BIOLOGY 1322 BASIC NUTRITION SYLLABUS
3 hour lecture course / 48 hours per semester/ 12 and 16 weeks Fall and Spring
Name: Mary G. Puccini, MS, RD
Email: Use your Quickmail account within your Distance Education (DE) course during the
semester. You send me an email through the quickmail tool in your Eagle Online (EO)
course, but you will receive emails only in your hccs.edu email account. So you need to get
into the habit of checking your student.hccs.edu account at least weekly. If you simply email
me using mary.puccini@hccs.edu I will not know who you are or which of my six classes
you are in. This will delay a response and may possibly lead to me deleting your email by
mistake.
Only before the semester starts and after the semester ends use:
mary.puccini@hccs.edu
Office Hours: Wednesday 11:30 to 12:30 PM and Thursdays 11:30 to 1:30 PM in room 401
in the Learning Hub/Science Building. Knock on the door or ask the office workers in 402
to call me. Make sure you let me know you are coming so I will be sure to be here.
Phone: 713-718-2545
I’ve been teaching at HCC since 1995 in face-to-face courses and since 2001 in online
courses. I have also taught at the University of Houston. I have enjoyed the previous
traditional and online classes and look forward to another interesting semester. I am
always open to suggestions.
Tutoring help: at the Learning Emporium on Central Campus: San Jacinto Building in
room 384, 7 am - 6 pm M—TH and 8 am - 4 pm F Biology tutors are not available during all
these hours, but math and English tutors often are. Phone: 713-718-6356
Course Objectives
The course you are taking with me is using EAGLE ONLINE version 2.0 (EO2) . The log in is:
eo2.hccs.edu
Your Eagle Online login is the same as your PeopleSoft account username and password
which you used to register for this course. If you get a message saying either the user name
or password is invalid when you try to login, then reset your password. It doesn’t matter
that you are certain the password is fine. Reset it anyway. That usually works. If not, then
you will have to contact tech support found on the right side of the login screen.
Make sure you write down the login URL for Eagle Online and also save it as a “favorite.”
Course description: This course is designed to teach the fundamentals of nutrition
covering the sources and functions of the essential nutrients, the nutrient intake standards
for healthy populations, the evaluation of a healthy diet, and dietary applications to various
disease conditions. This course also fulfills the content needed for health sciences
programs. Core curriculum course.
Course Prerequisites: Prerequisites: Must be placed into college-level reading (or take
GUST0342 as a co-requisite) and be placed into college-level writing (or take ENGL
0310/0349 as a co-requisite). Although there is no MATH prerequisite, if you were placed
into developmental MATH 0312 and have not finished it, you will be at a disadvantage in
this course.
Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Identify the functions of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water
and be able to develop a healthy well-balanced diet, using the principles of
myplate.gov.
2. Use the information of food labels to calculate nutrient content and determine the
quality of food.
3. Understand the role of all the essential nutrients in disease prevention and
promotion.
4. Identify tools used to determine physical fitness, body weight, and body fat as it
relates to chronic disease.
5. Demonstrate how nutrient needs change for pregnant women, infants, children,
adults, and the elderly.
6. Be able to use the scientific method to evaluate nutrition information.
7. Describe the safe handling, preparation, and storage of food.
Course Goal: Have associate degree candidates and health science majors understand the
interface between nutrition and health.
Core Curriculum Statement: This course fulfills the science requirement (no lab) for
associate degree majors and is also a pre-requisite for many 4-year nursing or allied health
degrees.
Policies:
Before we get started, a few housekeeping details.
I expect ALL students who wish to receive credit for this course to logon and take the
Mandatory Introductory Quiz before the Official Day of Record. You must take and
submit the Mandatory Introductory Quiz by Monday midnight of January 26.
Since this is an online course, you have the added challenge of completing it in seven
weeks. Yes, this is an 8 week course, but since you are taking it online, your DE final exam
weekend is before the last week of the course. You need to be responsible, yourself, for
staying on schedule. Realize then that you cannot fall behind. Distance classes are just as
time consuming as face-to-face courses, but you do have the advantage of avoiding a
commute. You will be fulfilling the same work requirements as my regular term face-to-
face students—team and individual projects, exams, etc. If you are not familiar with Eagle
Online, then you will need to take time to learn it. Go back to the orientation web site for
this course to access general information and videos on how to work with Eagle Online.
