School: Medical and Health Sciences

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Communicable Disease
  • Unit Code

    HST6337
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    3
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Mr Edmore MASAKA

Description

Epidemiology examines the patterns and causes of disease in human populations. This unit introduces key concepts on how public health research and surveillance is undertaken, evaluated, and used in industry. Students will learn how to source, review, interpret and apply epidemiological literature to support their practice.

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded HST5117

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Communicate technical information about communicable disease to a range of stakeholders.
  2. Apply evidence-based responses when planning for a communicable disease outbreak scenario.
  3. Assess social and environmental determinants of communicable disease within a local community, and plan intervention approaches to address these determinants.

Unit Content

  1. Introduction to communicable disease: elements and history of communicable disease, epidemiology, surveillance, disease transmission and control, local and global organisations concerned with communicable disease control
  2. Globalisation and communicable disease: globalisation and enhanced communicable disease transmission, global communicable disease risks in vulnerable populations, culture and behaviour, international approaches to disease control.
  3. Critical evaluation of sources error in epidemiological studies: chance, bias, confounding, statistical inference.
  4. Emerging issues in communicable disease: emerging communicable disease threats, changes in host susceptibility, emerging and re-emerging disease - looking to the future.

Learning Experience

ON-CAMPUS

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 3 hour seminarNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

ONLINE

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Additional Learning Experience Information

The unit combines lectures, case-study discussions and tutorials supported by on-line resources. Practical tutorial activities focus on searching the literature and adapting information for use in industry. This will culminate in the development of an electronic survey, to showcase practical skills developed over the unit. The unit also involves collaboration and peer-supported group work.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseMedia release20%
AssignmentOutbreak response plan40%
ProjectCommunicable disease risk assessment tool40%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ExerciseMedia release20%
AssignmentOutbreak response plan40%
ProjectCommunicable disease risk assessment tool40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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