Course Syllabus
Health Education

Description

In this course, students will learn to obtain, interpret, and apply health information and services in ways that protect and promote personal, family, and community health. Topics include nutrition and physical activity; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; safety; social and emotional health; personal health and wellness; healthy relationships: HIV and other STIs prevention; and sexuality education. Prerequisites:  None

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Apply health promotion and disease prevention concepts and principles to support personal, family, and community health and well-being
• Analyze health-related information, factors, and perspectives that influence health behaviors, decisions, and overall well-being
• Evaluate and access valid health information, products, services, and community resources
• Apply decision-making, goal-setting, and self-management processes to enhance health
• Assess the impact of cultural, social, technological, and environmental influences on health beliefs and practices
• Demonstrate communication and interpersonal skills that promote healthy relationships and personal safety
• Advocate for behaviors and actions that enhance personal, family, and community health and promote lifelong well-being
• Examine the connections among physical, mental, emotional, social, and environmental health

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Personal Health and Wellness

Unit 2: Balanced Eating and Physical Activity

Unit 3: Social Health

Unit 4: Substance Use and Misuse

Unit 5: Keeping Safe

Unit 6: Mental and Emotional Health

Unit 7: Sexual Health

Unit 8: CPR

Unit 9: Final Reflection

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue diplomas. A final score out of total points earned will be submitted to your school mentor for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: DISCLAIMERS:
(1) This course is designed to fulfill the high school Michigan Merit Curriculum credit guidelines for health education. A majority of the course, including units 2, 4, and 7 in their entirety as well as select lessons and assessments in other units, have been realigned to conform with the Michigan Health Education Standards adopted by the State Board of Education in November 2025. The remainder of the course remains aligned to the previous 2007 standards. Look for a new, fully aligned version of the course coming soon.
(2) Please review the syllabus and standards alignment documentation to ensure that it conforms with the goals, objectives, materials, and methods of instruction established by your local district’s Board of Education and Sex Education Advisory Board (SEAB) for the teaching of HIV and sex education.
(3) The CPR / AED lesson fulfills state requirements for instruction of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AED). This content utilizes National CPR Foundation coursework, following guidelines of the AHA and ECC/ILCOR. Schools that provide 100% online instruction are exempt from the hands-on psychomotor skills component. Schools enrolling students should refer to their school policies on whether completion of the CPR / AED lesson should still participate in the hands-on experience events conducted locally for their other students.