Math 319- Research Methods for Health Sciences-Syllabus Math 319 Syllabus-Spring 2018.docx

 Note:  This is a hybrid class.  That means that you half of our class activities are in the online environment.  The discussion boards and offline activities are very important to you learning the material.  I expect that you will spend between 8-12 hours a week on this class. You should budget your time appropriately.

You MUST complete the assigned discussion board assignments by the end of the first week as a part of the minimum contact hours for the course. 

Course Syllabus: 

Meet Your Instructor: 

 Hi, my name is Dr. George Sweeney. I am a full-time professor here at Santa Ana College.  I have a PhD in Math Education from the joint doctoral program at San Diego State and UC San Diego.  I also have a master's degree in Math from Cal Poly Pomona and a bachelor's from UCLA.  My fields of specialty are in research methodologies, Statistics, Linear Algebra, and Data Science.  I am Bronze, Silver, and Gold certified in Canvas in-person and online teaching. My dissertation was on teaching and learning in Linear Algebra, and I have done research and been published in research in trigonometry, differential equations, physical chemistry and calculus.  I love to teach and do mathematics.  I am currently learning some new computer programming languages.  I also enjoy meditating, making music, reading, playing with my kids, and hanging out with my wife.  I have been married for 13 years and I have two children, 2 1/2 and 5.

Course Description: 

This is an upper division course in research methods for the health sciences.  This course is not intended to make you capable of doing research in the health sciences, which takes a significant amount of training and exposure to issues within the field.  Instead, this course is designed to attenuate you to the issues and techniques that are used in statistical studies in health sciences so that you can be better consumers and purveyors of that information.  In addition, this course should provide a broad framework to begin a practice in health sciences research

Textbook Information:  

The textbook for this course is Introduction to Research in the Health Sciences by Stephen Polgar and Shane A. Thomas (ISBN: 978-0702041945). It is available on Amazon for rental for under $25.  You can also purchase a hard copy through the book store or from Amazon.

Additional Course Information: 

Office Hours:

Course Learning Objectives: 

1. Formulate conclusions based upon the study being conducted and the results of statistical tests.
2. Identify and analyze possible confounding variables and their impact upon causality.
3. Identify and analyze possible lurking variables and understand their impact upon causality.
4. Interrogate a sampling and experimental design for its ability to make causative claims.
5. Formulate a basic experimental and sampling design based upon a question.
6. Interpret test statistics and p-values from chi-squared tests for independence, matched pairs, Anova, Wilcoxon signed test, and linear regression.
7. Analyze scholarly articles in health sciences.

Student Learning Objectives:

1. Students will be able to analyze journal articles and studies in Health Sciences that utilize quantitative data.
2. Students will be able to formulate research questions, determine an effective plan for collecting data, and establish an experimental protocol for testing those questions.
3. Students will be able to determine if an experiment or study has sufficient evidence to determine statistical significance and/or causality.