NTR 301 Introduction to Human Nutrition - North Carolina State ...

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Introduction to Human Nutrition. Instructor. April Danielle Fogleman [email protected]. Office: 216A and 204 Schaub Hall. Office hours: Please call to ...
NTR 301 Introduction to Human Nutrition Instructor April Danielle Fogleman [email protected] Office: 216A and 204 Schaub Hall Office hours: Please call to schedule an appointment Phone: 919-247-7971 This course is originally taught and developed by Dr. Sarah Ash. Course Overview and Objectives "You are what you eat." To nineteenth century American health reformers like Sylvester Graham and John Harvey Kellogg this meant that eating an animal would make you act like one. As a result, they recommended a vegetarian diet. Today we recognize that the relationship between food and our bodies is much more complex, and although cooking can be an art, it is important to recognize that nutrition is a science –an applied one. It has as its foundation many of the basic sciences, including chemistry, biochemistry and biology. It is critical, therefore, that we draw on the knowledge gained from these fields and apply sound scientific principles when evaluating the almost daily reporting of diet-related findings and theories. In this course we will try to distinguish among what is factual, what is theoretical given the facts that we have, and what is implausible or even impossible. It is also important to recognize, however, that food does more than nourish us in the strictly biological sense. There are myriad socio-cultural factors that influence what, why and how we eat, and, more generally, which affect our knowledge, beliefs and behaviors relative to food and nutrition. By the end of the semester you should have a better understanding of significant ways in which diet can influence our health today, tomorrow and over the course of a lifetime. You should also be in a better position to evaluate the latest "nutrition news," diet, or product and decide for yourself if it is something worth considering. Finally, you should have an appreciation for the complexity of food choice -- both what is available and what is chosen-- particularly with respect to the interrelationships between and among cultural norms, technological advancement and scientific knowledge. Prerequisites and expectations There are no prerequisites for this class – it is open to all students on campus. However you must keep in mind that this is a SCIENCE course. Although I won’t ever ask you to learn chemical structures or biochemical pathways, I will expose you to those basic principles that underlie what we know about nutrition because that is the only way you can fully understand the information being presented. That level of understanding is, in turn, necessary in order to explain what you’ve

learned in your own words and apply that knowledge to new situations. You will need to do both to do well in this class. Response Papers Eight times during the semester you will be asked to write a paper in response to a specific set of prompts or questions, many of which will require that you read an article, watch a short video, or interview some friends and relatives. Grading criteria will be provided to you. The topics will range from expansions on material covered in class to issues not directly related to course content but still relevant to nutrition, and thought-provoking. The materials for these papers will be at the course Moodle site where you will also submit your responses. The submission window for each assignment will stay open for one week, from 12 am on Tuesday through 11:55 pm on the following Monday. You are expected to hand in only your own, original work. We reserve the right to award 0s to papers with similar phrasing and content, and identical or close-to-identical papers will earn everyone a trip to the Office of Student Conduct Online Lectures Five times during the semester you will be asked to watch an online lecture. The online lectures will be given in addition to lectures given during class. The purpose of having you view the lectures online is to allow more time for in-class discussion and activities. You will not be assigned an online lecture during the same week that you are assigned a response paper. The online lectures will be posted on the course Moodle site. Once posted, the lecture will stay up for the entire semester. By the end of the semester you should be able to:       

Describe the basic functions of the major nutrients and identify their primary food sources. Explain the causes and dietary management of certain nutrition-related conditions. Identify the basic types of nutrition-related studies and describe potential limitations of each study design. Critically evaluate the claims associated with a new study finding, product or eating style. Identify and describe societal factors that serve as barriers to, or facilitators of, nutrient intake, for better or for worse. Assess the quality of your own diet based on current dietary recommendations. Improve your diet if you need and want to, or at least know how to. 

Exams Tests will be 75 minutes long, will have 45 questions each (multiple choice, matching, T/F), and two essay questions. They will cover the material indicated on the syllabus, * unless otherwise indicated in class*. Questions will come from lecture (online and in-class) only. Learning objectives for each topic will be provided to you on Moodle. You should be keeping up with the learning objectives that begin every new section as we cover them in class -- this will be the best preparation for the tests. Sample questions for each topic will also be provided to you on Moodle.

Quizzes Quizzes will be given on Moodle five times during the semester. They will be given during the same week that you are assigned an online lecture to watch. Quiz questions will come from the learning objectives, but you will not be tested on the same learning objective in both a test and a quiz. Food Diary Project Once during the semester you will keep a list of everything you eat and drink for a minimum of 5 days (a maximum of 7). On March 2nd, during class time, you will come to 1400 Williams Addition where computers and software will enable you to analyze your diet (no knowledge of computers is necessary -- someone will be there to assist you). Upon completion of the analysis you will answer the questions provided to you. Their purpose is to make you more aware of the contribution individual foods make to your total nutrient intake, as well as make what you're learning about nutrient needs and functions more relevant. You will be graded on your ability to answer the questions, not on the quality of your diet. Grading Graded Item

Value

Tests (two total)*

270 points (135 pts each)

Quizzes (five total)*

135 points (27 points each)

Final Exam

205 points

Food Diary Project

250 points

Response Papers (eight total)

150 points Each paper is graded out of 4 points: 26-32 pts=150 20-25 pts=110 17-19 pts=50