The Session Long Project (SLP) is a progressive assignment that involves assessing a health behavior; researching and identifying an evidence-based model or best practice strategies to best address the health behavior; creating a plan (i.e., program or an intervention) and outlining implementation procedures; and suggesting appropriate evaluation tools to measure effectiveness of the proposed program or intervention. This will be developed in phases throughout the session. The task and assignment expectations for each segment of the project will be explained in each module.

Choose one of the following topics to focus on for the rest of the Session Long Project (SLP):

• Teen pregnancy.
• Older adults’ injury from falls.

You will be writing your Module 1 – 4 SLP assignments based on the one topic you have chosen from the list above.

For Module 1, conduct a literature search utilizing peer-reviewed journal articles, books, professional organization articles, government Web sites, etc. Write a 3-page background paper on the health behavior you selected. Make sure you meet the expectations in order to be eligible to earn full credit.

The following items will be assessed in particular:

1. Identify one topic and a target population (from the SLP topics above) to focus on. Describe your target population and the health behavior(s) that relate to the topic you have chosen.
2. Based on your literature search, assess and provide background information on the health behaviors. Include statistics to explain the scope of the problem.
3. Provide an explanation as to why it is important to address the health behavior you have chosen.
4. What benefits or consequences do the behaviors have on individuals’ health?

SLP Assignment Expectations

Assessment and Grading: Your paper will be assessed based on the performance assessment rubric that is linked within the course. Review it before you begin working on the assignment.

The following guidance appears only in Module 1, but it applies to the assignments throughout the course:

File format: Your work should be prepared using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel depending upon the assignment instructions. For assignments requiring video or voice recordings, use media formats that are supported by MyTLC Courses as noted in our Trident Support page.

In-text citations and references: Be sure that all information and ideas in your papers are supported by in-text citations and corresponding references at the end of the paper.

Scholarly sources: Online sources must be limited to credible professional and scholarly publications such as peer-reviewed journal articles, e-books, or specific webpages on websites from a university, government, or nonprofit organization (these have extensions .edu, .gov, or .org). Presenting consumer sources such as e-magazines, newspapers, Wikipedia, WebMD, or other commercial websites (these have extensions .com) as references is not appropriate.

Scholarly writing: Use an academic paper format, not an essay based on your opinions or experience. Avoid using the first person in writing. Synthesize what you learned from the sources you read; write papers in your own words; and cite sources within the text, as well as include a properly formatted reference list.

Use of direct quotes: Use of direct quotes should be avoided. Only use direct quotes when preserving the exact words of an author is necessary. In the rare instance that directly quoted material is used, it must be properly cited (with quotation marks and page numbers in the in-text citation); quotes should not exceed 5-10% of the total paper content.

The Writing Style Guide that is linked on the TLC Portal homepage under My Resources will help clarify expectations.