Associate in Science in Health Sciences

The future: the only constant is change. The only certainty is uncertainty. So how do you prepare today for what might come tomorrow? In this introductory, interdisciplinary course unique to Excelsior University, you will learn through questions, not answers. You will challenge your prior assumptions, open your mind, and consider society s future dilemmas, progress, and crises. You will plan and question your own future your educational path, career trajectories, personal interests, ambitions, and mindsets. And you will build the foundational skills and flexibility of mind research and writing, critical thinking, argumentative reasoning, metacognition, and self-regulation to help you navigate the uncertainty and change of our future societies, workplaces, and selves. Note: This course must be completed with a grade of C or higher. Registration in this course is restricted to incoming students with fewer than 60 transfer credits. This course duplicates IND301 and CCS120. Credit for only one of these courses will be applied toward graduation. The Cornerstone cannot be completed in the same term as a Capstone course.

Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, interpret, and use information legally, ethically, and effectively. This course provides a broad overview of information literacy concepts, including the differences between academic and popular research methods, finding and evaluating sources, reading sources critically, writing with sources, and safely navigating information networks such as the internet. Students must complete information literacy within their first 13 credits at Excelsior.

This class provides students with foundational knowledge and skills to prepare them for academic and professional writing. By analyzing the work of other writers, students will learn to approach writing from a rhetorical and genre-based perspective. They will practice sentence- and paragraph-level writing, learning to revise and correct their own work. They will also work on finding, documenting, and effectively integrating sources into a research-based essay. Both traditional (textual) and multimodal (textual and visual) composition will be addressed.

In this interdisciplinary course, students will develop the analytical skills necessary to examine ethical issues in the workplace. Students explore conventional ethical theories and principles, develop ethical decision-making, and resolve common dilemmas. Students discuss the multiple challenges faced by professionals and identify ethical practices or codes that apply to each of their own professions.

This course helps students to develop their skill as public speakers and oral communicators. Designed to provide students with a supportive environment where they can  overcome the anxiety they may feel about public speaking, the class emphasizes techniques and practices for effective speech construction and delivery. Students will also develop critical thinking and listening skills. Students taking this course will need access to recording equipment for the purpose of creating podcasts, voiced-over PowerPoint presentations and videotaped speeches.

In this course, you'll apply psychological principles and theory to your everyday life.  In addition to foundational topics like psychology as a science, learning and memory, human development, and consciousness, you will learn about some more specific topics like stress and health, psychological disorders and therapy, and human sexuality. Concepts learned in this course can be applied in any career to better understand behavior, thought, and emotion. Note: This course uses lower cost interactive courseware instead of textbooks.  

The goal of this course is to help students develop mathematical reasoning and problem solving skills that will serve them well in their lives both in and out of school. Topics will include the important real-world applications of measurement units, managing money, statistics in the media, the mathematics of voting, and mathematics in the arts and nature. Providing correct solutions to routine problems is not the goal; more important is the ability to communicate effectively about mathematical reasoning and to solve realistic, practical problems both collaboratively with other students and individually. This is a survey course introducing the student to a variety of mathematical topics. It does not prepare a student for future courses that require a knowledge of algebra (e.g. PreCalculus or Statistics).

This course introduces students to the skills and theories of interpersonal communication, which are essential for building and maintaining successful personal and professional relationships. Students will evaluate the complicated interactions of psychological, social and cultural forces involved in interpersonal exchanges, while learning about personality traits, the perception of self and others, listening, managing conflict, and verbal and non-verbal communication.

This course is designed to help you improve your academic and workplace writing skills. The course emphasizes research-based, argument-driven writing. You will complete a research paper, a workplace proposal, and an oral presentation related to your academic discipline or profession. You will practice finding, evaluating, and citing sources; paraphrasing and summarizing; outlining and paragraphing; and revising and proofreading.

