Course Syllabus

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Kettering College of Medical Arts

Syllabus

RELP315-Spirituality and Healing in Health Care

Dr. David VanDenburgh

  

Course Information:

 

·         RELP315
·         Section 01
·         Winter 2012
·         Meeting time - M, 5:00-6:50 pm
·         Location - G-32
 
 

 

Instructor/Contact Information:

 

·         Dr. David VanDenburgh
·         Office location – G-14
·         Office hours – Posted on window
·         Office telephone – 937-298-04331 ext. 57798
·         Email address – david.vandenburgh@kc.edu
 
 

 

Course Description:

 

Students investigate, experience and develop their own understanding of the body-mind-spirit relationship and explore various approaches to healing, the role of caregivers in the healing process, and the role of spirituality in healing and health care. The course emphasizes the student’s own development of ideas for integrating spirituality in the delivery of health care.
 
 

 

Number of credit hours:

 

·         2
 
 

 

Course Pre-requisites and Co-requisites:

 

·         RELB110-“Biblical Resources for Understanding Health Care”
 
 

 

Institutional Outcomes:

 

·         Kettering College’s Institutional Outcomes are a set of skills, attitudes, and behaviors that reflect the college’s commitment to competence and character. Achievement of these outcomes produces KC graduates who are superior citizens in professional health care environments and in the community.
·         Christian service: Understand the Christian concepts of self-giving love and whole-person wellness and how they shape the ideal of service. Make a habit of service so that it informs personal and professional choices and builds commitment to others in the local and global community.
·         Social-cultural interaction: Interact with others in a friendly, patient, and open manner, building positive relationships and engaging in effective teamwork with colleagues and the community at large. Understand the various ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious groups encountered in personal and professional life and apply that understanding to the health care setting.
·         Ethical behavior: Understand ethical concerns, particularly of Christian health care, and make informed and principled choices in one’s professional and personal life.
·         Communication: Assess audience and use appropriate current modes of communication effectively including speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Demonstrate quantitative literacy, computer literacy, information literacy, and effective use of media.
·         Critical thinking: Appropriately analyze, synthesize, and evaluate problems and perspectives. Provide recommendations and carry out plans to solve problems informed by careful analysis.           
 
 

 

Program Outcomes:

 

·         The courses in the Division of Arts and Sciences meet two distinct needs. One is to provide a liberal arts background on which to build technical information leading toward a degree in a health care field at Kettering College. The other is to provide a Bachelor of Science degree that meets admissions requirements for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies or for medical, dental, or other professional schools.
·         The faculty strives to help students achieve the institutional outcomes of Christian service, social-cultural interaction, ethical behavior, communication, and critical thinking through a variety of courses and learning activities.
·         The study of religion contributes to students’ abilities to understand their world and act creatively in it. The curriculum explicitly addresses possibilities for personal spiritual development that will lead to Christian service, ethics that will inform behaviors, critical thinking, and an opportunity to discover the good news of God.
 
 

 

Course Learning Outcomes:

 

·         Upon completion of this course students should be able to:
o    Explain the nature of “human being” according to a biblical model;
o    Describe the five aspects of the human being;
o    Explain the “biopsychosocialspiritual” model and its history;
o    Describe mind-body interactions;
o    Explain placebo effects;
o    Define “spirituality” and explain it consistent with Christian theology;
o    Analyze cases in health care using the biopsychosocialspiritual model and perform an accurate spiritual assessment
o    Describe the role “spirituality” plays in health and healing
o    Understand their own spirituality and how to develop it

While many of the courses at KC focus on things the student needs to know or do, this course focuses to a large extent on "being" rather than "knowing" or "doing".  
 
 
Textbook and Other Course Materials:

 

·         Required textbooks and readings
o    Esther Sternberg, The Balance Within. Freeman, 2001. ISBN: 0716744457.
o    Harold Koenig, Spirituality in Patient Care. Templeton, 2007. ISBN: 1599471167.
o    Daniel Sulmasy, The Healer's Calling: A Spirituality for Physicians & Other Health Care Professionals. Paulist Press, 1997. ISBN: 0809137291.
o    John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted. Zondervan, 2002. ISBN: 0310250749.
o    The Holy Bible. Tyndale House Publishers; Gift Edition (March 2006). ISBN: 1414309473.
o    The Doctor. DVD of Hollywood Film. ASIN: B00008L3U4
·         Course Materials on Canvas
o    Canvas contains all the learning activities for this course, as well as all the information needed about policies and procedures.
o    Additional learning materials are accessible through Canvas in the appropriate folders under the “Lessons” tab.
o    All assignments are submitted through Canvas. Rather than exchanging paper – instructor to students and students to instructor – all handouts and completed assignments are exchanged electronically. This benefits the environment and makes it possible to exchange materials anytime and from anywhere.
 
 
 

 

Essential Course Policy Information:

 

·         Attendance/Lateness policy
o    Attendance is required for all classes and is counted as a part of the grade. Attendance is taken at the beginning of each class. 
o    Students who miss the roll call are expected to take responsibility for getting added to the attendance roster immediately after the class session.

o    Students are expected to come to class prepared to stay through the whole session without getting up and leaving.  Please arrange personal business so you can do so.  Students who get up and leave may be marked absent.
·         Policy for late/missing work
o    No late work is accepted and no missing work can be made up.

·         Policy for missed exams and quizzes
o    No missed exams or quizzes can be made up.
·         Policy for extra credit
o    There is a (roughly 10%) allowance built into the course for “life happens.” 
o    This means that (theoretically) a student could miss 10% of the work and still get 100%. 
o    Since this allowance is intended to account for the vicissitudes of life, students would be well advised not to use it intentionally but to reserve it for the unintentional mini-disasters of life that make it impossible to keep all of our promises.
·         Withdrawal
o    Last day to withdraw – see the College’s academic calendar for these dates
o    Your participation in this course indicates your acceptance of its content, requirements and policies as outlined in this syllabus. Please review the syllabus and course requirements promptly. 
o    If you believe you will not be able to meet the demands and requirements of this course, you should drop the course by the drop/add deadline, listed on the calendar for the current academic semester.
 
 

 

Technology needs for the course:

 

·         This is a web-enhanced or “hybrid” course and you will need:
o    a computer,
o    an internet connection,
o    and the ability to use the Canvas learning software to successfully complete the course.
·         If you have any doubts about any of these three essential items, you are urged to consult the Help Desk of the college’s IT department immediately.
 
 

 

Copyright policy:

 

Kettering College values and respects the laws that govern the creation and distribution of intellectual property (copyright) and the rights of members of the academic community to use such intellectual property (fair use). It is the expectation of the administration of Kettering College that students will be familiar with these laws and use copyright protected works in accordance with the law. 
 
 

 

Course Requirements:

 

·         Weekly assignments normally consist of four kinds of learning activities: Listening (attending classes, viewing videos, listening to podcasts, etc. as assigned each week in the Canvas Lessons), Reading (texts, articles, etc. as assigned each week in the Reading Calendar posted on Canvas), Discussing (with others on an online discussion forum posted on Canvas and/or in the classroom, a minimum of five days each week: normally two days in the classroom and three days online), Writing (reflective essays summarizing learning, each 2-3 page essay due before the end of each week).
·         Students are expected to complete all assignments when due.  No late work is accepted for any reason. 
 
 

 

Methods of Assessing Learner Progress:

 

·         Class Attendance
·         Completion of Reading Assignments
·         Online Discussions
.         Quizzes 
·         Weekly Reflection Papers
 
 
 

 

Grading Methods and Scale:

 

·         Each week’s learning activities consist of:
o    Class Attendance – being in class for the entire classroom conversation
o    Completion of Reading Assignments – all assigned reading is required
o    Online Discussions – all students participate in online discussion forums
o    Weekly Reflection Papers – every student writes a paper each week that reflects on the learning of that week, questions needing answers, and practical applications of the learning
 o   Quiz or quizzes over the week's learning activities
·         Each completed learning activity is assigned a grade based on the instructor’s perception of how well the student engaged the learning activity (ie, attempted to use it to learn the maximum from the activity). 
·         Each learning activity is worth points, points earned are calculated into percentages of the total points possible. 
·         Letter grades are assigned at mid-term and final as follows:
                94-100% = A                          77-79% = C+
                90-93% = A-                          74-76% = C
                87-89% = B+                         70-73% = C-
                84-86% = B                            60-69% = D
                80-83% = B-                           00-59% = F
 
 

 

Weight of Assignments, examinations and other requirements:

 

·         Each of the four learning activities accounts for approximately 25% of the total grade. 
·         Each individual assignment within a category accounts for approximately 1/15 of the total for that category (since there are 15 weeks in the semester and one assignment in each category per week – except for class attendance when the class meets twice a week, in which case each class session is worth 1/30 of the total number of points for that category).
 
