Assessment of Knowledge and Behavior Change of a High School Positive Deviance Food Safety Curriculum

High school students are a critical audience for food safety. Students may enter the foodservice industry or become primary meal preparers for their families. The positive deviance food safety curriculum was developed based on the messages from the Fight BAC! Campaign. The curriculum is designed for high school students to overcome barriers to safe food handling practices. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the positive deviance approach to change food safety knowledge and behaviors among high school students. Students (n = 218) from two high schools participated in this study. The positive deviance method uses group discussions lead by the teacher who reinforces and praises behaviors, which reflect recommended food handling practices. Measurements included pre‐ and postsurveys, preobservations and postobservation cooking classes, take‐home tasks, and in‐class activities. Results indicated that the curriculum significantly increased students’ food safety knowledge. Specifically, the percentage of students believing that color was a good indicator of meat doneness dropped from 52% to 17% after exposure to the curriculum. When observed, the students’ compliance with recommended behaviors increased. Prior to instruction, most ground beef burgers students cooked did not reach 160°F, while after the intervention, almost all of the burgers reached 160°F or higher. The curriculum will benefit from a revision that emphasizes areas such as how to use, calibrate, and to clean food thermometers.     

Variables Affecting Secondary School Students’ Willingness to Eat Genetically Modified Food Crops

A large-scale cross-sectional study (N = 4002) was set up to determine Flemish secondary school students’ willingness to eat genetically modified food (WTE) and to link students’ WTE to previously identified key variables from research on the acceptance of genetic modification (GM). These variables include subjective and objective knowledge about genetics and biotechnology, perceived risks and benefits of GM food crops, trust in information from different sources about GM, and food neophobia. Differences between WTE-related variables based on students’ grade level, educational track, and gender were analyzed. The students displayed a rather indecisive position toward GM food and scored weakly on a genetics and biotechnology knowledge test. WTE correlated most strongly with perceived benefits and subjective and objective knowledge. The results have clear implications for education, as they reiterate the need to strengthen students’ scientific knowledge base and to introduce a GM-related debate at a much earlier stage in their school career.     

Using Qualitative Research Methods to Ascertain Elementary Students' Understandings of Food Safety

ABSTRACT: Researchers and educators call for educational programs that teach youth about food safety. In this study, researchers used qualitative research methods (interviews and concept mapping) to ascertain elementary students' understandings of food spoilage and preservation benchmarks based on national science education standards. Constructivist learning theory and its attendant qualitative methods framed the study. Few students understood the causes of spoilage and most were unable to discuss the role of bacteria or germs in meat. Students with an understanding of microorganisms clearly explained methods of preventing spoilage, while students who did not understand the microorganism concept could not. Constructivist research methods were fruitful in unearthing students' conceptions related to food spoilage. This research has implications for university food science faculty members interested in strengthening their teaching practice by focusing on helping students develop conceptual understanding.     

大学生维生素的营养状况分析

[目的]通过对部分在校大学生进行膳食营养调查,了解大学生的营养知识、饮食行为现况及其之间的关系.[方法]采用问卷调查方法,对在校大学生1238人进行营养知识、饮食行为调查.[结果]大学生对营养知识缺乏全面深入的了解,学生在选择食物时也很少考虑食物的营养价值或自身的营养需要.[结论]应采取多种形式对大学生加强营养知识的宣传和饮食行为的正确引导.     

