Health Education and Health Promotion

About this opportunity

Students in the Health Education and Health Promotion program, available to only ASU Online and ASU Local students, explores the issue of health disparities and focuses on healthy lifestyles for all people. Students will learn what it takes to become a certified health education specialist and work to protect the health of individuals and serve communities through public health education.

The program is focused on students learning to improve health outcomes and prevent chronic and infectious diseases. They develop an understanding of how to help communities advocate for healthier environments and champion health equity. Students learn to plan, implement, manage and evaluate health promotion programs.

Students are able to specialize their knowledge in areas such as:

• Body image and wellness
• Climate and health
• Diabetes prevention
• Emergency preparedness
• HIV and substance abuse prevention
• School health
• Sexual health
• Social media and health
• Violence prevention

Once students graduate, they are eligible to sit for the certified health education specialist exam through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. This is a globally recognized credential for health professionals. The health education and health promotion program rigorously prepares students for the CHES exam.

Thesis

The Honors Thesis project is an excellent opportunity to gain experience conducting original research under the advisement of a HEHP faculty member. A topic for your thesis or creative project usually emerges from an aspect of an introductory course that sparks your interest and/or is the result of a collaboration between you and a faculty member with their research. This topic becomes more refined as a depth of knowledge is developed in negotiation with your faculty thesis director. Most thesis projects involve quantitative field- or lab-based research. Often faculty members have secondary datasets that students can use to examine a topic. Students can also collect and analyze original data and qualitative data.  

Please reach out to your FHA, Dr. Marc Adams ([email protected]), to help you identify eligible HEHP faculty doing research in your area of interest. 

Academic Preparation

Students are encouraged to brainstorm thesis topics early in their academic career and work on honors contracts and research projects with faculty. 

All Barrett Honors students are must complete a thesis prep workshop prior to enrolling in thesis credit (492 or 493). The session is designed to make certain each student has been informed about the process, expectations, and deadlines. 

Recommended Timeline

We strongly encourage HEHP majors to begin planning their thesis/creative project by the fall of their junior year at the latest, particularly if you would like to be engaged in research during the summer before your senior year. 

After completing the information session, the following steps are required:

• Meet with the Faculty Honors Advisor to discuss your areas of interest.
• Consult with an appropriate thesis/creative project director.
• Form a Barrett Thesis/Creative Project committee with a minimum of two members; the director (who must be a regularly appointed lecturer or professor) and one other committee member with expertise in the area of interest, after consultation with the director.
• Develop a thesis prospectus in collaboration with your thesis director and submit it within the timelines identified by Barrett Advising.
• Complete the thesis work with collaboration from the committee. Expectations regarding what constitute a thesis project vary among faculty members and will be conveyed by your thesis director. However, the thesis project will require either independent development of a project with written documentation of the project rationale, method of development, primary data collection, and results and discussion of the project OR completion of a secondary analysis of an existing dataset with similar components. 
• The thesis project defense must be scheduled and held according to Barrett timelines and all committee members must be present at the defense. Defenses may be held virtually.

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors enrichment contracts allow students to enhance the academic experiences in their classes. Contracts are created on a case-by-case basis. Examples include: interview a professional about their career, shadow a professional, help develop new course materials, or help modify an entire course. Honors contracts are negotiated with faculty members at the start of the class session. 

Tips

• Explore Barrett Resources: Barrett has excellent online resources outlining the Honors Thesis projects. 
• Attend a Thesis Workshop: Barrett also arranges several workshops throughout the semester to help you get started with your thesis and to de-mystify the thesis process.
• Talk to CHS Faculty: Faculty have experience mentoring students on the Honors Thesis and can guide you through the process and advise you what they might expect. 
• Review Past Thesis Projects: Barrett Honors College has a digital repository of completed thesis projects. These are an excellent resource to help plan the structure of your document.
• Attend Thesis Defenses: Every student publicly presents thesis outcomes as part of a defense. Attending a defense before you do your own will help you prepare and give you a sense of how to present your outcomes as well as the kinds of questions you might expect.