SFU · Faculty of Health Sciences · Instructor Resources
HSCI 341 · Instructor

Fundamental Epidemiological Concepts and Approaches

Measure, design, and reason causally with the core tools of epidemiology.

Course documents

Syllabus and lesson plans

HSCI 341 · 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 341 · 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: Introduction and Causal Concepts

Milestone 1: Research Question + Causal Diagram
MilestonePlanSlides
02
Week 2

Lesson 2: Surveillance and Outbreak Investigation

Milestone 2: Surveillance Audit & Gap Analysis
MilestonePlanSlides
03
Week 3

Lesson 3: Sampling

Milestone 3: Sampling Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
04
Week 4

Lesson 4: Questionnaire Design

Milestone 4: Instrument Draft
MilestonePlanSlides
05
Week 5

Lesson 5: Measures of Disease Frequency

Milestone 5: Outcome Definition & Measurement Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
06
Week 6

Lesson 6: Screening and Diagnostic Tests

Milestone 6: Screening / Classification Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
MT
Week 7

Midterm examination

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

Lesson 7: Measures of Association

Milestone 7: Pre-Registered Hypotheses & Effect Measures
MilestonePlanSlides
08
Week 9

Lesson 8: Review of Study Design Concepts

Milestone 8: Design Justification Memo
MilestonePlanSlides
09
Week 10

Lesson 9: Hybrid Study Designs

Milestone 9: Recruitment & Retention Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
10
Week 11

Lesson 10: Controlled Studies

Milestone 10: Bias & Control Strategy
MilestonePlanSlides
11
Week 12

Lesson 11: Validity in Observational Studies

Milestone 11: Validity Audit + Pre-Analysis Plan
MilestonePlanSlides
12
Week 13

Lesson 12: Confounding and Causal Inference

Final: FINAL: Complete Protocol + Mock REB Application
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.