Teaching critical thinking in nutritional sciences: A model course and assignments

Adv Physiol Educ. 2024 Feb 29. doi: 10.1152/advan.00177.2023. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCritical thinking is a common and important learning outcome in college curricula. Case-based and problem-based learning can be used to assess and foster critical thinking skills. HNF 250- Contemporary Issues in Human Nutrition is a critical thinking course developed during the redesign of a nutritional sciences major program. Course assignments were designed to assess the course and nutritional sciences major learning outcomes. The nutrition and health claim assignment is scaffolded across the academic semester as three assignments: 1)bibliography assignment;, 2) poster presentation; and 3) paper. Course lectures and materials have been designed to prepare students for completion of each assignment. The assignments have been modified over time based on classroom observations and student performance. In 2021, the course learning outcomes were examined by assessing several assignments including the nutrition and health claim poster and paper. Course learning outcome benchmarks using these assessments generally included 80% of students achieving an 80% for each criterion. Results revealed that students were not meeting most of these assessment benchmarks during the 2021 iteration, although benchmark data from other course assessments were more satisfactory. It is possible that the transition from a virtual to an in-person format negatively influenced student performance on these course l...
Source: Adv Physiol Educ - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Source Type: research