Project Investigator(s): Linda Casey, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Project Description
We are developing an on-line discussion forum to provide an opportunity for medical students to explore the relationships between nutrition and health, and consider nutrition-related problems and questions that may arise in patient care. At designated points throughout the first-year curriculum, a nutrition-focused question related to the week’s learning will be posted for discussion.
Research Questions
Does exposure to the tool influence student knowledge, attitudes and/or behaviours?
Impact on teaching and learning at UBC
Faculty support will be needed to develop and modify questions needed for the discussions, and to summarize and distribute the discussion content. This approach could be used to integrate nutrition education in the curriculum for other student cohorts both within and outside of the Faculty of Medicine. The online tool may be particularly valuable during clinical years, when medical students are physically distributed throughout the province. It could be applied in any discipline to reinforce learning by application to real-world problems, and to develop skills in finding and evaluating information to solve problems.
Achieved Outcomes
From this project we were able to pilot test, collect some limited data and summarize the available data to formulate at least some preliminary recommendations. The tool functioned as expected to engage students in the subject material, but only very small numbers of students participated as the participation in the pilot test was voluntary.