Faculty Reflection: Diana Cuy Castellanos

University of Dayton
Course: Community Nutrition
Module Used: A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources through Local Decision Making

A Success Story in Programmatic Change

I am a dietetics professor and have little experience with the material I taught. When I first looked over the material it seemed overwhelming but then as I went through each unit in detail I felt more confident about teaching. The units are constructed in a way that allows faculty from different disciplines to teach the material. I also had geology professors come and teach a few of the units which worked well.
I was worried about what my students would think of the module for the course overall is more of a social science course. However, I received a very positive response. They liked the material taught, saw it relevant to their discipline and felt the interactive nature of the units helped with understanding.
In the future, I plan to continue to integrate this module into the course.

Incorporating InTeGrate Materials

I reserved the last 6 classes of the semester for the material. I taught units 1, 2 and 6 and geology faculty taught the other three units. I used class time and students completed the pre and post-assignments outside of class. Further, I did grade the materials but mostly gave completion grades and the overall module was 5% of their overall grade.

Adaptations

I reserved the last 6 classes of the semester for the material. I taught units 1,2 and 6 and geology faculty taught the other three units. I used class time and students completed the pre and post-assignments outside of class. Further, I did grade the materials but mostly gave completion grades and the overall module was 5% of their overall grade.

Outcomes and Evidence

Students were very engaged during the inclass work and I had high completion rates for the outside of class work. Further, at the end of the module I asked students what they thought of it overall and the majority of students felt it was relevant to their discipline and valued the knowledge gained.