1. Engaging first year population health students Ania Stasinska School of Population Health The University of Western Australia ania.stasinska@uwa.edu.au Julie Saunders School of Population Health The University of Western Australia julie.saunders@uwa.edu.au

2. The University of Western Australia Background  Health and Illness in Human Populations is a first semester, first year, undergraduate population health unit  The unit introduces students to a population view of health and provides a framework for understanding population health issues  Enrolment numbers have steadily increased from 66 in 2010 to 174 in 2014  Students come from varied academic backgrounds, and many have little or limited understanding of population health issues

3. The University of Western Australia Strategies to engage students  Several innovative strategies were used to engage students  Students were encouraged to participate in a range of activities, including: Case studies Photographic essay of population health issues Walking tour of Northbridge to highlight social determinants of health Flipped lectures A two-step essay submission process developing students’ scientific writing and critical thinking skills

4. The University of Western Australia Evaluation Methods  Survey Anonymous, paper-based survey, completed during tutorial time Combination of open-ended and closed-ended items asking: –Overall experience of undertaking this unit –Engagement in particular activities –How these activities influenced their understanding of population health

5. The University of Western Australia Results & Discussion Survey n= 139 (80% response rate)

6. The University of Western Australia Overall Experience of the unit

7. The University of Western Australia Case Studies (Health risks for Bali travellers, Health issues in the Outback)

8. The University of Western Australia Walking Tour of Northbridge

9. The University of Western Australia Photo Essay

10. The University of Western Australia Written Essay

11. The University of Western Australia Lectures

12. The University of Western Australia

14. Summary  Face to face tutorials and case studies contributed most to the engagement of students in this unit  Not much difference between students engagement in traditional and flipped lectures; understanding was higher in traditional lectures Retain flipped lectures Modify based on feedback (activities) At this stage we are unlikely to create more flipped lectures  We will retain the walking tour of Northbridge in 2015 Format will change so students are less passive and hopefully will be more engaged

15. Thank you! Ania Stasinska School of Population Health The University of Western Australia ania.stasinska@uwa.edu.au Julie Saunders School of Population Health The University of Western Australia julie.saunders@uwa.edu.au