The online M.S. in Human Nutrition created an online clinic allowing students to practice patient evaluation and physical assessment utilizing videos, Students also use an evidence-based, functional medicine approach, incorporating case-based teaching and problem based learning to incorporate patient biochemical individuality and personalized care to create effective, customized nutritional recommendations.
Creating online Health Science courses pose a unique challenge in that they require assessment of students in not only memorizing a large amount of medical terminology and symptom data, but also analyzing and synthesizing that data in a manner which allows for proper diagnosis to ensure safety and wellness for patients (or clients in the case of nutritionists). Using video to create an experience similar to being supervised by an active professional, students are provided the opportunity to evaluate and assess clients’ physical systems and offer solutions to improve their health.
With the benefit of having four instructors teaching various parts of one course, students utilize skills gained throughout the program. The have assignments incorporating authentic learning by conducting physical assessments, case-based learning by incorporating real-world clients, and problem based learning by assessing a mock client completely through documentation. This is combined with evaluation of the business practices of other industry professionals to gain the knowledge required to build their own business after graduation.
This session will reveal:
- How key program outcomes helped create a multi-pedagogy approach course
- Challenges in incorporating vastly different assignment types within one course
- Challenges in providing student support in a multi-instructor course
- Learner benefits in a course utilizing multiple approaches to teaching