Technical Compliance: This class is a distance-education class using Eagle Online for
lecture notes and assessments. Each student must maintain Internet access throughout this
course. Additionally, students are expected to maintain a state of technical compliance,
including (but not limited to): up-to-date software for realplayer and flash videos; a stable
Internet connection; and use of the Firefox browser when using Eagle Online. The
instructor is not required to give consideration for lost/missing/unacceptable work
stemming from technical non-compliance and/or end-user technical issues. Failure to
maintain Internet access shall not constitute a valid excuse for missed work. Any student
who cannot keep up with the coursework owing to a lack of computer or Internet must
drop the course. (You are welcome to use the computer labs on campus.) Any student who
has stopped logging in (three weeks is typical) is subject to being dropped without further
warning, resulting in either a "W" or a "FX" grade, depending upon when in the term the
behavior is noted.
HCC COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY: The State of Texas imposes penalties on students
who drop courses excessively. Students are limited to no more than SIX (6) total course
withdrawals throughout their educational career at a Texas public college or university.
To help you avoid having to drop/withdraw from any class, contact me regarding your
academic performance. You may also want to contact your DE counselor to learn about
helpful HCC resources (e.g. online tutoring, child care, financial aid, job placement, etc.).
Although it is the responsibility of the student to withdraw officially from a course, the
professor also has the authority to block a student from accessing Eagle Online, and/or to
withdraw a student for excessive absences or failure to participate regularly. DE students
who do not log into their Eagle Online class AND complete the Mandatory Orientation Quiz
before the Official Day of Record, Tuesday, January 27 at 2 PM, will be automatically
dropped for non-attendance. Completing the DE online orientation does not count as
attendance.
If you are having technical difficulties and cannot login, you must immediately contact your
instructor at mary.puccini@hccs.edu AND the Eagle Online Help desk or you will be
counted as absent.
If you decide to withdraw from this class upon careful review of other options, you,
yourself, can withdraw online prior to the deadline of February 23, 4:30 pm through
your HCC PeopleSoft Student Account.
HCC has instituted an Early Alert process by which I may “alert” you and DE counselors
that you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic
performance.
CLASS ATTENDANCE AND GRADES: As stated in the HCC Catalog, all students are
expected to attend classes regularly. Students in DE courses must log into their Eagle
Online class or they will be counted as absent. Just as in on-campus classes, your regular
participation is required.
After the withdrawal deadline of February 23 has passed, you will receive the grade you
would have earned. Zeros averaged in for required coursework not submitted will lower
your semester average significantly, most likely resulting in a failing grade of an F. If you
have completed all quizzes and assignments, but do not take the final exam, you will get a
“0” for your final exam grade and most probably a D or F in the course. An I or incomplete
is assigned to students who have finished all requirements of the course except for one
project or one exam/quiz. An I is given to those who encounter extraordinary
circumstances that prevent them from completing the course. Documentation of this
extraordinary circumstance is required and will be considered by me and also my
department chair in deciding whether to allow a student to make up the missing work. Put
the final exam weekend dates on your calendar NOW: Friday, March 6; Saturday,
March 7 and Sunday, March 8. You choose one of those dates to take the closed book
comprehensive final exam in-person at one of the DE testing centers of your choice that
weekend.
There is a new grade of FX. An FX is given to a student by his professor if the student logs
on to the online class, completes the mandatory orientation quiz, an exam or Discussion
Question and then never logs on again. The professor will assign an FX grade to the student
and record the last date of significant student activity in the class. This grade is for students
who abandon a course during the semester. The final exam will not be administered to
students who do not participate (participate and logging in are not the same) in class after
the withdrawal deadline.
Discrimination: HCC is committed to provide a learning and working environment that is
free from discrimination on the basis of sex which includes all forms of sexual misconduct.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires that when a complaint is filed, a
prompt and thorough investigation is initiated. Complaints may be filed with the HCC Title
IX Coordinator available at 713 718-8271 or email at oie@hccs.edu.
DISTANCE EDUCATION ADVISING AND COUNSELING SERVICES: The Distance Education
Student Handbook contains policies and procedures unique to the DE student. Students
should have reviewed the handbook as part of the mandatory orientation. It is the student's
responsibility to be familiar with the handbook's contents. The handbook contains valuable
information, answers, and resources, such as DE contacts, policies and procedures (how to
drop, attendance requirements, etc.), student services (ADA, financial aid, degree planning,
etc.), course information, testing procedures, technical support, and academic calendars.
Refer to the DE Student Handbook by doing a copy/paste of this link:
hccs.edu/district/students/student-handbook/
ADA Accommodations: Once your ADA counselor has created your accommodation letter,
he/she will scan the letter and email/attach it to you. You will then email/attach the letter
to me within EO2 so that I can make the accommodations. Realize, I will need some time,
about a week, to make accommodations. You cannot email me the day before the
accommodation is needed and expect it to be ready for you.
COURSE REPEATERS: Students who repeat a course for a third time or more will be
charged a tuition/fee increase of $50/credit hour at HCCS and other Texas public colleges
and universities. Please contact your counselor or me before withdrawing or if you are not
receiving passing grades.
STUDENT WORK/ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Students are responsible for conducting
themselves with honor and integrity in fulfilling course requirements. Disciplinary
proceedings may be initiated by the college system against a student accused of scholastic
dishonesty including plagiarism. Penalties can include a grade of “0” or “F” on the
particular discussion question or assignment, failure in the course, academic probation or
even dismissal from the college. See Student Handbook for further details. All answers to
the project and discussion questions will be original, not copied from the internet or
textbook. If you are using a reference from the text, internet or my online notes either
summarize it in your own words or put it in quotes and limit it to one sentence. You will
find one tutorial on plagiarism under the “Getting Started” topic on the course homepage.
SYLLABUS MODIFICATION: I will make every effort to adhere to the requirements in this
syllabus during the semester. I reserve the right to make any necessary changes. Students
will be notified in a timely manner of any such change by Eagle Online email.
TEXTBOOKS: Required text: Nutrition Your Life Science, by Turley and Thompson, 1st
edition, Cengage Publisher. HCC has received a special price for this book if purchased from
HCC bookstores. Textbook information and link to bookstore is http://hccs.bkstore.com
You will not be needing the Diet Analysis software that may come bundled in the bookstore
version of the text. A used version of the first edition will work fine.
GRADE BREAKDOWN:
Nutrition Evaluation Project: 12%
Team Project: 8%
Discussion Questions: 12 %
Answer a total of 4 Discussion Questions (DQs) during the entire semester for 3 points
each.
Select one DQ to answer from DQs 1-12
Select one DQ to answer from DQs 13-24
Select one DQ to answer from DQs 25-36
Select one DQ to answer as a comment on one of the Team Projects presented from DQs 115
Online exams 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7—Lowest grade of the seven exams dropped. 48%
In-person Final Exam at the testing center: 20% Will be multiple choice and essay.
Extra credit: Up to 5% Go to the “Getting started” topic of the course for the link and
instructions about extra credit.
Exams: Each Module, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 will have a randomized multiple-choice exam
which you will take online and can be accessed from the module topic on your EO
homepage. The exams are open-book and TIMED. You should prepare for these exams the
same way you would for closed book, in-class tests. Module 1 will cover all Module 1
sections 1.1 to 1.5. Module 2 will cover all Module 2 sections, 2.1 to 2.4. Modules 3 through
7 follow the same pattern. You will have only one (1) chance to take each Module exam.
The time allowance for each exam may vary. The Module exams have expiration dates in
order to discourage you from falling behind. All exams will expire on Saturdays at 11:55
pm, except for Modules 6 and 7 which expires Sunday, March 8. Do NOT wait until 11:55
pm to open the exam. Your clock may be out of sync with that of Eagle Online. Also, if you
open the exam 5 minutes before it expires, you will only have 5 minutes to take the exam.
When the exam expires, it doesn’t matter when you started the exam, the tool will kick
you out. Follow the Course Schedule to determine when the Module exams will expire. I
will drop your lowest exam grade and average the remaining to make up the exam
component of your grade. If you miss an exam, your grade of “0” on that exam will be your
lowest grade. Do not ask for a make-up exam.
Don't miss the exam deadlines; you will not be given a chance to make them up. If you
choose to wait until the last minute to take the exam and encounter a problem or
emergency at your home or office, technical or otherwise, do not expect me to reset the
exam for you. Personal emergencies always come up. If you choose to wait until the last
minute and then have to leave town to help your ailing grandmother, I will refer you to this
passage of the syllabus. Many students tell me of the meritorious deeds they have
performed which have, sadly, caused them to miss the exam deadlines. It is possible to be
both compassionate and responsible. There are no make-up exams.
MANDATORY INTRODUCTORY QUIZ: This quiz will be over the information contained in
this syllabus and the Tour of Homepage video. It is found under the “Getting Started”
section on your homepage. To open or expand a topic on the homepage, click the folder
icon on the left. Although this quiz does not count toward your grade, it is your first
practice with taking online tests in this course. It will also serve to prove to me that you
read and understood the syllabus and watched the Homepage Tour video. It counts as
“active participation” before the Official Day of Record, January 27 at 2 pm.