Exploring knowledge processes based on teacher research in a school–university research network of a master’s program

School–university research networks aim at closer integration of research and practice by means of teacher research. Such practice-oriented research can benefit both schools and universities. This paper reports on a multiple-case study of five participants in a school–university research network in a Dutch master’s program. The research question was: In what way is knowledge based on practice-oriented research by master’s students developed, shared, and used in school–university research networks in which education is primarily offered within a university setting? Twenty interviews were conducted, on the basis of logs, over a period of 10 months. Results show that (1) for master’s students, the most significant motive for developing, sharing or using knowledge was that the content knowledge about their research topic could be useful to school practice and colleagues; (2) research supervisors reported more than master’s students about the procedural knowledge that they had developed and shared. This knowledge focused on the collaborative process of supporting research and knowledge processes in school and university; (3) activities of knowledge sharing and use appeared to depend to a significant extent on individual purposes and leadership initiatives of master’s students and their supervisors; and (4) in the school–university research network, master’s students and research supervisors continued—to a limited extent—knowledge processes based on master’s students research after their graduation. Outcomes indicate that use of existing network structures in master’s programs is complex, but could be a promising avenue for creating successful school–university research networks.     

Using Academic Journals to Help Students Learn Subject Matter Content, Develop and Practice Critical Reasoning Skills, and Reflect on Personal Values in Food Science and Human Nutrition Classes

ABSTRACT:  It has been reported that students learn best when they use a wide variety of techniques to understand the information of the discipline, be it visual, auditory, discussion with others, metacognition, hands-on activities, or writing about the subject. We report in this article the use of academic journals not only as an aid for students to learn about content knowledge needed in an Experimental Foods course, but also as a way to have students think about and reflect on their own personal values. The topics of these journal entries cover several of the core competencies in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Undergraduate Education Standards for Degrees in Food Science. These are basic principles of food science, as well as address several "Success Skills" (written communication, critical thinking, professionalism, life-long learning, interaction skills, and organizational skills). While there are no quantitative "measurements" of gains in learning, comments from the students indicate that learning took place, critical reasoning occurred, and personal values were analyzed. A guideline for writing and grading academic journals and a simple rubric for scoring the quality of the writing are included.     

Emerging collaborative and cooperative practices in 1:1 schools

In this article, the authors explored how laptops used in 1:1 classrooms affect cooperation and collaboration practices. Based on an observational time study, the authors found that the most common activity in 1:1 classrooms is group work using the computer. They also found that, despite what the concept 1:1 alludes to about one student working with one computer, most laptop use takes on other forms such as two students working with one computer (1:2) or two students working together using two laptops (2:2). The findings reported in this article about the various different collaboration arrangements have implications for both research and practice. For practice, because teachers can arrange activities based on an awareness of the different student–laptop constellations that emerge when students are given a laptop. Research is likewise informed about the various group work constellations and can build on this knowledge for further analysis of the pros and cons with the different collaborative forms.     

Food Safety Education Using Music Parodies

ABSTRACT:  Musical parodies of contemporary songs with their lyrics altered to address current food safety issues were incorporated into a variety of food safety educational programs and the effectiveness of the music was evaluated by semiquantitative and qualitative measures. Audiences receiving the music-enriched curricula included school foodservice supervisors, school foodservice managers, culinary arts instructors, culinary arts students, Family and Consumer Sciences teachers, and youth aged 8 to 12 y and studies were conducted in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Delaware. Among school foodservice supervisors, school foodservice managers, and culinary arts students, most participants were able to recall the main points of each song that was introduced in the curriculum. The culinary arts students were less likely to recall the main points of each song than were the other 2 groups, possibly because of the lack of prior knowledge of food safety practices as well as a lack of preference for the style of songs used. Family and Consumer Sciences teachers were enthusiastic about the use of the music but also identified potential barriers to the successful use of the music, due to the potential lack of appropriate audiovisual equipment, a lack of skills in using such equipment, and time constraints for the use of music in curricula due to the strong emphasis on end of year testing. Participants in the summer youth groups demonstrated significant increases between pre- and posttest examinations of safe food handling behaviors and most were able to quote lines or phrases from the songs.     

