Participating in Faculty-Supervised Extracurricular Experiential Learning Activities Contributes to Dietetic Competency Development
Publication: Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
12 September 2019
Abstract
Purpose: To examine the relationship between Food and Nutrition graduates’ involvement in faculty-supervised extracurricular experiential learning activities (FEEs) and the development of dietetic competencies.
Methods: An original web-based survey, assessing involvement in FEEs and self-perceived level of Canadian dietetic competencies, was administered to Brescia University College Food and Nutrition graduates for graduation years 2011–2017. Competency scores were calculated for each respondent in 4 practice areas (Professional Practice, Communication and Collaboration, Population and Public Health, and Management), and summed for a Total Competency Score. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess predictors of competency scores.
Results: The final sample consisted of 233 respondents who participated in 1.9 ± 1.1 FEEs. The highest average competency score (out of 100) was Communication and Collaboration (59.7 ± 31.7); the lowest was Management (40.3 ± 30.9). Total hours spent and breadth of experiences in FEEs were significant predictors of all scores (P < 0.05). Depth of experiences was a significant predictor of all competency scores (P < 0.05) except for Management (P = 0.27).
Conclusions: Participation in FEEs contributes to Food and Nutrition students’ development of entry-level dietetic competencies; therefore, counting some FEEs as curricular credits may be warranted. Given the prominence of competency-based learning assessments, these results also have implications for faculty resources, budgets, and collective agreements.
Résumé
Objectif. Examiner la relation entre la participation des diplômés en nutrition aux activités d’apprentissage expérientiel parascolaires (AAEP) supervisées par des membres du corps professoral et l’acquisition de compétences en diététique.
Méthodes. Des diplômés en nutrition du Brescia University College (cohortes de 2011 à 2017) ont répondu à un sondage Web original évaluant leur participation aux AAEP et la perception de leur niveau de compétences en diététique. Les scores de compétence ont été calculés pour chaque répondant dans quatre domaines de la pratique (pratique professionnelle, communication et collaboration, santé publique et des populations, et gestion) et additionnés pour obtenir un score de compétence total. Des régressions linéaires multiples ont été utilisées pour évaluer les prédicteurs des scores de compétence.
Résultats. L’échantillon final comprenait 233 répondants ayant participé à 1,9 ± 1,1 AAEP. Le score de compétence moyen le plus élevé (sur 100) était celui de la communication et de la collaboration (59,7 ± 31,7); et le plus faible était celui de la gestion (40,3 ± 30,9). Les heures totales consacrées aux AAEP et l’étendue des expériences d’AAEP étaient des prédicteurs importants de tous les scores (P < 0,05). La portée de l’expérience était un prédicteur important de tous les scores de compétence (P < 0,05) à l’exception de celui de la gestion (P = 0,27).
Conclusions. La participation à des AAEP contribue à l’acquisition de compétences en diététique de niveau d’entrée chez les étudiants en nutrition. Par conséquent, il pourrait être justifié d’accorder des crédits pour certaines AAEP. Étant donné l’importance de l’évaluation des apprentissages basée sur les compétences, ces résultats ont également des répercussions sur les ressources professorales, les budgets et les conventions collectives.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Financial support: This study was funded by a Brescia University College research grant.
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
References
1
Partnership for Dietetic Education and Practice. The integrated competencies for dietetic education and practice [ICDEP]. Version 2.0. Toronto, ON: Partnership for Dietetic Education and Practice; 2013. 38 p. [cited 2019 Apr 22]. Available from: https://www.pdep.ca/library/Accreditation-Policies-and-Standards/PDEP-ICDEP-2013-.aspx.
2
Telford M. Dietetic internship programs in Canada: a comparison between 1935 and 1985. J Can Diet Assoc. 1985;46(4):264–6.
3
Barr AB, Walters MA, and Hagan DW. The value of experiential education in dietetics. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002;102(10):1458–60.
4
Rose M, Mcalpine L, and Strychar I. Learning opportunity and preparedness for practice: perceptions from dietetics programs in Canada. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2005;66(4):221–8.
5
Brissette C, Leung E, Darling P, and Keith M. Reflections on perceived preparedness of dietetic internship graduates following entry into practice. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2014;75(4):202–5.
6
Association for Experiential Education. 2019. What is experiential education? Denver, CO: Association for Experiential Education [cited 2019 Apr 22]. Available from: https://www.aee.org/what-is-ee.
7
Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. MAESD’s guiding principles for experiential learning. Ottawa, ON: Government of Ontario; 2017.
8
Heiss CK, Goldberg LR, Weddig J, and Brady H. Serving-learning in dietetics courses: a benefit to the community and an opportunity for students to gain dietetics-related experience. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2012;112(10):1524–7.
9
Pierce MB, Havens EK, Poehlitz M, and Ferris AM. Evaluation of a community nutrition service-learning program: changes to student leadership and cultural competence. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Journal. 2012;56(3):10–6.
10
Kim Y, Clasen C, and Canfield A. Effectiveness of service learning and learning through service in dietetics education. J Allied Health. 2003;32(4):275–8.
11
Ash SL. Integrating service-learning into a college-level nutrition course. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2003;35(3):161–2.
12
Cox MF, Cekic O, and Adams SG. Developing leadership skills of undergraduate engineering students: perspectives from engineering faculty. J STEM Educ. 2010;11(3):22–33.
13
Stuart M, Lido C, Morgan J, Solomon L, and May S. The impact of engagement with extracurricular activities on the student experience and graduate outcomes for widening participation populations. Active Learning in Higher Education. 2011;12(3):203–15.
