The traditional approach to classroom learning typically means that the instructor designs and implements all aspects of the course curriculum. Although the benefits of students participating in curriculum design, learning activities and assessment methods have been well documented, we often don’t involve students in their coursework in any meaningful way. The student-led learning paradigm allows students to become more active participants in the learning process while maintaining expert guidance. When students get to play the central role in picking the lessons and topics, they are involved in assessing their own learning at every step. Thus, their passions and interests drive their education. I involved students in the curriculum of my Social and Behavioral Aspects of Global Health class by letting them design two different class discussions. Social and Behavioral Aspects of Global Health (HED 438) is a required course for Public Health majors and an elective course in the Interdisciplinary Studies major.

As society becomes increasingly interconnected, students need to examine the health of populations in a global context which transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations. Health problems that transcend national borders or have a global political and economic impact should be addressed to improve health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. As such, this course includes behavioral and social theories relevant to health promotion and disease prevention efforts, how factors that protect or erode health operate at multiple levels, and how interventions are developed to improve health by addressing critical factors at each of these levels.

For the class discussions assignment, students lead two discussion sessions during the semester on a topic of their choice. For each session they provided the class with something to read, watch or listen to and 3-5 discussion questions. The purpose of this session is to describe how we integrate student-led learning into the Public Health curriculum, our experiences in curriculum development, and student feedback regarding the activities. We believe this sort of approach is applicable to any discipline.

Keywords: Global health, public health, student-led activities.