Understanding food processing and systems: Pilot testing a standards‐aligned middle school curriculum

Consumer confidence and trust, as it relates to the food system, is one of the most sensitive areas within consumers’ understanding of food. Surveys have shown that a large majority of people would like to learn more about agriculture and food manufacturing, with young people being among those most eager for more information about where their food comes from. Food‐focused educational resources often go unused due to teachers’ lack of familiarity with the subject area, the pressures of standardized testing, and lack of alignment to state content standards. Building on the success of the Hands On Classrooms platform that developed and validated curricula with high adoption rates by teachers and a demonstrated impact on student knowledge and self‐efficacy, a new curriculum on food system and food processing was developed and pilot tested. Two teachers from rural Virginia and Tennessee participated in the study. Both teachers received online professional development prior to implementation. Students were given pretests and posttests to measure (a) what impact does the curriculum have on students’ knowledge of food systems and processing and (b) to what extent does the curriculum have an impact on student's self‐reported skills related to these topics? A total of 87 students completed the assessments and showed significant improvements from pretest to posttest on both knowledge (p < .001) and skills (p < .001) related specifically to where food comes from and how it is processed, content that is typically not covered in middle school curriculum. Further research can be undertaken to measure the impact on others in different geographic and socioeconomic areas to provide additional data to validate the program.     

Food Safety Practices Assessment Tool: An Innovative Way to Test Food Safety Skills among Individuals with Special Needs

Abstract: This article describes an innovative assessment tool designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a food safety skills curriculum for learners receiving special education services. As schools respond to the increased demand for training students with special needs about food safety, the need for effective curricula and tools is also increasing. A Food Safety Education for High School and Transition Special Needs Students curriculum served as the basis upon which our assessment tool was developed. The project was a collaborative effort by food safety and education professionals in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. This USDA‐funded initiative emerged from teacher‐generated data that identified critical gaps in food safety knowledge and skills among students with disabilities (SWD) receiving special education services. As an adjunct to this curriculum, a Food Safety Practices Assessment Tool was developed to: 1) conduct observations of students as they demonstrate food safety practices, and 2) use this information to design classroom‐based learning activities that are aligned with students’ Individual Education Plans (IEP). Pilot data suggest that the tool is valid and reliable for use in a kitchen‐based setting. This is the first known tool of its kind to test food safety skills of individuals with special needs in a real‐world environment. Further testing is needed to determine the usefulness of the tool for broader audiences.     

How pre-service teachers navigate trade-offs of food systems across time scales: a lens for exploring understandings of sustainability

In response to the increasing recognition of the need for sustainable food systems, research on students’ and educators’ knowledge of food systems and sustainability more broadly has grown but has generally focused on what people ‘fail’ to understand. Moving away from this deficit approach, the present study used semi-structured interviews to explore how 12 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the US consider sustainability in terms of the trade-offs – or concurrent costs and benefits – associated with using different agricultural resources over short, medium, and long terms. Drawing upon the constructs of framing, metacognition, and complex causality, the study found that the majority of PSTs referred to indirect experiences of seeing or hearing about agricultural resources to demonstrate stable knowledge of short-term trade-offs and construct tentative knowledge about medium-term trade-offs. Few described long-term trade-offs. Most participants also acknowledged some gaps in their knowledge in discussing trade-offs across the different time scales. Findings suggest the importance of leveraging and building upon educators’ (and ultimately students’) prior experiences to build their understanding of complex trade-offs that underlie food systems. The study also illustrates the value of using the concept of trade-offs across time scales to explore people’s conceptions and understandings of sustainability.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Integrating Food Science Lessons in High School Biology Curriculum in Comparison to High School Chemistry Curriculum

Historically, high school chemistry has been the predominate venue for the introduction of food science curriculum to students. With the current decline in chemistry as a required course for graduation, the possibility of exposure to food science in high school could equally decline. The purpose of this research was to determine if high school students in a biology class without a chemistry background could comprehend eight basic food science principles equally as well as students in a chemistry class that were taught the same principles. This study assessed baseline knowledge of high school students, determined the effect of food science‐based lessons on baseline knowledge and level of understanding, and determined the effect of food science‐based lessons on students’ awareness of and interest in food science. Baseline knowledge and awareness of food science was low. Food science‐based instruction resulted in higher posttest scores. Results indicated no differences in students’ knowledge base and level of understanding between biology and chemistry classes and supported the idea of further incorporating a food science curriculum into high school biology.     

