Students began class by introducing themselves to each other and playing
an Icebreaker game. Instructor Tiffany then shows them how a bell curve
can represent an epidemic. They start out by making basic S.I.R. models
using Vensim. Upon completions of the model, they began introducing
several different outside factors and variables, one of these being
vaccination. This reduced the amount of people getting sick. They then
made the model more realistic by allowing the recovered people become
infected once again. Next they introduced a death variable as well as a
birth variable depending on the amount of susceptible people still alive
and a constant rate. After the model resembled a realistic population,
the students played around with different options such as population
control and quarantine containment. At the end of the class, the students
realized how complicated one could make a model. What started as a simple
S.I.R. model became a very complex and detailed model.
After break the students played a game with animals taped to their backs.
The had to guess what their animal was only by obtaining information from
fellow classmates by asking yes or no questions to each other. They then
did a Guinea Worm disease case study modeling the life cycle of
Dracunculus Medinensis. They then viewed a very complex Stella model
ÃÂÃÂÃÂâstudying disease in cows. Following this they visited a website to view
and explore a diabetes case study and model a pregnant woman's diet. The
students concluded class by reflecting on today's experience in their
daily Moodle Journal.