ITEC Course Development Grant
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Renny Fulco, Public Policy and Law Program (x-2435, McCook 210)
2.
I am requesting support to develop blended learning components for three courses:
“Health Care Reform Policy: The Affordable Care Act Goes to Court” is a graduate
course (PBPL 857)1 offered in the first 2012 summer term. It is open to graduate
Public Policy students and qualified undergraduates. Enrollment is limited to 15.
Modules developed for this course will be adapted for my two fall courses, a first
year seminar on the election (FYSM 175, 15 students, fall 2012) and Introduction to
American Public Policy (PBPL 201, 36 students, fall 2012).
3.
Course Goals and Enhancement of Student Learning
Students in the graduate summer course (PBPL 857) will be expected to understand the legal and
policy dimensions of the Affordable Care Act and the constitutional challenges to it. We will read
about and examine the policy rationale for reforming the American health care system from a
variety of perspectives, analyze the law itself, and the debate that took place both before and after
its passage. In addition, we will study the constitutional claims made by the parties who argued
before the Supreme Court in April, and we will thoroughly analyze the Court’s decision, which
will be issued in June. Students in the undergraduate fall courses (FYSM 175 and PBPL 201) will
study some of the same material, but as part of a broader discussion of electoral politics and
policy-making.
All of the important documentation related to the passage of, and legal challenges to, the
Affordable Care Act, which enacted health care reform, are available online. Indeed, one of the
difficulties I have encountered as I prepare for both my summer and fall courses is finding an
efficient way to collect and cull the overwhelming volume of available materials for use in the
classroom. Students in the graduate course will be expected to access the usual kinds of sources:
legal filings and briefs, court opinions, congressional testimony, and statutes. In addition, law
schools and policy institutes around the country held conferences and symposia dedicated to
debating and analyzing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, both before and after the
Supreme Court heard oral arguments.
I would like to enhance student learning for all of these courses by making the following online
sources available to students:
(1) Supreme Court oral arguments, e.g., Scotusblog: http://www.scotusblog.com/casefiles/cases/u-s-department-of-health-and-human-services-v-florida/)
(2) Audio links to law school and policy institute symposia, e.g.,
NYU: (http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/ANNUAL_SURVEY_SYMPOSIUM_2012)
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PBPL 857 Course Description: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which passed without a
single Republican vote in either house of Congress, was immediately challenged on constitutional grounds in several
states. Several of these cases have already reached the Supreme Court's docket. The purpose of this course is to
familiarize students with both the legal and policy dimensions of the new health care law and the constitutional
challenges to it. To achieve that end, we will examine the policy rationale for reforming the American health care
system, analyze the law itself, and discuss the principal criticisms of the law. In addition, we will study the
constitutional arguments made by opponents and supporters of the law, and we will evaluate the Supreme Court's
decision in the three cases it agreed to hear. (The decision will be made during our summer session.) Readings will
include relevant statutes, analysis and commentary by policy analysts, legal briefs submitted by the parties to the cases,
and the Supreme Court's decision.
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Stanford University: (http://www.c-span.org/Events/Stanford-Univ-Hosts-Debate-onAffordable-Care-Act/10737428979/)
Cato Institute: (http://www.c-span.org/Events/Conference-Examines-Supreme-Court-Cases-onAffordable-Care-Act/10737429306/)
(3) Think tank sites that organize and post policy briefs and memos on health care reform, e.g.,
Kaiser Family Foundation: (http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8270.cfm?source=QL) and
Brookings:
(http://www.brookings.edu/research/commentary?topic=The%20Patient%20Protection%20and%
20Affordable%20Care%20Act#/?start=1&topic=The+Patient+Protection+and+Affordable+Care
+Act&sort=ContentDate&bc=Commentary&includes=Video)
I have already selected several appropriate sites on the topic for the graduate class, but need time
to find the best websites and select the best sources for undergraduate students in the fall. These
sites are a rich source of diverse policy positions on the Affordable Care Act, but it is necessary
to access and listen to the videos and then decide which are most appropriate for the
undergraduate classes. I intend to have students view videos or listen to audio recordings, and
then answer specific questions about the materials online. This will enhance class discussion and
help me identify students who may struggle to grasp some of the more complicated concepts.
In addition to providing students with the best electronic sources for understanding the health care
debate and the legal challenges to it, I also intend to set up online discussion questions, a Moodle
forum, and a collaborative Wiki project for students to exchange their ideas (in both the graduate
and undergraduate classes). The issues are complicated, and I believe students will benefit
enormously if they are able to discuss questions online and write joint policy memos using Wiki
applications. This kind of collaborative experience will enhance their ability to understand the
material discussed in class and formulate their own policy proposals. Moreover, it will allow me
to weigh in on students’ ideas as they post their thoughts online. This will save time and provide
multiple opportunities to communicate with my students outside of office hours and face-to-face
appointments. Given that some of my students who are in the graduate program work full time,
this will allow them to interact regularly despite their limited time on campus.
Finally, I am already in discussion with David Tatem, my instructional technologist, to determine
how best to use Moodle and Wiki modules to facilitate student access to the materials and
interaction with one another.
4. I intend to survey the students at the end of each course to help determine how the technology
has enhanced their learning. I will consult with Rachael Barlow, who assists me in teaching the
fall undergraduate classes. Ideally, I would like to create an electronic survey on the usefulness
of the “blended” portion of the course.
5. I will use the $1000 as a stipend to support my work on all of these courses over the summer.
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