
In this course we will practice listening/being heard- this is critical to growth.
If class is held in the studio, remove your shoes, and come dressed down appropriately to receive full credit.
If you plan on attending office hours, an email ahead of time is appreciated.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Please ask for help instead!
MOST OF ALL- COMMUNICATE! If you let your instructor know what you need, there is a greater likelihood of understanding. Don’t be a number- be a name, face & personality.
As a student in this course, it is expected that you check your email. All communication will happen on Canvas and via email regarding the course.
Student support services: WCC is committed to supporting the academic success of all its students. The College has adopted a proactive early alert referral system, which is a collaborative, student-centered program involving faculty, advisors and students. The early alert referral system is a tool for faculty to identify students who are experiencing academic or attendance difficulties during the first few weeks of each quarter. Students who receive an alert will be contacted by someone on the early alert student success team to direct them to appropriate next steps and resources for success. As your instructor, I also encourage you to contact me if you receive an alert so we can discuss options for helping you to be successful in this course and at WCC. An early alert webpage with campus resource information is located at www.whatcom.edu/get-started/advising-career-services/early-alert.
The learning center offers up to two hours of one-on-one tutoring support for WCC courses in a variety of disciplines. Located in Cascade 113, the learning center is open Monday through Thursday 9 am to 6 pm and Fridays 9 am to 2 pm during the academic year. Call 360-383-3097 or visit www.whatcom.edu/student-services/campus-resources/learning-center (Links to an external site.) for more details.
In the writing center, located in Cascade 112, student readers work with WCC students who are writing for all classes as well as for job and college applications. Writing center services are free, and there are talented, helpful readers there who will talk with you about what you are working on for this class and at any stage of the writing process. The staff will also respond to your writing online (writing.whatcom.ctc.edu (Links to an external site.)). See the website for hours.
The student access computer lab (SAL) in Heiner 104/105 provides student access to network accounts, email, scanning, faxing, and printing and copying (black and white and color). Laptops, flip video cameras, and digital cameras are available for checkout.
The student helpdesk staff (in Heiner 104/105) is available to answer questions about access to course management systems, use of online resources, student email, and common software. Call 360-383-3410 or email studenthelpdesk@whatcom.ctc.edu for service hours.
Entry and advising offers a variety of services including advising, academic degree planning, career services, counseling, veterans services, and access and disability services. Located in LDC 116, the entry and advising office is open every weekday, and advisors are also available many Saturday mornings during fall, winter and spring quarters. See the website (whatcom.edu/get-started/advising-career-services (Links to an external site.)) for hours. Advising is available by email at advise@whatcom.ctc.edu or call 360-383-3080 for more details or to schedule an appointment.
The library provides students with personalized services to find content and other information to meet your scholarship needs. Lounge furniture, computers, copy machines, course reserves, group study areas, white boards, books, articles, deep web resources, and map resources may be accessed in the library and online. The reference desk may be accessed by phone (360-383-3285) or online 24/7 through "ask a librarian" at library.whatcom.edu (Links to an external site.). Located in the Heiner building, the library is open Monday through Thursday 8 am to 9 pm, Fridays 8 am to 5 pm, and Saturdays 12 noon to 4 pm.
The intercultural center, located in Syre 217, provides support to students who have traditionally been underserved, and promotes educational equity and academic achievement for all students by providing access to resources and a safe place to connect by co-creating a culture of inclusion, dignity, and respect. Contact 383-3100 or diversity@whatcom.ctc.edu for more information.
Core Rules of Netiquette
Netiquette, or network etiquette, is concerned with the "proper" way to communicate in an online environment. Consider the following "rules," adapted from Virginia Shea's The Core Rules of Netiquette (Links to an external site.), whenever you communicate in the virtual world.
Rule 1: Remember the Human
When communicating electronically, whether through email, instant message, discussion post, text, or some other method, practice the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Remember, your written words are read by real people, all deserving of respectful communication. Before you press "send" or "submit," ask yourself, "Would I be okay with this if someone else had written it?"
Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
While it can be argued that standards of behavior may be different in the virtual world, they certainly should not be lower. You should do your best to act within the laws and ethical manners of society whenever you inhabit "cyberspace." Would you behave rudely to someone face-to-face? On most occasions, no. Neither should you behave this way in the virtual world.
Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
"Netiquette varies from domain to domain." (Shea, 1994) Depending on where you are in the virtual world, the same written communication can be acceptable in one area, where it might be considered inappropriate in another. What you text to a friend may not be appropriate in an email to a classmate or colleague. Can you think of another example?
Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
Electronic communication takes time: time to read and time in which to respond. Most people today lead busy lives, just like you do, and don't have time to read or respond to frivolous emails or discussion posts. As a virtual world communicator, it is your responsibility to make sure that the time spent reading your words isn't wasted. Make your written communication meaningful and to the point, without extraneous text or superfluous graphics or attachments that may take forever to download.
Rule 5: Make yourself look good online
One of the best things about the virtual world is the lack of judgment associated with your physical appearance, sound of your voice, or the clothes you wear (unless you post a video of yourself singing Karaoke in a clown outfit.) You will, however, be judged by the quality of your writing, so keep the following tips in mind:
Always check for spelling and grammar errors
Know what you're talking about and state it clearly
Be pleasant and polite
Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
The Internet offers its users many benefits; one is the ease in which information can be shared or accessed and in fact, this "information sharing" capability is one of the reasons the Internet was founded. So in the spirit of the Internet's "founding fathers," share what you know! When you post a question and receive intelligent answers, share the results with others. Are you an expert at something? Post resources and references about your subject matter. Recently expanded your knowledge about a subject that might be of interest to others? Share that as well.
Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control
What is meant by "flaming" and "flame wars?" "Flaming is what people do when they express a strongly held opinion without holding back any emotion." (Shea, 1994). As an example, think of the kinds of passionate comments you might read on a sports blog. While "flaming" is not necessarily forbidden in virtual communication, "flame wars," when two or three people exchange angry posts between one another, must be controlled or the camaraderie of the group could be compromised. Don't feed the flames; extinguish them by guiding the discussion back to a more productive direction.
Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy
Depending on what you are reading in the virtual world, be it an online class discussion forum, Facebook page, or an email, you may be exposed to some private or personal information that needs to be handled with care. Perhaps someone is sharing some medical news about a loved one or discussing a situation at work. What do you think would happen if this information "got into the wrong hands?" Embarrassment? Hurt feelings? Loss of a job? Just as you expect others to respect your privacy, so should you respect the privacy of others. Be sure to err on the side of caution when deciding to discuss or not to discuss virtual communication.
Rule 9: Don't abuse your power
Just like in face-to-face situations, there are people in cyberspace who have more "power" than others. They have more expertise in technology or they have years of experience in a particular skill or subject matter. Maybe it's you who posesses all of this knowledge and power! Just remember: knowing more than others do or having more power than others may have does not give you the right to take advantage of anyone. Think of Rule 1: Remember the human.
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes
Not everyone has the same amount of experience working in the virtual world. And not everyone knows the rules of netiquette. At some point, you will see a stupid question, read an unnecessarily long response, or encounter misspelled words; when this happens, practice kindness and forgiveness as you would hope someone would do if you had committed the same offense. If it's a minor "offense," you might want to let it slide. If you feel compelled to respond to a mistake, do so in a private email rather than a public forum.
Adapted from The Core Rules of Netiquette (Links to an external site.) Shea, V. (1994). Core rules of netiquette. Netiquette (Online ed., pp. 32-45). San Francisco: Albion Books.