 

 

Course Content and Outline:

 

·         Canvas contains the course content and outline in the form of the weekly folders under the “Lessons” tab.  You may click on this link to view the schedule for readings from the textbooks:
 
 

 

Syllabus change policy:

 

·         This syllabus is a guide and every attempt is made to provide an accurate overview of the course. However, circumstances and events may make it necessary for the instructor to modify the syllabus during the semester and may depend, in part, on the progress, needs, and experiences of the students. Changes to the syllabus will be made with advance notice.
 
 

 

Americans with Disabilities Statement & Non-Discrimination/Academic Support Statement:

 

·         KC is committed to promoting student academic success by complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and will provide reasonable accommodations for those students supplying appropriate documentation.    
·         The Nita Jennings Academic Support Center in the Learning Commons is the designated office on campus to provide services and accommodations to students with diagnosed disabilities. You need to provide documentation of your disability to the Academic Support Center if you seek accommodations in this course. Students are strongly encouraged to contact the academic support coordinator to request specific accommodations at least two weeks in advance of the need. The coordinator will arrange necessary internal support and facilitate referral to external resources, as appropriate. Refer to the current KCMA Student Handbook for specific information.
·         It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor and the Academic Support Coordinator regarding accommodations (See Student Handbook). In addition, the Academic Support Center strives to empower all students do develop effective strategies for learning and offers peer tutoring, group tutorials and private consultation.
·         For students unable to use the tutorial services provided on campus through Academic Support, there is free on-line tutoring support available through SMARTHINKING. If you need assistance with this, please contact Beverly.Ervin@kc.edu or go to: www.smarthinking.com.   To log onto SMARTHINKING, your user name is KC0 plus the last five digits of your student ID# and your password is the last 5 digits of your student ID# plus the last four digits of your SSN.
·         Your success as a student is of utmost importance to me. If you have a disability or any other special circumstance that may have some impact on your work in this class, and for which you may require special accommodations, please contact me early in the semester so that accommodations can be made in a timely manner.
 
 

 

 
Honor Code: 

 

·         We operate in this course according to standards of Christian integrity. 
·         For details, see the Student Handbook, Section: Policy on Standards of Professional Conduct for Undergraduate and Graduate Student
 
 
 

 

Faculty Assistance Statement: 

 

·         Students are expected to be in contact regularly with their faculty regarding any academic issues of importance to the students, and specifically if they are experiencing any concerns or difficulty with their studies.
·         Students are expected to track their progress through the various assigned learning activities by regularly monitoring their ANGEL accounts which show current grades, assignment due dates, and milestones for the course.
·         Students should know how they are performing in the course and should not rely on the instructor to notify them about poor grades, missing work, etc.
 
 

 

Course Schedule:

 

·         The class meets each time it is scheduled except of course for college holidays - unless the instructor announces that class session(s) has/have been replaced with an online learning activity/activities.
·         The Calendar in Canvas gives specific dates.
·         The Reading Calendar in Canvas gives the dates when each reading assignment is due.
 
 

 

Teaching Philosophy:

 

·         This course is not primarily about learning information: It is more about having an experience.  Many courses will teach you things you need to know and things you need to do; this course is about becoming what you want to be and living the life you've always wanted.
·         Some information, of course, is necessary, but the primary focus of the course is on the student’s engagement with the information at a personal and spiritual level. 
·         KC is a Christian school; we believe that knowing God is more important than knowing about God and that the best way to know God is to know him through Jesus Christ. 
·         While we respect freedom of choice – a fundamental biblical imperative – we unashamedly teach that personal love-relationship with Jesus Christ is the best way to be both fully human and the best health care professional one can become.
 
 

 

Instructional Methods:

 

This course is taught using a combination of instructional methods: classroom lecture, classroom discussion with questions and answers, reading on one’s own, online asynchronous discussion with student peers, reflection and writing on one’s own learning and experience.
 
 

 

 
Student Acknowledgement Statement:

 

(Please email a copy of this statement with your name on the line to the instructor by the end of the first week.)
 
 
“I, ___________________________________, have completely read the syllabus for RELB315 – “Spirituality and Healing in Health care” and understand and accept the course requirements.”
 
Please indicate in that email, any special needs or circumstances that may have some impact on your work in this class, and for which you may require special accommodations, including but not limited to physical or mental disabilities, inability to arrive in class on time or need to leave class early, observance of religious holidays, etc.
 
Special needs or circumstances:
 
 
 
 
 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due