Introduction to Public Health (PUBH1102)

Course overview

In this course you'll embark on a journey to understand how we can improve the health of populations in an ever-changing and inequitable world.

You will take your first steps into public health, and gain a critical overview of the history, principles, and the central concepts that make up the public health 'toolbox'. Health equity, social justice, and human rights are at the core of public health and underpin all that we do in this course.

In Intro to Public Health, we explore the major factors that determine health and wellbeing. You'll learn about the structural, social, environmental, commercial, and biological determinants that shape the health of individuals, groups, and populations. Together we will investigate health inequalities, one of the most fundamental challenges in public health. We will unpack why some people get sick more often, and sicker than others. We will also examine different types of evidence and ways of 'knowing' in public health.

By the end of this course, you'll have developed the critical thinking and analytical skills that will prepare you for further studies and a future career in health; the foundational knowledge base from which to tackle the complex 'wicked' health challenges of the 21st Century! 

Welcome to Intro to Public Health. Your journey to making a difference for the health of communities starts now!

The course provides foundational knowledge that will be extended in PUBH1103 Health Systems and Policy, and PUBH2008 Major Diseases and their Control.

EXPECTATIONS

Self-directed learning and in-class participation (at both lectures and tutorials) are necessary for successful completion of the course. 

In this course interactive lectures are used to exchange information, discuss core ideas and debate issues. Lecture activities are supported by tutorials where you work in smaller groups to discuss and apply core concepts.ﾠ

It is expected that each week you will engage in the lectures. Given that tutorial participation is also a critical component to your learning in this course, it is essential that you not only attend the tutorials, but that you maximise engagement with your peers and the teaching team in these sessions.

STUDY TIPS

Important: You will need to spend between 6 to 10 hours per week attending the lectures, completing relevant readings and activities, and preparing for tutorials for this course.

Assessment is regular – so you need to work consistently and regularly to keep up. You cannot delay your study until the end of the semester.

Tutorials are not recorded as they are designed to be highly interactive. A significant proportion of the tutorial time will be dedicated to group activities. Therefore, you will need to be present in class for the duration of each tutorial, and we expect that you will engage with your classmates and teaching team. Again, class attendance and participation are an integral part of this course. 

ASSESSMENT

More detail about each assessment item is available via the Assessment link on BB.

The assessment for this course is based on some of the principles of effective learning identified by scientific research.

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Aims and outcomes

The aim of PUBH1102 is for students to develop an understanding of the public health approach to health and wellbeing improvement, and the multiple and interacting determinants of health and wellbeing. Students will study the historical evolution of public health issues, the major determinants of health, and the strategies and action used to assess, analyse, and address public health problems.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Task 1: Tutorial Participation

Mode

Activity/ Performance

Category

Participation/ Student contribution

Weight

15%

Due date

Week 2 - Week 10

In your allocated tutorial.

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Further information will be available during tutorials and from the Course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Late submission

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Task 2: Suburb Report

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

35%

Due date

16/04/2025 12:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Further information will be available from the Course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Late submission

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Task 3 Part A: Group-designed game

• Team or group-based
• In-person

Mode

Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia

Category

Presentation, Product/ Design

Weight

10%

Due date

Week 12 Thu - Fri

In your allocated tutorial time.

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Further information will be available from the Course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Late submission

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Task 3 Part B: Individual justification of game

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

40%

Due date

30/05/2025 12:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Further information will be available from the Course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Late submission

Please see 10. Policies & Guidelines

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

The final grade awarded will be based on the results of the supplementary assessment only, and a passing grade will be awarded if, and only if, the student receives at least 50% of the marks on the supplementary assessment. 

Additional assessment information

It is strongly recommended that students attend the academic skills workshops run by UQ Student Services. These four workshops are particularly important:

1. Referencing well and avoiding plagiarism
2. Reading strategies for university
3. Ten steps to better assignments
4. Skills for study: Writing

The workshop calendar as well as blurbs for each workshop can be found at this link: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/student-support/workshops

Assignment Submission:

Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and/or using Turnitin. Before submitted any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ’s compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.

It is the responsibility of the student to check the assignment preview and confirm that the assignment has been successfully submitted.ﾠ Students need to keep a copy of the submission ID as proof they have submitted the assignment. Turnitin no longer automatically emails students a receipt when they upload an assignment.ﾠ Students need to download their receipt manually and keep a copy as proof of submission.ﾠ ﾠ

If the submission was not successful:

1. Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot)
2. Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again
3. If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Additional learning activity information

General Approach to Learning

You will need to be organised in your approach to learning PUBH1102. Below are some hints for learning in PUBH1102. These hints will also be useful for other courses.

University study is more demanding than Year 12. You are required to cover a considerable amount of material in each course, and you are responsible for your own study. The key to thriving at university is to be organised. If you adopt a methodical approach to your study, then you are more likely to have time to enjoy the wider aspects of university life, in addition to achieving well in your course work.

Study habits that were encouraged by your secondary school teachers are just as important at university. It is beneficial to regard university study as an occupation. You should develop a regular routine that enables you to maintain pace with current material, and to prepare for assignments well in advance of the due date. Set aside fixed times for your studies, so that you do not fall behind in any of your courses. Plan for written assignments in advance, so that you do not have to miss important work to meet the due date, or fall behind in other courses in the weeks in which those assignments are due. It is also a good idea to vary your working day, rather than spending all of one day on a particular course. It is also more effective to limit study sessions to no more than two hours without taking a rest or coffee break in which you actually leave your desk.

