LIBRARY AND LEARNING COMMONS

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The unique needs and challenges of the working professional
returning to school to study at postgraduate level

Becoming a self-directed learner

New study patterns
Understand your learning style
Manage your time
Study strategies
Develop your thinking and questioning skills
Improve your memory
Organize your work space
Making the most of your Unit Guide
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 Off-Campus Learning
Bare essentials to support your off-campus
learning journey:
Look into contacts and support services

Understand off-campus learning

YOU as a learner

Be strategic

Your individual approach

Make use of Learning Support resources

Orient yourself to assessment (and the link to outcomes)

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Understand yourself better and apply that self-awareness

Explore your personality and learning preferences

Expand your learning techniques

Enrich your learning with technology

Enjoy your university experience plan, prepare,

find out.

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 On-line links and support

http://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/studying-at-university

https://www.monash.edu/library/skills

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/

http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/OffCampus/

http://monash.edu/lls/hdr
https://www.monash.edu/library/skills/rsd

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 What do we want to achieve with
an academic assignment?

RSD facets of research

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Assessment Task 1: Epidemiology of HIV, TB or Hypertension

Due Date: 28 March at 17:00

Details of task:
The Premier and Provincial Minister of Health in your province want to know how HIV/AIDS, TB or
Hypertension affects people in the Province. As a Provincial Manager of Health Programmes, prepare
an epidemiologic profile describing ONE of the diseases in terms of:
- distribution by health district, gender, race, etc.
- determinants or risk factors of your selected disease
- Current prevention and treatment programmes in the province

Word limit: 5 typed content pages excluding cover page, table of contents and references
Value: 30% of the total mark
Presentation requirements: Submit the assignment online in Moodle 2 on or before 28 March.

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Criteria for Marking

Criteria for Marking

Criteria for marking assignment Mark
allocation
Content of the assignment 70%
Accurate and clear description of the distribution by health district, gender, 25%
race, etc.
Accurate and clear description of determinants or risk factors 25%
Current prevention and treatment programmes in the province 20%
Scientific basis of the assignment 20%
Evidence of student having read widely 5%
Essay is well-structured, cohesive and coherent (including spelling & 5%
grammar)
Scientific rigor is illustrated by accurate references to the sources 5%
Identification and utilization of relevant and current sources of information 5%
Technical presentation of the assignment 10%
The title is relevant and concise 2%
Table of contents is accurate and complete 2%
Headings and subheadings are used in a logic and systematic 2%
Discussions are correctly introduced and presented in a logic, systematic 2%
and substantiated way
List of sources is current, accurate and comprehensive 2%

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TOTAL 100%
 Analysing your question

Begin by identifying the key concepts e.g.

the topic/content areas
Identify the directive words e.g. analyse,
discuss, etc.
Note any limitations e.g. scope, time
period, field of study, area
Format of the assignment (essay, report,
review, poster, annotated bib etc)

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 Unpacking the assignment brief
The Premier and Provincial Minister of Health in your province want to know: (Structure ? )

how HIV/AIDS, TB or Hypertension affects people in the Province.

As a Provincial Manager of Health Programmes, prepare an epidemiologic

profile describing ONE of the diseases in terms of:
- distribution by health district, gender, race, etc.
- determinants or risk factors of your selected disease
- Current prevention and treatment programmes in the province

Key concepts

Limitations

Directive words

Format

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 What is an epidemiologic profile?

A document that describes the burden of a disease on the

population of an area in terms of:
sociodemographic,
geographic,
behavioral, and
clinical characteristics of persons with the disease.

The profile is a valuable tool that is used at the state

and local levels by those who make
recommendations for allocating prevention and
care resources,
planning programs, and
evaluating programs and policies.

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 Specific Format of an epidemiologic profile
Cover Page
Acknowledgements: List members of your epidemiological workgroup, advisory council, evidence-based program workgroup, and any other key stakeholders.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary: Provide a brief overview of what the epidemiological profile is, why it is important, and how it can be used.Provide a brief list of key findings from the profile.
Introduction Describe your community. Consider including demographic information such as population size, age distribution, gender, and any socioeconomic background information
that may be available (educational attainment, employment, etc.).Include important historical, cultural, and contextual information that might be relevant to the data included in the profile.
Consider describing your Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG) project. Describe SAMHSAs Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) and how developing an
epidemiological profile is a component of SPF Step 1: Assess Needs. Describe your epidemiological workgroup. This can include the number of members, agencies, organizations they
represent; how often they meet; where they meet; and any other information an interested person may want to know.
Data Selection Processes Describe how you collected or gathered the data included in the profile.Discuss how your workgroup decided which data sources to include in the
profile and which data sources to leave out.Provide a list of data sources, describing each source. Examples include a youth tobacco survey, emergency room data from the local hospital,
alcohol-related motor vehicle crash data from local law enforcement, and community perceptions collected during a focus group. For each data source, include:
A brief description of the data source
The department, agency, or organization that provided the data
How frequently the data are collected and the years that data are available for
Any limitations of the data, which might include a small survey response or inadequate arrest reports
Provide a list of indicators, such as Past 30-day Alcohol Use Among Adults or Number of Lung Cancer Deaths.
Data Dimensions Describe the criteria you need to prioritize substance misuse problems. These might include:
Size or magnitude
Trends over time
Relative comparisons (for example, one community to another, one age group to another)
Seriousness/severity
Economic cost
Body of Report (Findings)
This may include narrative, tables, graphs, charts, and maps. It is also helpful to incorporate a combination of formats. For example, use narrative to summarize findings in a table. Make sure
that tables and graphs are clearly labeled.
Alcohol
- Consumption/use indicators
- Consequence indicators
- Risk and protective factors
Tobacco
- Consumption/use indicators
- Consequence indicators
- Risk and protective factors
Drugs
- Consumption/use indicators
- Consequence indicators
- Risk and protective factors
Limitations and Data Gaps
Discuss indicators for which you do not have data and consider including strategies or plans for addressing those data gaps.
Discuss limitations of the data you do have. For example, maybe you have data that you cannot sort by gender or by age group.
Conclusion
Appendices, which might include:
Names of State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup members Data collection instruments used Large, detailed tables Glossary of terms Mortality or hospitalization data: ICD-9/ICD-10
codes (if the tribe uses these data sources)

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Acknowledging your resources: Citing and referencing
NB NB NB : if you cite and reference correctly, you will not plagiarize
Ways to cite and reference:
1. MANUALLY (DO the library on-line tutorial 15minutes):
http://monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials/citing/
http://resources.lib.monash.edu.au/learning-objects/test/apa-quick-
guide/
2. Using MICRO-SOFT WORD REFERENCING (but you still need to
have the manual referencing background knowledge)
3. Using ENDNOTE (but you still need to have the manual referencing
background knowledge)

Referencing resources:
Monash Library Website, Moodle and Libguides
https://www.monash.edu/library/skills/resources/tutorials
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 Additional resources on APA
Monash Share Drive

- Library > Charmaine Learning skills > Referencing

Lib Guides
Moodle

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 ASK for HELP

For
assistance
with learning, writing or communicating
your findings,
contact
a learning skills advisor
in
the library
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