Meeting Times, Location, & Course Delivery Details
Contact Information
There is no required textbook for this course.
- How the process of scientific inquiry applies to the study of human nutrition
- How we can collect and analyze many different types of data related to the field of human nutrition
- How knowledge of human nutrition can empower many of the decisions you make in your everyday lives
Tentative Schedule
Subject to change during the semester. Adequate notice of changes will be given.
| Week | Date | Lecture Topic | Lab |
| 1 | 25-Aug | Introduction; Nutrition: Linking Food and Health | Lab 1: Lab safety and Scientific method |
| 27-Aug | Nutrition: Linking Food and Health | ||
| 2 | 1-Sep | Nutrition in the US | Lab 2: Scientific method, literature, and background |
| 3-Sep | Background in Biology; Quiz 1 | ||
| 3 | 8-Sep | Background in Biology | Lab 3: Food environment and food guides |
| 10-Sep | Designing a Healthful Diet | ||
| 4 | 15-Sep | Anatomy and Physiology of the GI tract | Lab 4: Gut anatomy |
| 17-Sep | Exam 1 | ||
| 5 | 22-Sep | Anatomy and Physiology of the GI tract | Lab 5: Comparative gut anatomy and dentition |
| 24-Sep | Carbohydrates | ||
| 6 | 29-Sep | Fats | Lab 6: Food labels |
| 1-Oct | Proteins; Quiz 2 | ||
| 7 | 6-Oct | Proteins and Micronutrients **lecture will be online asynchronous to allow for schedule flexibility for those attending Westheimer activities** | Lab 7: Lactose lab *lab will still be meeting in person as usual* |
| 8-Oct | Micronutrients | ||
| 8 | 13-Oct | No classes -- Faculty In Service Day | Lab online only this week due to Tuesday in-service day -- Lab 8: Food deserts |
| 15-Oct | Exam 2 | ||
| 9 | 20-Oct | Nutrients Essential to Fluid and Electrolyte Balance | Lab 9: Water lab |
| 22-Oct | Nutrients Essential to Key Body Functions | ||
| 10 | 27-Oct | Nutrients Essential to Healthy Tissues | Lab 10: Anthropometrics Lab |
| 29-Oct | Nutrients Essential to Healthy Tissues; Anthropometrics and other measurements in Nutrition; Quiz 3 | ||
| 11 | 3-Nov | Anthropometrics and other measurements in Nutrition | Lab 11: Food diary and energy expenditure lab |
| 5-Nov | Nutrients and Energy Expenditure | ||
| 12 | 10-Nov | Nutrients and Energy Expenditure; Nutrition Through the Life Cycle | Lab 12: 24-hr dietary recall and FFQ |
| 12-Nov | Exam 3 | ||
| 13 | 17-Nov | Nutrition Through the Life Cycle; Eating disorders | Lab 13: Research ethics and methods |
| 19-Nov | Food Safety and Technology | ||
| 14 | 24-Nov | Malnutrition and Food Insecurity Across the Globe | No labs this week |
| 26-Nov | Thanksgiving Break | ||
| 15 | 1-Dec | Food Equity, Sustainability, and Quality, Quiz 4 | Make-up lab session |
| 3-Dec | Food policy; current concerns and advances | ||
| 16 | 8-Dec | Exam 4 | No labs this week |
| 10-Dec | No classes -- Study Day | ||
| Finals | 15-Dec | Group discussions -- current issues in Nutrition | Tues, Dec 15 from 10:15am-12:15pm |
See Class Schedule and Blackboard for due dates.
| Item | Point Value |
| Exams (100 pts/exam) | 400 |
| Quizzes (10 pts/quiz) | 40 |
| Labs (30 pts/lab) | 390 |
| Lecture Assignments | 40 |
| Finals Week Group Debates | 30 |
| Attendance | 100 |
| Total | 1000 |
Assignments turned in late for any reason will have points deducted from them. The more days late, the higher the deduction. Late assignments will have points deducted from them according to the following schedule (no exceptions without a valid excuse):
Days Late Percent of Grade Deducted
1Day @ 1 minute after stated deadline 10%
Day 2 20%
Day 3 30%
Day 4 40%
Day 5 50%, etc.
Points earned will be added and grades will be assigned based on the scale below. Do not expect any "curving" of grades in this course.
Letter grade and points: Meaning of grade (from WC Handbook):
A = 1000-925, A- = 924-900 Range of outstanding achievement
B+ = 899-865, B = 864-825, B- = 824-800 Range of good achievement
C+ = 799-765, C = 764-725, C- = 724-700 Range of average achievement
D+ = 699-665, D = 664-625, D- = 624-600 Range of below average achievement
F = < 600 Inadequate achievement
Plus/Minus grading will be used in this course. Guaranteed grade cutoffs are as follows:
100-92.5%: A; 92.4-90.0%: A-; 89.9-86.5%: B+; 86.4-82.5%: B, 82.4-80.0%: B-.