At all times, prepare before attending the tutorials so that you can most effectively engage with your classmates and your tutors/lecturers during in-class hours. Active engagement during your classes will help you better process and understand the material which, in turn, will be reflected in your performance on the assessments for the course. If there are any points that are unclear when taking notes, you may want to put a question mark in the margin. By doing this, you can easily clarify the unclear concepts soon after class with the lecturer, a tutor, or a classmate. Each week's material builds on each other, so it is essential that you are engaging with the material in a timely manner (i.e., week-by-week) and that you clarify any points of confusion before moving onto subsequent weeks.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

Course guidelines

School of Public Health (SPH) Guidelines for late submission of progressive assessment - Preamble

To apply for an extension to the due date for a piece of progressive assessment (eg assignments, oral presentations and computer-based assignments) students should complete the online request at  https://my.uq.edu.au/node/218/1 

Information regarding deferral of in-semester exams and end-of-semester exams is available from https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/manage-my-program/exams-and-assessment/deferring-exam 

If requesting an extension on medical grounds, a medical certificate must be provided. The extension will be approved for the number of days included in the medical certificate that the student was not fit to study or work, eg if the medical certificate is for 3 days, an extension will be approved for 3 days maximum regardless of the student's request.  

If requesting an extension using a Student Access Plan for Disability (SAPD) as evidence, a maximum of 7-day extension will be approved in the first instance. Updated medical documentation, as well as a copy of the SAPD, is required if requesting an extension for more than 7 days. 

The maximum time for an in-semester extension is four weeks.  

The following SPH guidelines are consistent with the UQ policy. However, the SPH Guidelines contain specific rules and interpretations for SPH courses, and requests for extension and penalties for late submissions will be judged according to the guidelines outlined in this document. You should read both the information in your my.UQ at the following link: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/manage-my-program/exams-and-assessment/applying-assessment-extension?p=1#1 and the SPH guidelines (below) before submitting a request for an extension. The SPH Guidelines apply to all courses offered by the School of Public Health unless the ECP explicitly states otherwise.

SPH Guidelines for late submission of progressive assessment

Initial extension for an individual item of assessment – the SPH Teaching & Assessment Support Team and/or the Course Coordinator decides.

This could be for medical or compassionate reasons, or if, in the opinion of the Course Coordinator, there are exceptional circumstances.

Acceptable and unacceptable reasons for an extension are listed at the following link, along with the required evidence to be provided: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/manage-my-program/exams-and-assessment/applying-assessment-extension?p=1#1 

All requests should be lodged at least 24 hours prior to the due date for the assessment.

If applying for an extension after the due date and time of the assessment item, your request may not be approved. An explanation as to why your request was not submitted prior must be included.       

If approved, a new due date will be set. This would generally be no later than 7 days after the original due date, however this can be modified to take account of the circumstances of the request and the time that would have been lost from studies.

If the new due date is past the date for submission of end-of-semester results, the student will receive an INC (incomplete) result.

Second and all subsequent extensions for an individual item of assessment – the SPH Teaching & Assessment Support Team and/or the Program Director together with the Course Coordinator decides.

This would only be approved for exceptional circumstance with supporting documentation.

• Online requests must be made at least 24 hours prior to the due date from the first extension.
• The SPH Teaching & Assessment Support Team and/or the Course Coordinator will consult with the Program Director, who will make the final decision.
• If approved, the new due date would generally be no later than 7 days after the first extension due date.
• The Program Director should consider if remedial or other support should be offered to the student.
• The Program Director should provide a report on these matters as needed at SPH Examiners’ Meetings.

Please Note: In order to support course progression, extensions that total more than 14 calendar days from the original due date of an assessment item will only be approved in very exceptional circumstances. These requests are assessed and approved or denied on a case-by-case basis. 

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty.

Penalty for late submission

Submission of assignments, practical reports, workbooks, and other types of written assessments after the due date specified in the Electronic Course Profile (ECP) will receive a penalty.

The penalty will be a deduction of 10% RELATIVE PERCENTAGE per day (24 hour period or part thereof, including weekends and public holidays) or for work graded on a 1-7 scale, a deduction of one grade per day, e.g If the original mark is 73%, then 10% relative percentage is 10% of this value, ie 7.3%, The final mark for this assessment item after applying the penalty for 1 day late submission would be 73 -7.3 = 65.7% The same outcome is achieved by multiplying the original score by .9; ie 73 x .9 = 65.7%

The penalty for multiple days late is the relative percentage multiplied by the number of days late. 

A submission that is not made within 10 days of the due date will receive a mark of 0% for that assessment item.

Where a student has sought more than one extension, the due date for calculating the penalty will be the due date for the most recently approved extension.

Submission of Medical Certificates

Students are responsible for ensuring that any medical documentation they submit is authentic and signed by a registered medical practitioner. Such practitioners can be identified via the AHPRA website. Also note that:

• Not all online medical services are staffed by registered practitioners
• If the registration status of the practitioner cannot be verified, then an alternative practitioner should be sought
• Students will be held fully responsible for all documentation they submit, even if done so in ignorance of the practitioner's registration status

Medical documentation may be subjected to an audit by the University.

SPH Assessment Guidelines - AI technologies

The School of Public Health assessment tasks have been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. While students may us AI technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.

A failure to reference AI use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

To pass assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI tools.