FINAL EXAM: The most important exam is the final exam. It is comprehensive and closed
book and accounts for 20% of your grade. You will take it in person at one of the three
testing centers on final exam weekend. It will consist of multiple-choice (MC) questions and
essay questions. I will email the class about one month before the final with some study
tips. The best study tip for any course is to keep up with the material and keep wellorganized notes, Take-Ten review sheets, etc. If you will be out of town at a family reunion,
delivering a baby, or going on a Parisian vacation (Yes, I’ve heard all of these excuses)
during final exam weekend, DROP THE COURSE NOW. If you live out of town, or out of the
country, open the proctor form for out-of-town students on the “Getting Started” topic of
the homepage and email me the first week of class. Follow the directions on the form. You
will have to contact judy.carson@hccs.edu to help you make arrangements to have a
proctored exam given to you at a testing site where you live.
PROJECTS: The individual project is called The Nutrition Evaluation Project. Look under
“Module 4” topic for instructions.
The second project is a small team project found under “Team Projects” topic toward the
bottom of the topic list on the homepage. I will reveal this link later on in the semester. See
course schedule. You will look over the topics and “sign up” for your favorite by posting
your message to that project’s discussion forum. Simply state: “I would like to be a part of
this team” and give your name. ONLY FOUR STUDENTS PER TEAM. If a project already
has four students posting their interest, move on to another topic. (If you have not posted
your interest in a Team Project by the deadline, you will not be able to participate and will
forfeit 8% of your grade.) You will use the discussion link to post your final project. You can
also use it to correspond with your team members.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (DQ): You will be making four (4), and only four, postings to the
Advanced Forums Discussion Board over the course of the 7 week semester. You will find a
list of Discussion Questions (DQs) pertaining to the modules covered. Every two to three
modules (1-2; 3-4; 5-7) will have a list of twelve DQs you can choose from. You will answer
only ONE DQ from each of these three lists. If there are already 3 to 4 posts for a particular
DQ, then go on to one that hasn’t been answered yet. The fourth discussion question will be
your comment to one of the team projects. Simply posting, “Great project. I can tell you did
a lot of work and I really enjoyed reading it” is not what I’m looking for. Write about what
you learned and why the project was effective. Again, if 3 or 4 students have already
posted comments to one particular project, then go on to another.
General DQ guidelines: You cannot post twice to the same DQ to earn double points. You
are expected to make a substantive response to the question asked or to the student
response posted. There is usually nothing new to add to a Discussion Question after three
or four students have answered it so move on to another.
Read all the posted responses FIRST before adding your response to make sure I have
not closed the question and that you are NOT repeating what a classmate has already
posted. Considering each of your three postings is worth 3% of your grade, make sure you
write a meaty paragraph and have data to back up your statements.
Please capitalize words only to highlight a point; otherwise it is generally viewed as
SHOUTING.
Cite all quotes, references and sources. If quoting from the text, simply say: (from text,
p.##) Plagiarism will be receive a “0” grade, a warning from me and a report to the
department chair. Go to the plagiarism website found under the “Getting Started” section
on the course homepage and read through the information on plagiarism thoroughly. While
I do take satisfaction in catching someone who copied, I do not take pleasure in it.
Remember to cite all quotes, references and sources and full URLs.
I like to respond to everyone's first posting to DQs 1-12 so each student knows what my
expectations are and how well he/she met them. You will not be given a SECOND chance to
submit discussion questions should you not like the grade you received on them. I'll say
this again. If you post a DQ, it will be graded, regardless of a misunderstanding on your
part. Check your course calendar to make sure the set of DQs has not expired. You can
determine if you received credit for your posting by checking the “Grades” link on the right
margin of the course homepage.
HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS COURSE: The authors of your text decided to split up the
information into modules rather than chapters. So as not to confuse you, I have adopted
modules as well. Each module has sections, usually 5. You will be using your text as a
reference book and will not be reading it cover to cover. I have highlighted relevant
information about the subject in the modules in my own “online Module notes.” When you
look at the course calendar below, you will be directed to read my online notes first, then
go to the text and read the “Summary Points” that come at the end of the corresponding
section. As a review and study guide, go back online to the module topic and open and fill
out the “Take Ten” questions that pertain to that section of the module. These Take Ten
questions will sometimes be identical to those in the text and sometimes different. The
authors and I do not always agree on what information is important. If I have changed the
Take Ten questions, you can go to my online notes and find the answers there. This is
especially true for Modules 6 and 7. Often the answers to the Take Ten questions are found
in the “Summary Points” for that section. You will not turn in these Take Ten study guides,
but if you fill them out as you go through the course, you will be in good shape for the
online and final exams. You will not be turning in these review sheets. The authors and
publisher have provided a lot of ancillaries, some of which I have included as links after my
online module notes. I’ve found other ancillaries at youtube and made my own videos. You
should open and view all the links under the online module notes. They will help you
understand the material, and information in them may appear on your module exams. At
the end of each module in the text, the authors have homework assignment, total recall and
case study quizzes. These are also available online at the end of each module. You can look
them over in the text, then answer them online. You will see which of your answers are
right or wrong that way. I have labeled them optional because they do not count toward
your grade.