This course is an introductory survey of US history from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the recent past. The course examines the evolution of the United States from a nation torn apart by war to a global superpower. Students will study major political, social, and economic trends in the modern United States, with a particular focus on diversity and cross-cultural encounters. Students will engage in primary and secondary source analysis and learn to communicate historical arguments using a variety of tools. This course uses a lower-cost interactive webtext instead of a traditional textbook.

This course will prepare you for accurate oral and written use of medical language in a variety of health care settings and from multiple practitioner perspectives. You will gain a practical understanding of medical terminology that includes basic elements and word structure, body references, and specific vocabulary of the human biological systems. You will learn to interpret medical language into common terms and the proper language structure when using medical terms. 

This is a course designed for students who need to complete the General Education requirement for math and science as well as for those considering majoring in the natural sciences. The course covers the major areas of study and aspects of life on our planet explored by biologists. The course moves from the cellular and biochemical level through all classifications of living organisms to the examination of ecology and the biosphere. Students will also spend time examining the process of evolution for both populations and species. There is a final project that the students will work on throughout their time in the course. This final project is a presentation that will utilize both audio and video recordings. Several discussions in the course will require audio recordings to be submitted.  Students are expected to be able to access the appropriate technologies to complete these assignments. Freely available technology options will be provided in the course. 

This course provides the students with opportunities to explore the structure and function of the United States (US) health care delivery system. Students will learn about health care finance, settings for care, modes of delivery, the role of technology, and key trends in health care.

This course provides students with an opportunity to explore multiple aspects of professionalism in the health care occupations. Topics covered include cultural competence, legal and ethical issues, effective communication, interdisciplinary teams, and professional competence.

In this comprehensive introductory course in microbiology, students are introduced to cellular microbes, such as bacteria, protists, fungi, and helminthes, and non-cellular microbes, such as viroids, viruses, and prions and how they are classified. In addition, students explore the impact of these microbes on the environment, human health, and society. Introduction to Microbiology covers the biological and biochemical foundations and scientific methods necessary to understand microbial growth and metabolism and provides a historical perspective by reviewing the major scientific contributions that led to modern-day microbiology.

This course focuses on the structure and function of the human body. Topics and body systems that will be studied include: the chemistry of life, histology and the integumentary system, skeletal and articulation system, muscular system, nervous system, sensory system and the endocrine system.

This is a laboratory course that utilizes simulations and hands-on experiments to study body systems that include: cells, blood, integumentary system, muscular system, nervous system, skeletal system and the endocrine system. Students use the scientific method in an experimental environment, learn and use safe laboratory practices, perform dissections, perform experiments, gather and analyze data, and present data and conclusions in scientific laboratory reports. (1 credit course)

This course focuses on the structure and function of the human body. Topics and body systems that will be studied include: blood, the cardiovascular system, lymphatic and immune system, respiratory system, digestive system, nutrition and metabolism, urinary system and fluid balance, and reproductive systems.

This is a laboratory course that utilizes simulations and hands-on experiments to study body systems that include: temperature regulation and metabolism, fluid and electrolyte balance, digestive system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, urinary system, the reproductive system, and human development and genetics. Students use the scientific method in an experimental environment, learn and use safe laboratory practices, perform dissections, perform experiments, gather and analyze data, and present data and conclusions in scientific laboratory reports. (1 credit course)

This course introduces the science of lifespan development and the concept of human growth as being a product of the interaction among the biology, psychology, and environment of the individual. This course examines the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and environment factors across the lifespan. Students will explore, analyze, and present theories and evidence associated with developmental science from conception through death. Concepts learned in this course can be applied to any career focusing on health or human services and can help learners raise healthier children and live in more functional families. 

This course provides an introduction to the genre of rock and roll, its form and derivations, and rock and roll artists and bands spanning the years 1955 to 1970. Through reading and numerous listening examples, this course will look at the state of American popular music after World War II, the inception of rock and roll in the 1950s, the growth of youth culture in America, and the growing popularity of rock and roll through radio, film, and television.

This end-of-program capstone course provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the health care delivery system and professional practice in interpreting health science-based scenarios. Students will apply effective critical thinking and communication throughout the course.