The Comparative Effectiveness of Physical,Virtual, and Virtual-Physical Manipulatives on Third-Grade Students’ Science Achievement and Conceptual Understanding of Evaporation and Condensation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of experimenting with physical manipulatives alone, virtual manipulatives alone, and virtual preceding physical manipulatives (combination environment) on third-grade students’ science achievement and conceptual understanding in the domain of state changes of water, focusing on the concepts of evaporation and condensation. A pretest-posttest design was used that involved 208 third-grade students assigned to the three learning conditions. A science achievement test and a two-tier conceptual test were administered to students before and after a teaching intervention. The results revealed that using virtual preceding physical manipulatives and virtual manipulatives alone enhanced students’ knowledge gains about evaporation and condensation greater than the use of physical laboratory activities alone. It was also found that the combination environment promoted students’ knowledge gains about these concepts equally well as the use of virtual laboratory activities alone. On the other hand, the results showed that using virtual preceding physical manipulatives promoted students’ conceptual understanding most efficiently compared to the use of either physical or virtual manipulatives alone; in contrast, experimenting with physical manipulatives alone was least influential for students’ conceptual understanding compared to the other manipulatives.     

Proposing a framework to assess Internet usage in university education: an empirical investigation from a student's perspective

University administrators are continuously investing in Information Technology (IT) to support learning and help deal with educational budget cuts. Instructors are increasingly making their teaching materials available on the Internet. While administrators and instructors would like to make the Internet an effective educational tool, they need to understand what their students’ attitudes towards using it are. Since the use of the Internet in university education is still in its early stages, many issues regarding its use have not been fully addressed. This study was conducted to provide a better understanding of how the Internet is used in university learning from a student's perspective. Our research framework is based on the Theory of Reasoned Action, Technology Acceptance Model, and IT Diffusion Process Model. We use a survey conducted among university students to explore these issues. Research findings provide some useful insights for university administrators and educators.     

Case Method in the Teaching of Food Safety

One of the fundamental aims of education is the integration of theory and practice. The case method is a teaching strategy in which students must apply their knowledge to solve real‐life situations. They have to analyze the case described and propose the best possible solution. Although the case may be written, the use of new information and communication technologies can develop the case plan in ways that would achieve greater realism and widen the possibilities for discussion. This paper describes our experience in implementing the case method to teach food safety in the Chair of Hygiene. At first this methodology was used to improve the teaching of good practices in food preparation, later practical work was implemented where small groups of students designed and carried out the microbiological analysis of suspected food. This practical work was presented online as a multimedia activity; students were given face‐to‐face and on‐line tutoring. Evaluation was based both on students’ performance and on a survey they had to answer. More than 92% of students regarded the methodology used for the understanding of the unit as sound. Professors collaboration on providing guidance and multimedia presentation were also positively assessed. The bringing together of face‐to‐face and virtual tasks and small‐group discussion of cases under professors guidance contributed to making good use of the positive aspects of this methodology in order to improve the understanding of problems which do not always have a single answer.     

在师范院校开展《食品营养学》教育研究

就师范院校学生的《食品营养学》教育问题展开研究。如果仅从专业背景知识的角度考虑,大部分师范院校学生对食品营养教育并无硬性需求,但其特殊的就业范围分析,就会发觉开展《食品营养学》教育具有十分重要的意义,将有利于食品营养知识向全社会普及,特别是向青少年阶层——国家未来的栋梁普及。因此,文章在对师范院校学生《食品营养学》教育现状与知识需求分析的基础上,提出采用多种形式对学生开展《食品营养学》教育的设想,并对教育的内容要点作了进一步阐述。     