14
Twynstra J and Dworatzek P. Use of an experiential learning assignment to prepare future health professionals to utilize social media for nutrition communications. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2016;77(1):30–4.
15
Baker S, Trabulsi J, Evans T, and Smith E. Improving nutrition students’ knowledge and perceived competence to provide nutrition education to adults with disabilities via experiential learning. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2018;118(1):23–9.
16
Gates G, Kris-Etherton PM, and Greene G. Nutrition care planning: comparison of the skills of dietitians, interns and students. J Am Diet Assoc. 1990;90(10):1393–7.
17
Dennis KS. Faculty behaviour and other key factors in student adjustment to medical school. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2000;5(1):55–69.
18
Brady J, Lordly D, MacLellan D, and Gingras J. New dietetic practitioners’ perspectives: on their education and training. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2012;73(3):117–21.
19
Jansen DA, Jadack RA, Ayoola AB, Doornbos MM, Dunn SL, Moch SD, et al. Embedding research in undergraduate learning opportunities. West J Nurs Res. 2015;37(10):1340–58.
20
Government of Ontario. Strengthening Ontario’s centres of creativity, innovation and knowledge. A discussion paper on innovation to make our university and college system stronger. Toronto, ON: Queen’s Printer for Ontario; 2012. 24 p. [cited 2019 Apr 22]. Available from: https://www.queensu.ca/experientiallearninghub/sites/webpublish.queensu.ca.qelhwww/files /files/MTCU%20Discussion%20on%20StrengtheningOntarioPSE.pdf.
21
Kelley K, Clark B, Brown V, and Sitzia J. Good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. Int J Qual Health Care. 2003;15(3):261–6.
22
Lezner T. A psycholinguistic look at survey question design and response quality [Dissertation]. Mannheim, Germany: Universität Mannheim; 2011. 153 p. [cited 2019 Apr 22]. Available from: https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/29478.
23
Dillman DA. Mail and telephone surveys: the total design method. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons; 1978. 375 p.
24
Markus GB, Howard JP, and King DC. Integrating community service and classroom instruction enhances learning: results from an experiment. Educ Eval Policy Anal. 1993;15(4):410–9.
25
Arendt SW and Gregoire MB. Dietetics students perceive themselves as leaders and report they demonstrate leadership in a variety of contexts. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(8):1289–94.
26
McCall MW. Leadership development through experience. Acad Manag Perspect. 2004;18(3):127–30.
27
Bennis WG and Thomas RJ. Crucibles of leadership. Harv Bus Rev. 2002;80:39–45.
28
Guthrie KL and Jones TB. Teaching and learning: using experiential learning and reflection for leadership education. New Directions for Student Services. 2012;2012(140):53–63.
29
Adedokun OA, Parker LC, Childress A, Burgess W, Adams R, Agnew CR, et al. Effect of time on perceived gains from an undergraduate research program. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2014;13(1):139–48.
30
Fechheimer M, Webber K, and Kleiber PB. How well do undergraduate research programs promote engagement and success of students? CBE Life Sci Educ. 2011;10(2):156–63.
31
Finley A, McNair T. Assessing underserved students’ engagement in high-impact practices. With an assessing equity in high-impact practices toolkit. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities; 2013. 68 p. [cited 2019 Apr 22]. Available from: https://leapconnections.aacu.org/system/files/assessinghipsmcnairfinley_0.pdf.
32
Coker JS, Heiser E, Taylor L, and Book C. Impacts of experiential learning depth and breadth on student outcomes. Journal of Experiential Education. 2017;40(1):5–23.
33
Ruhl J and Lordly D. The nature of competition in dietetics education: a narrative review. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2017;78(3):129–36.
34
Szeto A, Haines J, and Buchholz AC. Impact of an optional experiential learning opportunity on student engagement and performance in undergraduate nutrition courses. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2016;77(2):84–8.
35
Wynn CL, Raj S, Tyus F, Greer YD, Batheja RK, Rizwana Z, et al. Barriers to and facilitators of dietetics education among students of diverse backgrounds: results of a survey. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017;117(3):449–68.
36
MacLellan D, Lordly D, and Gingras J. Professional socialization in dietetics: a review of the literature. Can J Diet Pract Res. 2011;72(1):37–42.
37
Lundberg CA. Peers and faculty as predictors of learning for community college students. Community Coll Rev. 2014;42(2):79–98.
38
Howell JP, Costley DL. Understanding behaviors for effective leadership. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall; 2001.
Supplementary Material
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
Volume 81 • Number 1 • March 2020
Pages: 37 - 43
History
Version of record online: 12 September 2019
Copyright
© 2020.
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Other Metrics
Citations
Cite As
AnahitaDjalilvandMScFN, RD, Jamie A.SeabrookPhD, Paula D.N.DworatzekPhD, RD, PHEc, and June I.MatthewsPhD, RD, PHEc. 2020. Participating in Faculty-Supervised Extracurricular Experiential Learning Activities Contributes to Dietetic Competency Development. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research.
81(1): 37-43. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2019-024
Export Citations
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
1. Qualitative Evaluation of University Students’ Experience Delivering an Obesity Prevention Programme in Elementary Schools
2. An Exploration of Dietetic Students’ Experiences in a Noncourse-based Service-Learning Opportunity in a Canadian Academic Setting
View Options
Login options
Check if you access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Subscribe
Click on the button below to subscribe to Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research
