SFU · Faculty of Health Sciences · Instructor Resources
HSCI 230 · Instructor

Evaluating Epidemiological Research

Foundational tools to evaluate, critique, and reason about conclusions from epidemiological studies.

Course documents

Syllabus and lesson plans

HSCI 230 · Word document

Course Syllabus

The full student-facing syllabus: calendar description, goals and objectives, the flipped-classroom format, assessment scheme, grading, the week-by-week schedule, and all course policies.

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HSCI 230 · Per lesson

Lesson plans & slides

Each week below carries its own ready-to-teach lesson plan (Word) and slide deck (PowerPoint), so you can grab just the session you are teaching, plus separate midterm and final session plans.

See the weekly plan ↓
At a glance

Weekly plan

01
Week 1

Lesson 1: Foundations of Epidemiology

Milestone 1: Foundations Brief: Topic, Ways-of-Knowing Map & Trust Ledger
MilestonePlanSlides
02
Week 2

Lesson 2: Systematic Reviews and Meta Analysis

Milestone 2: Systematic Search & Synthesis Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
03
Week 3

Lesson 3: Introduction to Observational Studies

Milestone 3: PICO + Reproducible Search Strategy
MilestonePlanSlides
04
Week 4

Lesson 4: Case Control Studies

Milestone 4: Case-Control Appraisals
MilestonePlanSlides
05
Week 5

Lesson 5: Cohort Studies

Milestone 5: Cohort Appraisals
MilestonePlanSlides
06
Week 6

Lesson 6: Ecological and Group Level Studies

Milestone 6: Group-Level Evidence Appraisal
MilestonePlanSlides
MT
Week 7

Midterm examination

Covers Lessons 1–6 · capstone studio
ExamPlan
07
Week 8

Lesson 7: Conceptualization Measurement and Causal Specification

Milestone 7: Construct Audit Table
MilestonePlanSlides
08
Week 9

Lesson 8: Sampling Selection and External Validity

Milestone 8: External Validity Audit
MilestonePlanSlides
09
Week 10

Lesson 9: Information Bias and Data Quality

Milestone 9: Information Bias Audit
MilestonePlanSlides
10
Week 11

Lesson 10: Design Specific and Temporal Biases

Milestone 10: Bias Risk Matrix
MilestonePlanSlides
11
Week 12

Lesson 11: Confounding and Statistical Inference

Milestone 11: Confounding & Inference Audit
MilestonePlanSlides
12
Week 13

Lesson 12: Integrated Appraisal of Epidemiological Research

Final: FINAL: Integrated Literature Review
Final deliverablePlanSlides
FX
Exam period

Final examination

Covers Lessons 7–12 · final project + peer review due
ExamPlan
How the term runs. Students complete each lesson module and its walkthrough before class. The weekly three-hour session reviews the key ideas, runs an applied exercise, and gives studio time for that week's term-project milestone. The midterm follows the first six lessons; the final follows the second six. The term project is worth 60% of the grade, the midterm 15%, the final 20%, and in-class participation 5%. Each week below links its own Plan (a Word lesson plan with the full facilitator script and answer keys) and Slides (the ready-to-teach PowerPoint). Prefer a single file? The complete guide collects all twelve plans in one document.