NO LATE WORK Articles: Walking and Cycling Impact on Diabetes

Overview: For this week's homework, you will read two short articles on diabetes and exercise. You will answer some questions, write a personal response, and come up with 2 discussion questions. Note - you should complete the Writing Discussion Questions Quiz before beginning this assignment.

Goal: Reading and writing are linked to college success. Students taking courses with courses with that totaled at least 40 pages of reading a week and 20 pages of writing in a semester, had greater gains on the Collegiate Learning Assessment.  In addition,  reading, writing responses, and engaging in discussions are themselves valuable college skills that can improve over time. The goal of this specific reading assignment is for students to learn more about diabetes prevention programs. 

Instructions:

Read this article. American Diabetes Association: Neighborhood Walkability and Diabetes-Related Complication Links to an external site.As you read, answer the following 

1. • Questions: 
   • Who is the publisher of this article and are they are a reputable source?  Some suggestions: Who is the author? (Authority); What is the purpose of the content? (Accuracy); Where is the content from? (Publisher); Why does the source exist? (Purpose and Objectivity) (Scroll to the bottom and read About the ADA and Journal Policies) Are they trying to sell anything? Is it a well known organization? Can information be verified through other sources?  Are they peer- reviewed
   • Who did they study (ie how did they select them for the study?)
   • How long did they study them? 
   • They used health problems associated with diabetes to measure the ''hazard'' of living in a particular neighborhood. What were some of those diabetic complications?
   • They state that baseline conditions were the same in all neighborhoods-meaning that there were similar ages, ethnicities, incomes etc. What was different about walkable vs. high walkable neighborhoods?
   • Can you think of any easy ways to change neighborhood design?
2. Read this second article Cycling is Associated with  Lower Risk for Death in People with Diabetes Download Cycling is Associated with  Lower Risk for Death in People with Diabetes As you read, answer the following questions: 

• What is the reliability of this source? (see above questions).
• What was the sample size?
• How long did they follow the cohort?
• What was the reduction in mortality associated with cycling?
• How much cycling did people do?
• Was  it beneficial even if they started and stopped biking or started later? 

   

3. Personal Response to Both Articles : Write a 150-200 word personal response to this reading. You may respond in any way you choose, but your response must be rooted in the content provided in the article itself. Vague disconnected comments like "this was really interesting" or "I learned a lot" will earn no points. Instead, make specific references to what was interesting or what you learned. Some suggestions for your personal response include:

• • • What was new or particularly interesting?
    • What didn't you understand?
    • What follow-up questions would you ask the writer?
    • How did it connect to our coursework, other courses you've taken or experiences you've had?
    • How is this information relevant outside of the classroom?

4. Discussion Question: Write one question that could be used in our class discussion of this resource. Remember to

• • •  Base them on the material
    •  Target your audience 
    • Ask open ended questions 

. Submit with this assignment and bring this to class - we will use it for our discussion and you will turn it in with your name on it!