Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:In the first year of the project (2012-2013), two Interactive Learning Assessment (ILA) cases were developed and used in the undergraduateNutrition through Lifecycle course (TotalN=42/14 Hispanic) andgraduate Nutrition Assessment course (Total N=20/4 Hispanic). In the second year of the project (2013-2014), 7 ILA cases were developed and used in the undergraduate Nutrition through the Lifecycle course (Total N=47/16 Hispanic) and 2 ILA cases were developed and used in the online Vitamins and Minerals in Human Nutrition course (Total N=50/11 Hispanic). In the third year of the project (2014-2015), 7 ILA cases were used in the online undergraduate Nutrition through the Lifecycle course (Total N=47/16 Hispanic) and 1 ILA case was used with students at the Health Leadership High School in Albuquerque (Total N=53/48 Hispanic). In addition, the ILA platform was used as a teaching tool for students enrolled in Secondary Science Teaching Methods (2012-2013; 2013-2014); Advanced Instructional Strategies (2012-2013; 2013-2014), Project-Based Learning (2012-2013), and Instructional Design (2014-2015). The total number of students/Hispanic students using the ILA platform each year was: 2012-2013 (24/13); 2013-2014 (20/8); and 2014-2015 (8/3). It was also introduced as a teaching tool to ten active teachers at the Health Leadership High School in Albuquerque. There has been interest in using the ILA platform in other universities that are a part of the Western MCH Nutrition Partners (UCLA; Colorado State University; Arizona State University; University of Washington; Oregon Health & Science University; University of California, Berkeley). In addition, the NM WIC program is interested in the platform, and New Media and Extended Learning at the University of New Mexico has expressed an interest in the project. Changes/Problems:Unfortunately, we were not able to reach the number of freshman and sophomore undergraduate students that we had planned. We had hoped to achieve this through collaboration with theUNM Academic Science Education and Research Training (ASERT) program for postdoctoral fellows,which provides three years of support to fellows wishing to achieve excellence as both educators and research scientists in biology, bioengineering and biomedical sciences. These fellows often teach freshman and sophomore undergraduate courses. Although ILA was well-received by the ASERT fellows, the technical problems that we were having with the platform precluded its use with this group before the end of the current grant. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Undergraduate and graduate nutrition students received additional training in nutrition content and counseling, as part of our project goals. 2. The PD has been able to work closely with the Co-PD, who is an expert in teaching and learning. In addition, the Co-PD has been able to access the nutrition content knowledge of the PD for projects such as the collaboration with the Health Leadership High School. 3. The interdisciplinary team includes undergraduate computer science students and graduate nutrition students who have had opportunities to: (a) learn about working on an interdisciplinary team; (b) present at conferences; (c) plan and conduct studies using ILA for the fulfillment of master's degree requirements; (d) conduct literature reviews of relevant research under the mentorship of the PD and Co-PD; (e) attend regularresearch group meetings. One nutrition graduate student involved with the project later completed his dietetic internship, and stated that his experience with the ILAS project has been a significant asset. He said the time he spent imagining and researching cases, thinking about how an interview might go and what issues might arise, has helped him in real-life interview scenarios during the internship. He said:"In creating these and thinking about these, the act of imagining them and trying to make them real, I had the scenario in my mind a few different ways, so when I encounter something like that at the hospital or the WIC clinic, I've at least practiced thinking about this." How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The PD presented ILA research to the New Mexico Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (NM WIC), and to theWestern MCH Nutrition Partners (UCLA; Colorado State University; Arizona State University; University of Washington; Oregon Health & Science University; University of California, Berkeley). Both NM WIC and the Western MCH Nutrition Partners are interested in using the ILA platform to develop new cases, and we will be sharing it with them. The study team presented ILA to New Media and Extended Learning (NMEL) at UNM, and they also expressed interest. Becky Adams, the Director of Faculty Services and Online Course Development, stated thatshe and others in her department who have seen demonstrations of the ILAS are very excited about it, and would like to integrate it into UNM's toolkit of online learning options. She said they have seen case-based or simulation-based software at conferences before, but they are very expensive, so it's exciting to see something homegrown to fill that need. She said several UNM colleges and departments have expressed a desire for an online tool for creating case studies and simulations, and UNM doesn't currently have anything that does that.She stated, "It is very sound, deep pedagogy...learning through a simulation or a case study or a complex problem or problem-based learning ... I think that's the thing that jazzes us as educators. It's better; you get it deeper. As a student, you're going to remember more if you've done it. It's a solid pedagogy that we really, really want to be using. And then if you have a technology or an application that allows a faculty member to do it who isn't technology savvy, now we've all won. I think that's the strength of it." The results have also been disseminated at new graduate student orientation and faculty meetings, and via student and faculty presentations at local, regional and national conferences focused on nutrition, learning and technology, and through education and nutrition peer-reviewed journals. The results are also disseminated through the project website: https://sites.google.com/site/iddealab/iddea-lab-projects/interactive-learningassessment. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Overall, we reached double the number of students in the UNM Nutrition Program than we originally anticipated. From 2012-2015, 206 nutrition students (61 Hispanic;30%)completed an ILA case in the multiple courses/contexts (Nutrition Through the Lifecycle, Vitamins and Minerals in Human Nutrition or Nutrition Assessment courses). 1. Students acquired deeper content understanding related to a number of topics, including preconception nutrition, gestational diabetes, complications of prematurity, breastfeeding, childhood obesity, children with special health care needs, eating disorders, and malnutrition in the elderly. All casesincludedmultiple perspectives on causes and approaches to treatment/prevention. It was confirmed using delayed post tests that students performed similarly on content learned from ILA and from lectures. One student said:"I liked that the case study gave me a huge list of things that we had, you know? I mean, as you're doing the case, you're learning these are the issues, the main problem, the fatigue, the time, the hypertension, the multiple medications" and she learned that she had to prioritize them, rather than trying to address all issues at once.Another student said:"It felt good to be able to recognize [the patient's] health issues a little more comfortably after our work here and the information given in class." 2. Students developed practical counseling skills in a safe environment and also agreed that the case resembled a real life situation; they overwhelmingly reported that they would use what they learned in other classes and in their careers, and that what they learned was important for their future professional work. Sample quote: "I was moved by all the cases. [...] I got the impression--I felt like I was a part of this person's recovery. That I was teaming up with a registered dietitian who was taking care of this client."Another samplestudent quote:student recognized thatinterventions need to be tailored to individuals, saying "actually speaking with someone and learning a little bit about what their life is like and what things they already feel capable of, what things they feel are already beyond their ability currently and figuring out, okay, knowing about this person and what they are already capable of, what are the most important things to do right now." 3. Students developed improved information literacy skills; specifically, using web-resources. 4. Students reflected on their learning and became more metacognitive about their learning. Most students felt confident that they mastered the content of the case. Sample student quote: "I liked that I had to think about my responses but then after I submitted my responses I got to see how the instructor interpreted the data (as she has more experience than I do in dietetics). There was a lot of information provided but it was a nice way to learn because I was actually interacting with the information instead of just hearing it." 9. Students developed a professional identity. Astudent explained that she enjoyed going through the "cases because this is exactly what I want to be doing right now. The only way we are going to become good practitioners is to get practice and so if we can't see real patients, this is the next best thing." We reached an additional 52 students (24 Hispanic) through the Teacher Education (pre-service high school science teachers)and Organization, Information and Learning Sciences Programs. These students have studiedthe ILA platform and examplecases as learning tools that they can use in their classrooms.They were excited about the format and believed the case study approach would help their learners place themselves in the role of the professional. They liked that it provided a "safe environment to make mistakes, get feedback and learn professional skills." We also met our goal for reaching high school students with ILA. OneILA case was used with students at the Health Leadership High School in Albuquerque (Total N=53/48 Hispanic). The Co-PD/PD worked withtwo high school teachers from Health Leadership High School, an Albuquerque not-for-profit charter school that serves students who have been marginalized by traditional schooling approaches, to adapt a case on gestational diabetes that was used for the undergraduate nutrition classes. An additional 8 teachers at the Health Leadership High School were trained on ILA and may use it for future projects. 7. Students increased their awareness and interest in the nutrition field.Students connected what they were learning in the case to the real work professional dietitians do and to their everyday lives. For instance, one student asked:"once you've had gestational diabetes, does that mean you are likelier to get it again next time you are pregnant? Because my mom is pregnant now, and she had gestational diabetes with my sister. I'm going to make sure she goes in for her check up and asks about it this time." Anotherstudent reflected that she didn't realize that when considering nutrition, she should "take the processed foods into account." 8. Students increased their nutrition content understanding. They calculated BMI and recognized that the client in the case was gaining weight too quickly. For instance, one group accurately explained, "I think she is not on track with the weight gain she has had because she has gain 1.8 lbs each week and that's not good either for her or the baby." Most of the students were initially confused about the different types of diabetes, believing that type 1 could lead to type 2 diabetes, and that ababy could get diabetes at birth from the mother having gestational diabetes. Based on their responses to the case, and follow-up feedback provided to the teachers, many of them made learning gains in this area. For instance, one group explained "the risks for Rosario and her baby are...type 2 diabetes later in life," and another group explained that there was a "risk of having diabetes type 2 when the baby gets older."