Cutoffs for grades in the C and D ranges follow the pattern established for the grades in the B range. Final grade cutoffs points are sometimes lowered to better fit the grade distribution curve. Final letter grade cutoffs will be at the discretion of the instructor.
Instructor Course Policies
Attendance will be recorded, and students who regularly skip class should not expect to do well in the course. Attendance and Participation are 10% of the grade. Attendance will be taken at each lecture session using a sign-in sheet, and points will be given for attending.
Students are expected to actively participate in lecture activities and will be graded on their level of participation and preparation for each class. Students are expected to exhibit appropriate classroom etiquette, including, but not limited to, listening attentively when the professor or another student is speaking, arriving to class on time, and turning off cell phones. Causing disruptions in the classroom or laboratory may result in point deductions from this portion of the grade.
See the current Student Handbook for the college Attendance Policy, especially as it pertains to excused absences. No makeup exams will be allowed unless the student has contacted either the instructor and/or the Office of Academic Affairs prior to the time of the exam. All excused absences must be documented. The College accepts these four categories of excused absences:
- Activities in which the student serves as an official representative of the College (e.g., musical performances, athletic contests, field trips)
- Personal illness, with documentation by the College nurse or a physician
- Family or personal emergencies
- When severe weather makes travel to campus dangerous
Academic Misconduct
See the current Student Handbook for the college's Academic Integrity policies as they pertain to examinations, plagiarism, classroom behavior, and the process for handling academic misconduct charges. Plagiarism is discussed further below. Students are expected to understand and adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy in the Student Handbook and will be reported to The Office of Academic Affairs if a violation occurs. Situations found to be in violation of this policy will be handled on a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity of the offense and any prior plagiarism issues. Possible responses could include a “0” for the assignment or an automatic “F” for the course. Students with academic integrity violations may not be eligible for academic awards and honors (i.e., Academic Honors, Dean’s List/Merit List, Green Key Honor Society, Quaker Impact Award, and other Honorary Societies).
YOU WILL ONLY RECEIVE GRADES FOR INDEPENDENT AND ORIGINAL WORK. Students are expected to understand and adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy in the Student Handbook and will be reported to The Office of Academic Affairs if a violation occurs. Submitting work completed by someone else or using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) sources to produce work are also forms of plagiarism/cheating for this course. You are not permitted to use generative AI tools for any work in this course. This includes the use of popular tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, GitHub Co-Pilot, as well as all other tools built on generative AI technologies. Assignments in this course are designed to develop independent thinking skills and thoughtful reflection. The use of AI undermines that work, its purpose, and ultimately any benefits it could provide to students’ learning experience. Therefore, the use of any generative AI to help with any assignments in this course will be considered cheating/plagiarism and will be handled accordingly.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is defined as the representation of another’s words, ideas, concepts, research or creative production without proper attribution whether intentional or unintentional. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about what constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism can occur in the submission of one’s own work or in work submitted by a group.
When completing writing assignments, the best way for students to prove their mastery of the subject matter is to write in their own words. When students internalize knowledge and restate it in their own words, they demonstrate retention and understanding. Copying a source's words, pasting them into an assignment, and presenting them as students' own only demonstrates skills in copying and pasting. Such plagiarism does not confirm that students have gained knowledge and put that knowledge into meaningful contexts.
Examples of plagiarism include the following:
- The submission of a paper not one’s own, including turning in a paper that has been purchased from a commercial research firm or obtained from the internet
- Copying word for word information without quotation marks
- Paraphrasing information (that is, the use of one’s own words with only minor changes to the original)
- Use of information not considered general knowledge without proper citation
- Listing of misleading or false sources on a reference page
- The use of a paper or project for one course that was previously submitted for another course, either at Wilmington or at any other institution
Institutional and Program-Level Policies
All exams will follow the Final Exam Schedule. Students scheduled to take three or more final examinations on one day may request to arrange their examination schedule, so no more than two exams occur on one day.
Requests for early or late exams are considered only under extreme circumstances. Prior to the exam period, the student must file a written request on the Early/Late Exam Form available in the Student One Stop Center, Academic Records, and on the WC portal. The form must be signed by the Instructor and the Academic Dean, approving the alternate exam time. This process must be completed prior to the scheduled exam period.
Undergraduate: FA26 Final Exam Schedule
Out-of-class Work Expectation A minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work is expected for each hour of in-class time for traditional face-to-face courses. For online and hybrid courses, the combination of face-to-face time and out-of-class work should be equal to 3 hours per credit hour per week. |
Instructional Course Delivery Definition of Courses |
Academic Integrity Policy The use of generative AI is prohibited except where expressly allowed in assignment instructions. Academic Integrity Policy |
Class Attendance Policy Institutional Class Attendance Policy |