PRINT OUT THIS SYLLABUS and Course Calendar. Good luck!
Week 1:
January 20-24: Read online Module notes 1.1-1.5. Read summary points at the end of
Module 1 in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view
the online links found after the module notes online.
Mandatory Introductory Quiz must be completed before the Official Day of Record,
Tuesday, January 27 at 2 PM
Week 2:
January 25-31: Read online Module notes 2.1-2.4. Read summary points at the end of
Module 1 in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view
the online links found after the module notes online.
Mandatory Introductory Quiz must be completed before the Official Day of Record,
Tuesday, January 27 at 2 PM
Online Module 1 EXAM expires on Saturday, January 31
Prepare for the Team Project by reading the online file. Choose your Team Project by
going to the Team Project topic on the course homepage and posting “I would like to
be a member of this project” to that topic’s link. Start your own work by answering
the questions asked on the attachment. Post your answers to the topic link and share
your idea for the creative element of the project. This should be finished by the end
of the week. The next two weeks are used to decide on the correct answers to the
questions and develop and post your creative element. I will look at your
contribution to the project when grading by checking on the completion of the above
instructions on the project topic link.
Week 3:
February 1-7: Read online Module notes 3.1-3.5. Read summary points at the end of
Module 1 in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view
the online links found after the module notes online.
Online Module 2 EXAM expires on Saturday, February 7
Week 4:
February 8-14: Read online Module notes 4.1-4.5. Read summary points at the end of
Module 1 in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view
the online links found after the module notes online.
Online Module 3 EXAM expires on Saturday, February 14
Week 5:
February 15-21: Read online Module notes 5.1-5.5. Read summary points at the end of
Module 1 in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view
the online links found after the module notes online.
Online Module 4 EXAM expires on Saturday, February 21
Team Project Presentations and Summary page due in Assignment Dropbox
February 21
February 23: Last day to withdraw from course—Go to your PeopleSoft account if you
wish to withdraw
Week 6:
February 22-28: Read online Module 6 notes. Read summary points at the end of Module 1
in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view the online
links found after the module notes online.
Online Module 5 EXAM expires on Saturday, February 28
Saturday February 28: Nutrition Evaluation Project Due in online dropbox by 11:55
PM.
Week 7:
March 1-7: and Read online Module 7.1- 7.5. Read summary points at the end of Module 1
in text. Fill out the answers to the review sheet found online and open and view the online
links found after the module notes online.
Online Modules 6 and 7 EXAMs expire on Sunday, March 8
Final Exam in person on the weekend of:
Friday, March 6 at Central Campus, or
Saturday, March 7 at Spring Branch Campus, or
Sunday, March 8 at Southeast Campus
2015 Spring Testing Locations: de.hccs.edu/student-services/
Fridays:
Central Campus - San Jancinto Building. - 1300 Holman - 1st Floor
Begin your exams between 4:00pm - 9:00pm Last Admit 7:00 pm
Saturdays:
Spring Branch Campus - 1010 W. Sam Houston Pkwy N (600 area)
Begin your exams between 10:00am - 3:00pm Last Admit 1:00 pm
Sundays:
Eastside Campus - 6815 Rustic (Workforce Building)
Begin your exams between 10:00am - 3:00pm Last Admit 1:00 pm
You have the option to take your exam at any of these times and on any of these days during that
designated weekend. There is a two hour time limit for each exam. Under no circumstance will
any student have unlimited time for testing. Do not bring children to the testing campus.
If you are taking more than one course: We strongly recommend that you take only one test per
day. However, if you must take more than one test per day, please note these two (2) things:
1. You can only pick up one test at a time and you must pick up your last test no later
than the last admittance time.
2. This means that you must be aware of the time and allow yourself an equal amount of
time for each exam. You must pick up the second exam by 7:00 pm on Fridays, and by
1:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The testing aides will not remind you to do so or
issue exams after these times for anyone, even if you have what you believe to be a
perfectly good excuse as to why you are late (flat tire, emergency, etc.).
A picture ID (driver's license or HCCS ID) is required before you will be allowed to test.
PLEASE BRING A #2 PENCIL,
Do not bring books unless otherwise noted by instructor
Phones and pagers must be turned off and put away in the testing location
Do not bring children to testing