Utilizing Project-Based Learning and Competition to Develop Student Skills and Interest in Producing Quality Food Items

ABSTRACT: Project-based activities and competition incorporated into freshman-level introductory foods course can stimulate students' interest in producing quality food items and achieve positive learning outcomes. This paper describes one example of how project-based learning, with the element of competition, was integrated into a freshman-level introductory foods course for food and nutrition majors. The students reported that the team approach allowed them to enhance their communication, team-building, and problem-solving skills. Numerous other skills, such as food selection, menu costing, and food presentation were also developed as a result of the project. The project was a productive and enjoyable learning experience for both the students and the teacher.     

Videotaping: A tool for enhancing the teacher’s understanding of cognitive science and teacher self-development

Follow-up research is required to investigate the effects of our beginning teacher preparation programs for secondary science teachers on classroom performance, student achievement, and higher order mental functioning of classroom teachers. Nevertheless, preliminary indications from working with students during the last several years show many encouraging outcomes among beginning teachers, including: increased knowledge of cognitive science, especially applications in instruction and learning; development of more analytical, self-directed classroom behavior; and enhanced capability of utilizing and powerful tool of video-taping for professional self-improvment.     

Course Design Process to Create a Coordinated,Experiential, Integrated Core Operations Management Course for Business Majors

We describe our process for transforming a traditional, core operations management/supply chain management (OM/SCM) course into an experiential, integrated, and coordinated course. We developed a vison to create a course that all business majors would find engaging and relevant and that faculty would teach consistently and at the same level of rigor. A primary result was three new learning outcomes that focused on concept integration across operations, the supply chain, and the business. We specifically focused on decision trade‐offs and the effects of OM/SCM decisions on other parts of operations, the supply chain, and the business. The redesigned course has been implemented for three semesters. Our experiences offer new insights for redesigning and coordinating an OM/SCM core course and a process that can be implemented in other redesign efforts.