INFO 281-11
Seminar in Contemporary Issues
Topic: Crisis/Disaster Health Informatics
Fall 2020 Syllabus

Dr. Christine Hagar
E-mail
Office Hours:
Virtually via e-mail

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 19, 6 am PDT unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets. 

You will be enrolled in the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

This course explores the interconnectedness of information, people, and technologies in a crisis/disaster (e.g. hurricanes, earthquakes, pandemics) and the intersecting trajectories of social, technical and information perspectives in crises/disasters. In particular, it examines how information is generated, accessed, organized, coordinated, and disseminated during a crisis/disaster. The course also examines the multiple roles that information professionals and libraries can play in crisis/disaster preparedness and response.

The first half of the course focuses on crisis/disaster information topics in general. The second half of the course focuses on crisis/disaster health information: e.g. the COVID-19 infodemic; disaster health information resources; information disseminated by national and international health-related organizations; the challenges of providing health information in humanitarian crises. Students reflect on lessons learned from past crises/disasters and on strategies to manage future crises/disasters. This course equips students with the knowledge and skills to enable them to be key players in crisis/disaster preparedness and response.

Course Requirements

Assignments

• Participation & Engagement (Supports CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5)
  Students are required to make thoughtful contributions to discussion questions and to respond to their classmates' contributions (20 points - 4 discussions, 5 points each).
• Reflective Blog (Supports CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5)
  Students will write 4 blog posts - these may include comments and reflections on: the weekly topics; an information perspective on a current crisis/disaster; opinion pieces/blogs/articles written by crisis/disaster commentators (10 points - 4 posts, 2.5 points each).
• Crisis Informatics Information Resource (CIIR) (Supports CLO6)
  Students will create a Crisis Informatics Information Resource (CIIR) on a crisis/disaster of their choice using ProQuest RefWorks. The CIIR may be related to the topic of the final paper (15 points).
• Pandemic Movie Response (Supports CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5)
  Students are required to give an information perspective response to a movie concerning a global pandemic. Students will need to gain access to the movie via a streaming service /DVD (15 points).
• Final Paper (Supports CLO1, CLO2, CLO3, CLO4, CLO5) 
  Students will develop a final paper proposal on a topic of their choice, write the paper (12 pages), and create a presentation to share with the class (Final Paper 25 points, Proposal 5 points, Presentation 10 points).

Further information about the assignments is given on the Canvas course website.

Course Calendar

Grading and assignment due dates

All assignments must be submitted by midnight (Pacific Time) on the day the assignment is due. Late assignments will be reduced by 20% of point value per day late. Please contact Dr. Hagar if a medical, family or personal emergency prevents you from submitting an assignment on time.

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Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 281 has no prequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Explain the importance of information in crisis/disaster response.
2. Recognize the inter-connectedness of information, people and technology in a crisis/disaster.
3. Analyze information needs and information seeking behaviors of different actors in a crisis/disaster.
4. Compare and evaluate technologies and human-centered approaches that support communities in a crisis/disaster.
5. Identify the factors that impact the integration and coordination of information in a crisis/disaster.
6. Create a crisis/disaster information resource.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 281 supports the following core competencies:

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Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

• Hagar, C. (Ed.). (2012). Crisis information management: Communication and technologies. Chandos Publishing. Available through Amazon: 1843346478

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Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.

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