How to Create a Student‐Generated Database,in a Large Nutrition Class,to Illustrate the Analysis of Nutrient and Food Intakes

The completion of a 3‐d food record, using commonly available nutrient analysis software, is a typical assignment for students in nutrition and food science programs. While these assignments help students evaluate their personal diets, it is insufficient to teach students about surveys of large population cohorts. This paper shows how the Test, Survey, and Pools tool in the learning management system Blackboard? (Blackboard Inc.) was used to collect the individual food and nutrition intake data from the 3‐d food records of students in a large introductory nutrition class. This student‐generated database was then used to illustrate population level analyses. Examples of the types of analyses include (a) use of the Estimated Average Requirement cut point method to identify nutrients of concern; (b) the use of food intakes to determine the proportion of students consuming the recommended servings of foods from each food group; (c) the analysis of intakes of nutrients that are overconsumed such as salt, saturated fat, and trans fat; and (d) correlations between macronutrients (for example, as fat intake increases, carbohydrate intake decreases). The use of a database, derived from the students own food intakes, connects with student interests, and the analysis of such a database illustrates an authentic task in the nutritional sciences.     

Using food as a tool to teach science to 3 grade students in Appalachian Ohio

The Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource (FoodMASTER) Initiative is a compilation of programs aimed at using food as a tool to teach mathematics and science. In 2007-2008, a foods curriculum developed by professionals in nutrition and education was implemented in 10 3(rd)-grade classrooms in Appalachian Ohio; teachers in these classrooms implemented 45 hands-on foods activities that covered 10 food topics. Subjects included measurement; food safety; vegetables; fruits; milk and cheese; meat, poultry, and fish; eggs; fats; grains; and meal management. Students in four other classrooms served as the control group. Mainstream 3(rd)-grade students were targeted because of their receptiveness to the subject matter, science standards for upper elementary grades, and testing that the students would undergo in 4(th) grade. Teachers and students alike reported that the hands-on FoodMASTER curriculum experience was worthwhile and enjoyable. Our initial classroom observation indicated that the majority of students, girls and boys included, were very excited about the activities, became increasingly interested in the subject matter of food, and were able to conduct scientific observations.     

Food‐Based Science Curriculum Increases 4th Graders Multidisciplinary Science Knowledge

Health professionals and policymakers are asking educators to place more emphasis on food and nutrition education. Integrating these topics into science curricula using hand‐on, food‐based activities may strengthen students’ understanding of science concepts. The Food, Math, and Science Teaching Enhancement Resource (FoodMASTER) Initiative is a compilation of programs aimed at using food as a tool to teach mathematics and science. Previous studies have shown that students experiencing the FoodMASTER curriculum were very excited about the activities, became increasingly interested in the subject matter of food, and were able to conduct scientific observations. The purpose of this study was to: (1) assess 4th graders food‐related multidisciplinary science knowledge, and (2) compare gains in food‐related science knowledge after implementation of an integrated, food‐based curriculum. During the 2009–2010 school year, FoodMASTER researchers implemented a hands‐on, food‐based intermediate curriculum in eighteen 4th grade classrooms in Ohio (n = 9) and North Carolina (n = 9). Sixteen classrooms in Ohio (n = 8) and North Carolina (n = 8), following their standard science curricula, served as comparison classrooms. Students completed a researcher‐developed science knowledge exam, consisting of 13 multiple‐choice questions administered pre‐ and post‐test. Only subjects with pre‐ and post‐test scores were entered into the sample (Intervention n = 343; Control n = 237). No significant differences were observed between groups at pre‐test. At post‐test, the intervention group scored (9.95 ± 2.00) significantly higher (p = 0.000) than the control group (8.84 ± 2.37) on a 13‐point scale. These findings suggest the FoodMASTER intermediate curriculum is more effective than a standard science curriculum in increasing students’ multidisciplinary science knowledge related to food.