Course Description and Goals

Course Description

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, known as the OSUCCC - James, is offering this course to help you better understand the many different diseases that together we call “cancer.”

We believe that if more people have a better understanding of cancer, they are more likely to take steps to lower the risk of cancer for themselves, their families and their communities. Helping people achieve a deeper understanding of cancer can also lead to improved care for cancer patients. 

The course is designed to be accessible to those with limited knowledge of science, but it will also be useful to healthcare professionals who may have limited background in the field of cancer. It is organized so that earlier modules provide information that will help you better understand later modules.

The Course is structured into the following 5 modules:

Module One: What is Cancer?

Module Two: Diagnosis of Cancer

Module Three: Treatment of Cancer

Module Four: Prevention of Cancer

Module Five: Cancer Research

Each module has a short 10 question quiz for you to check your progress in understanding concepts from the module. 

The course is organized so that the earlier modules provide foundational information, through lectures and readings, that will help you better understand later modules. For example, the first four lectures in module 1 will orient you to the nature of cancer from a holistic and human body point of view, while the last three lectures take you into the cell, where cancer actually starts. These lectuers describe key components of cells, followed by the fundamental cause of cancer: changes in DNA and genes.

Moving on through the course, modules 2 and 3 explain how cancer is diagnosed and treated and build on our first module. Those first three modules together underscore the importance of cancer prevention, which is the topic of module 4. While there is always a possibility that someone will develop cancer during his or her life, there are ways to lower the risk of certain cancers, and those measures will be explained. '

Our fifth and last module is about cancer research. Here you will be introduced you to the various types of research and how they advance our knowledge about cancer and lead to new ways to treat and prevent these diseases.

As you progress through the course, be sure to read the articles we’ve chosen from Frontiers, our magazine about cancer research at the OSUCCC – James. In each module, we also provide links to interesting and related videos and web sites.

We've provided an opportunity to participate in a creative project. In this project you will create some sort of artifact that either helps create awareness of cancer issues; or shares the story of how cancer has impacted you, your family, and/or community. There is no grade for this project, it is simply serves as a platform for you to create and share something meaningful and impactful. Please note that completion of this creative project is a requirement for earning a completion badge in this course. More information on how to earn a badge in the course can be found in this announcement.

 

Course Logistics

This course is offered in a self-paced mode. This means that you can progress through the course at whatever pace meets your own needs and is most comfortable for you. Please be advised that there are not any faculty moderated discussion boards in this course experience. There will be an opportunity to share project work with peers in an optional forum.

Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to interact with readings, videos, personal narratives, reflection exercises, and assessments.

We hope you do enjoy this presentation of our Introduction to the Science of Cancer course.

 

What to do if you have questions

If you have any questions about this course and its content, please feel free to email moocs@osu.edu and we'll do our best to send a message to the course team.

If you have any non-course questions regarding this learning platform, Canvas Network, you have three avenues for help: