Foundation Nutrition Course Promotes Diversity, Encourages Cultural Humility, and Empowers Students as Food Citizens

Objective To assess students’ exposure to diverse cultural foodways on developing cultural humility and appreciation of other cultures. Use of Theory or Research Constructivism educational learning theory and constructs of Bandura's social cognitive theory. Target Audience Undergraduate students. Course/Curriculum Description An online asynchronous foundation nutrition course (Cultural Foods) open to all undergraduate students (2-course sections, N=110, Fall 2022) included foundation knowledge on factors that influence food habits and culture, during the first 4 modules. An assignment followed the modules for real-life application and demonstration of foundation knowledge concepts. This “ethnic grocery store” assignment required each student to visit a local ethnic food market of choice and to reflect on their perspectives of another ethnic group's cultural foodways. The purpose of the structured activity was to provide exposure to other cultures firsthand and to build cross-cultural skills, and empowerment, embrace diversity and develop cultural humility through their experience. Students’ reflection was guided by instructor prompts. Evaluation Methods Students’ reflections aimed to generate more meaning in students’ experience and engagement, with comparison to their personal cultural values and biases, were coded for themes and evaluated for “understanding” and “critical thinking” using a rubric informed by AAC&U VALUE rubrics and tailored to the assignment learning objectives by the course instructor. Results All students demonstrated some cultural understanding and critical thinking, with some demonstrating exemplary behaviors. Students reported awareness of their cultural values and personal biases, and attitudes, with a better understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Conclusion Real-life applications with self-reflection contributed to the dynamic and reciprocal interaction gained by students’ while exploring and learning from other cultures firsthand. This experience enhanced learning beyond the classroom and encouraged the development of cultural humility to empower students as food and global citizens capturing their horizons. Funding None To assess students’ exposure to diverse cultural foodways on developing cultural humility and appreciation of other cultures. Constructivism educational learning theory and constructs of Bandura's social cognitive theory. Undergraduate students. An online asynchronous foundation nutrition course (Cultural Foods) open to all undergraduate students (2-course sections, N=110, Fall 2022) included foundation knowledge on factors that influence food habits and culture, during the first 4 modules. An assignment followed the modules for real-life application and demonstration of foundation knowledge concepts. This “ethnic grocery store” assignment required each student to visit a local ethnic food market of choice and to reflect on their perspectives of another ethnic group's cultural foodways. The purpose of the structured activity was to provide exposure to other cultures firsthand and to build cross-cultural skills, and empowerment, embrace diversity and develop cultural humility through their experience. Students’ reflection was guided by instructor prompts. Students’ reflections aimed to generate more meaning in students’ experience and engagement, with comparison to their personal cultural values and biases, were coded for themes and evaluated for “understanding” and “critical thinking” using a rubric informed by AAC&U VALUE rubrics and tailored to the assignment learning objectives by the course instructor. All students demonstrated some cultural understanding and critical thinking, with some demonstrating exemplary behaviors. Students reported awareness of their cultural values and personal biases, and attitudes, with a better understanding and appreciation of other cultures. Real-life applications with self-reflection contributed to the dynamic and reciprocal interaction gained by students’ while exploring and learning from other cultures firsthand. This experience enhanced learning beyond the classroom and encouraged the development of cultural humility to empower students as food and global citizens capturing their horizons.