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Svihla V. Advances in Design-Based Research. Frontline Learning Research. 2014; 2(4): 35-45. Available at: http://journals.sfu.ca/flr/index.php/journal/article/view/114/212
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
McKay T, Cantarero A, Svihla V, Yakes Jimenez E, Castillo T. Becoming a Professional through Virtual Practice. Learning and becoming in practice:
The International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS). 2014; 3: 1563-1564. Available at: http://www.isls.org/icls/2014/downloads/ICLS%202014%20Volume%203%20(PDF)-wCover.pdf
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Donahue M, Donahue J, Yakes Jimenez E, Castillo T, Svihla V. Needs-based Designing for Learning Professional Practices: Scholarly and Worldly. Paper presented at the AERA, Chicago, IL, April 19, 2015 (2:15-3:45 PM).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
McKay T, Yakes Jimenez E, Svihla V, Castillo Tim, Cantarero A. Teaching Professional Practice: Using Interactive Learning Assessments to Simulate the Nutrition Care Process (NCP). Submitted to Topics in Clinical Nutrition. 2015.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yakes E, Cantarero A, McKay T, Svihla V, Castillo T, Valdez I, Hertel J. Interactive Learning Assessments. Paper presented at the Fifth Annual Innovations in Practice & Education at FNCE 2013 Conference, Houston, TX.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Svihla V, Yakes E, Castillo T, Cantarero A, Valdez I, Dominguez N. Interactive Learning Assessment: Providing Context and Simulating Professional Practices. Paper presented at the Games, Learning, Society 2013, Madison, WI.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Svihla V, Yakes Jimenez E, Castillo T, McKay T. Interactive Learning Assessment: Simulating Professional Practice. Invited session. Elevating Science and Education: IRACDA 2014, Albuquerque, NM.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Yakes Jimenez E, Svihla V, Castillo T, McKay T, Cantarero A. Interactive Learning Assessment: Simulating Professional Nutrition Practice. FASEB J. 2015; 29:909.5.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jimenez E, Svihla V, Castillo T, McKay T, Cantarero A, Baumgardner K, Kelley P, Hernandez I. Interactive Learning Assessment: Simulating Professional Practices. Research presented at the 2014 Agri-Science Education for the 21st Century Conference, Miami, FL.
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: In the first year of the project, two Interactive Learning Assessment (ILA) cases were developed and used in Nutrition courses: (1) Undergraduate students enrolled in Nutrition through Lifecycle (N=42), including Hispanic students (n=14) completed an ILA case related to childhood obesity; (2) Graduate students enrolled in Nutrition Assessment (N=20), including Hispanic students (n=4) completed a case focused on anemia assessment. Changes/Problems: Originally, we intended to implement ILA cases in the Management in Dietetics I and II courses at UNM; while this will likely eventually be achieved, it may not be possible during the grant period because of the time/effort involved in developing the cases and the authoring system. We still anticipate reaching more than 100 Nutrition undergraduate students. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 1. Undergraduate and graduate nutrition students received additional training in nutrition content and counseling, as part of our project goals. 2. The PD has been able to work closely with the Co-PD, who is an expert in teaching and learning 3. The interdisciplinary team includes undergraduate computer science students and graduate nutrition students who have had opportunities to: (a) learn about working on an interdisciplinary team; (b) present at conferences; (c) plan and conduct studies using ILA for the fulfillment of degree requirements; (d) conduct literature reviews of relevant research under the mentorship of the PD and Co-PD; (e) attend bi-weekly research group meetings. 3. The PD, Co-PD, and one graduate student presented ILA research to the UNM Academic Science Education and Research Training (ASERT) program for postdoctoral fellows, which provides three years of support to fellows wishing to achieve excellence as both educators and research scientists in biology, bioengineering and biomedical sciences. 4. The Co-PD presented an ILA case to her pre-service science teachers (n=9). 5. The Co-PD presented ILA research to the New Mexico Discipline-Based Education Research Group Journal Club. 6. The PD presented ILA research to the New Mexico Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (NM WIC), and NM WIC plans to use ILA cases to train staff on gestational diabetes. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been disseminated at new graduate student orientation and faculty meetings, and via student and faculty presentations at local, regional and national conferences focused on nutrition, learning and technology. The results are also disseminated through the project website: https://sites.google.com/site/iddealab/iddea-lab-projects/interactive-learning-assessment. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We plan to complete beta-testing of the Interactive Learning Assessment (ILA) case authoring system, which will allow others to develop cases. The PD is using the ILA case authoring system to implement six new cases for undergraduate students enrolled in Nutrition through Lifecycle this Fall 2013. As a result of our dissemination efforts, many colleagues are eager to incorporate ILA cases in their teaching. For instance, a nutrition faculty member who teaches Energy Nutrients in Human Nutrition will incorporate cases into her online course this Fall 2013. A Hispanic graduate student is using the ILA case authoring system to implement the two cases for undergraduate students enrolled in this course, and will use evaluation of this work for her thesis. ASERT Fellows who teach introductory biochemistry courses plan to incorporate ILA cases into their teaching in Spring 2014. This will involve incorporating ILA into other courses or contexts. A study is planned in a local high school for Spring 2014 where students-- especially Hispanic students (~30-50% of total students) will have: increased awareness and interest in the nutrition field and increased nutrition content understanding.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In the first year of the project, two Interactive Learning Assessment (ILA) cases were developed and used in Nutrition courses: (1) Undergraduate students enrolled in Nutrition through Lifecycle (N=42), including Hispanic students (n=14) completed an ILA case related to childhood obesity: 1. Students acquired deeper content understanding related to childhood obesity, including multiple perspectives on causes and approaches to treatment/prevention. It was confirmed using delayed post tests that even students who got answers wrong during the ILA case were able to make use of the feedback presented automatically in the ILA case. Sample quote: “I liked that the case study reassured us of our answers and made us feel like there were no right or wrong answers. This helped me to really think about the questions instead of focusing on whether or not I would get full credit for being right.” Students who chose incorrect answers on the ILA still performed well on the delayed post test (a portion of the final exam). 2. Students developed practical counseling skills in a safe environment and also agreed that the case resembled a real life situation; they overwhelmingly reported that they would use what they learned in other classes and in their careers, and that what they learned was important for their future professional work (79% strongly agree; 21% Agree). 3. Students developed improved information literacy skills; specifically, using web-resources. 4. Students reflected on their learning and became more metacognitive about their learning. Most students felt confident that they mastered the content of the case. Sample quote: “I liked that I had to think about my responses but then after I submitted my responses I got to see how the instructor interpreted the data (as she has more experience than I do in dietetics). There was a lot of information provided but it was a nice way to learn because I was actually interacting with the information instead of just hearing it.” (2) Graduate students enrolled in Nutrition Assessment (N=20), including Hispanic students (n=4) completed a case focused on anemia assessment: 1. Students acquired deeper content understanding tied to anemia assessment 2. Students developed practical counseling skills in a safe environment 3. Students developed improved information literacy skills; specifically, using web-resources 4. Students reflected on their learning and became more metacognitive about their learning. Sample quote: “I liked having instant feedback from the "supervisor" to see if I was on track with my answers, and if I was interpreting it correctly.”
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yakes E, Cantarero A, McKay T, Svihla V, Castillo, T, Valdez I, Hertel J. Interactive Learning Assessment: Simulating Professional Practices. NACTA Journal. 2013; 57 (Suppl 1): 44.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Svihla V, Yakes E, Castillo T, Cantarero A, Valdez I, Dominguez N. Interactive Learning Assessment: Providing Context and Simulating Professional Practices. Proceedings of Games, Learning, Society 9.0. 2013.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Svihla V, Yakes E, Cantarero A, Valdez I, Castillo T (03/2013). Panel - Interactive Learning Assessment: Pilot in an Undergraduate Nutrition Class, presented at The Role of Assessment in Student Success: How do YOU Define Student Success?: 2013 New Mexico Higher Education Assessment and Retention Conference. Albuquerque, NM.
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