In order to provide a collaborative environment for nonscience majors in introductory nutrition courses to learn fundamental chemical and biochemical concepts related to nutrition, we developed a set of in-class activities based on the POGIL model. These guided inquiry activities, which cover the macronutrients (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), are designed to be worked on in small groups during class. Using these guided inquiry activities has led to gains in students’ conceptual understanding about the macro- and micronutrients, as determined by pre/post survey data. However, despite these successes, we found that some students still expressed a preference for more traditional approaches for learning science. Therefore, we taught some topics (specifically, macro- and micronutrients) using guided inquiry activities and other general nutrition topics (diet planning, alcohol, weight management and energy balance, eating disorders, and nutrition and fitness) using lecture and other traditional approaches. We found that students made greater gains in conceptual understanding on topics they learned by working together on guided inquiry activities in class. Furthermore, we found no correlation between students’ expressed learning preferences (for active v. traditional methods) and learning gains. Surprisingly, students who preferred traditional learning approaches made greater gains in topics that they learned about through the active, guided inquiry approach than students who did not express a preference for traditional approaches.

Guided inquiry vs. traditional approaches for learning introductory nutrition

250th National Meeting (2015)

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