PUBH 610 Teaching Guide

Things to Know About this Course

PUBH610 is taught in different modes: face-to-face, asynchronous online, and synchronous online. It’s advisable to adjust the teaching strategy to the mode of instruction.

Even if the course is taught face-to-face, it’s recommended to use flipped classroom approach. The main difference between this approach from a traditional lecture style teaching is that since direct instruction/lecture might not be the most effective use of class time, students are expected to interact with the topic material (e.g. read, watch) prior to class time and come to class with their questions ready to engage in higher level learning (check Taxonomies of Learning). In order to gain the most benefit from this approach, a professor should carefully plan the active learning strategies during class time.

All the material for this course that students should review prior to class time has already been designed, so feel free to utilize and adopt it. It’s also the responsibility of a professor to guide and incentivize the students to come prepared to class. There should not be any busy work. All the learning material should be directly connected to assessments and module/course objectives.

Not familiar with a flipped classroom approach? Please review these interactive teaching/learning tools for in-person instruction or in an online context. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How to grade for class participation in an online course? Students can be graded on the quality of their contribution to the online discussion board, blog comments, etc. To ensure fairness, scoring guides or rubrics are highly advisable. This tutorial provides two methods for grading discussion boards. 

Instructor Presence in Online Courses is essential for student success. Check out our Instructor Presence tutorial HERE for some specific ideas.

Syllabus Adjustments: What content are instructors permitted to change in this core course syllabus? Here is some general guidance:

• As for all course syllabi, anything in these {curly brackets} are editable – this includes elements like room number, modality, and recommended anti-racist language (which is included at the discretion of the instructor).
• Competencies, assessments, and learning objectives should not be removed. The instructor can add additional content if they wish.
• Readings can be adjusted, as long as the same content is being taught.
• Course policies can be edited; University policies should not be edited (e.g., Accessibility section)
• Weekly schedule can be adjusted as needed, dates should be added (dates might vary depending on course modality)

If you have any specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask your department chair and administrator.

Assigned to Teach. What’s Next?

The department chair and administrator will be in touch with important dates and to confirm your course assignments for each semester. You will need access to Blackboard (if you don’t already have it) in order to access your courses. If you are a new employee, you will need to follow the steps to activate your CUNY First account before you can access Blackboard.

Being added to a course as instructor is an automatic process completed by CUNY first. Reach out to registrar@sph.cuny.edu if you do not have access to your course. Please note that it takes 24 hours to be added to a course after you’ve been assigned to it officially. 

Do you have a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the course? Please view this information about CUNY policies regarding how to add a TA to your course.

Are you new to CUNY SPH? View this tutorial to learn more about the onboarding process. Feel free to visit the SPH Office of Online Learning Website or reach out if you have any questions, need technical support or an overview of Blackboard.