Assignme H

M3A1: Policy Problem Statement

This week’s assignment is focused on having you determine which health policy issue you would like to use as the basis for two upcoming assignments, the Policy Brief and the Policy Analysis. Prior to beginning this week’s assignment, you are encouraged to review the instructions for these two assignments in weeks seven and eight. Because you will be focusing on the issue you select this week throughout the rest of the course, you are encouraged to choose an issue that is important to you (personally or professionally) and want to investigate further. Take some time to think through various health-related problems that affect you or your friends/family and/or are significant on a local, state, or federal scale. Your topic can be anything you want as long as you are able to clearly define it as a policy-relevant question that can be analyzed. Some examples of policy-relevant health issues are:

Health workforce shortages

Availability of women’s reproductive health services

Health disparities

Un- and under-insured populations’ access to health care

Pharmaceutical regulations

Health care cost control

Gun control

Tobacco, alcohol, and other drug control

As we have learned from our readings, the first and arguably most important step in the policy analysis process is problem definition. For this assignment, you will describe a policy-relevant health problem, explain why and for whom the problem is important, and state the problem as a policy-relevant question. Keep in mind that not all health problems are necessarily policy-relevant, so you should think critically about the problem you select based on our readings. You are encouraged to review the sections of our readings and module notes that discuss what types of health issues warrant policy interventions and how to best articulate those issues as policy questions. In addition, be sure to avoid some of the common pitfalls in problem definition such as defining the solution in the problem or making assumptions about the causes of problems. Remember, in your upcoming assignments, you will use the policy question you create this week to develop a health policy brief presentation and a written health policy analysis.

For this assignment, you will do a three to five minute presentation (as a screencast) of your policy problem. Your presentation should:

Describe a policy-relevant problem

Explain why the problem is important

Describe the target audience for the policy

Clearly state the problem as a policy-relevant question

Creating Screencasts

This course requires you to create screencasts for some of your assignments. A screencast is essentially a presentation that you give using your home computer. Screencast software allows you to record your voice (through your computer's microphone) and what is on your computer screen (such as a PowerPoint presentation). Screencasting and video creation may be new to some students. You are strongly encouraged to leave yourself a generous amount of time to create your screencasts if this is new to you. Below are some additional resources and tips to help you create screencasts and videos.

Free screencast software is available from:

Screencast tutorials:

Technology for Teachers and Students (Producer). (2016, Dec 26).Screencast-O-Matic 2017 tutorial: Screencastomatic screen recording tool (Links to an external site.) [Video, 11:09 minutes]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1jIPo1bWCo

Screencasting Tutorial | Sophia Learning (Links to an external site.)  Retrieved from http://www.sophia.org/tutorials/screencasting

3 Ways to Create a Screencast - wikiHow (Links to an external site.)  Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Screencast

You can also make screencasts with programs like PowerPoint by adding voice narration directly in your presentation. Note that many people find this strategy more challenging than using screencast software, so you are encouraged to only use this option if you are already familiar with it. Review these tutorials for more information:

Record and add narration and timings to a slide show (Links to an external site.)

Turn your presentation into a video (Links to an external site.)

A few other notes about your screencasts:

After the screencast has been created, you should have a link to the screencast from the screencast website or it can be uploaded to a video sharing website, like YouTube (Links to an external site.)  or Vimeo (Links to an external site.) . This is the link you should submit for your assignment.

You are not required to include a video of yourself in your screencast, but you are welcome to do so if you would like. For your assignments, the screencast is only required to have your presentation slides and your voice-over.

Screencasts and videos posted online can be marked “personal” (anyone with the direct link can view) rather than “public” (anyone can view), but should not be marked “private” (only the person who created the video can view it). Screencasts and videos can be deleted after the course is finished (after week eight, once the final course grade has been received).

Please be sure to double-check that the link to your screencast/video works correctly (e.g. sound, etc.) prior to submitting your assignment. Consider having a friend or family member review your presentation from a different computer to ensure it works correctly.

Make use of the technology’s “Help” or “Technical Service” assistance, which are often available as a feature within programs (check the toolbars and menus for help sections) or on the company’s website. Many programs have discussion forums in their help sections of their websites where you can ask questions and receive assistance.

For your assignment, you should submit:

A web link to your screencast

A PDF of your presentation slides

Please do not submit a PowerPoint file (.ppt) as your assignment. Your presentation slides should be converted into a PDF for submission (in the program, select File>Save As… then select PDF as the file format). Your presentation should be approximately three to five slides, with about one minute of presentation per slide (so, a total of three to five minutes long). Keep in mind strategies for creating effective presentations (e.g. do not read directly from your slides during your presentation, use bullets rather than sentences on slides, articulate clearly and know what you are going to say for each slide in your presentation, keep your slides clearly laid out and free of clutter, etc.). While your assignment is primarily graded based on the content of your presentation, how you present it visually and orally will also be taken into account.

Compose your work in a .doc or .docx file type using a word processor (such as Microsoft Word, etc.) and save it frequently to your computer. For those assignments that are not written essays and require uploading images or PowerPoint slides, please follow uploading guidelines provided by your instructor.

Check your work and correct any spelling or grammatical errors. When you are ready to submit your work, click “Submit Assignment” in the upper right corner. Click on “Browse,” browse your computer, and select your file. Click “Open” and verify the correct file name has appeared next to the Browse button. Enter your comments, if any, in the Comments area. Click on “Submit Assignment.”

Evaluation

This assignment will be graded using the rubric displayed below. Please review this rubric prior to beginning your work. You can also access the rubric on the Course Rubrics page within the Start Here module. This assignment is worth 25% of your final course grade.

Rubric

Policy Analysis Problem Statement Rubric

Policy Analysis Problem Statement Rubric

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome The problem statement is succinct and clearly defined. All key components are addressed in detail.

40 pts A: The problem statement is succinct and clearly defined. All key components are addressed in detail.

34 pts B: The problem statement is defined. Key components addressed however minor points need further development.

30 pts C: The problem statement is defined however, 1-2 key components are not addressed.

26 pts D: The problem statement is not clear to the reader. More than two key components are missing.

22 pts F: The problem statement cannot be determined from the information provided.

0 pts 0: Assignment not submitted.

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Written Organization

30 pts A: The problem statement is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information.

29 pts B: The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. Several areas may require further development in terms of order of ideas or succinctness.

28 pts C: The content is written with a general progression of ideas and supporting information; some areas are lacking in logical progression and supporting information. May be overly detailed or incomplete.

27 pts D: The content lacks a clear progression of ideas and supporting information in multiple areas. May be unclear, overly detailed, or incomplete.

22 pts F: Content does not have a clear progression of ideas lacks logical flow and ideas are not fully formed.

0 pts 0: Assignment not submitted.

This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Visual and Audio Presentation

30 pts A: Layout is visually pleasing and presents information in a clean and concise manner. Audio is easily understood with no distracting background noise or interruption.

29 pts B: Layout uses white space appropriately and presents information adequately. Audio is understood with no interruptions however slight background noise distraction.

28 pts C: Layout shows some structure but has insufficient use of white space impacting presentation of information. Audio can be understood overall however choppy in parts.

27 pts D: Layout needs more structure. Audio is audible however choppy with distracting background noise.

22 pts F: Layout has no discernable structure or flow of information. Audio is not audible.

0 pts 0: Assignment not submitted.