An Evaluation Of Common Didactic Teaching Methods In The Development Of Clinical Reasoning Skills Of Dietetic Students

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To evaluate six common didactic teaching methods for effectiveness in teaching clinical reasoning skills of dietetic students for preparation of the clinical rotation of the supervised practiceA primary purpose of didactic education is to prepare students for supervised practice. Clinical reasoning is an essential component of dietetic practice, and interns must utilize this skill in their supervised practice. Consequently, the teaching practices which effectively promote clinical reasoning should be determined. This research was conducted in two stages. The first state identified common teaching methods experienced in food & nutrition classes. A sample of convenience from AP4 alumni was used which reflected undergraduate didactic education at 16 different universities. The most frequently selected teaching methods were used to develop a survey to evaluate effectiveness in developing clinical reasoning skills for the clinical rotation (stage two): lecture, case study, reading assignment, class discussion, report/research paper. & clinical experience. This survey was mailed to one hundred randomly selected RD-eligible graduates from ADA's Membership Label Rental Service. Sixty-five usable responses were received. The survey asked participants to select the effectiveness of each teaching method from a Likert-type scale. “Highly Effective” to “Not Effective”, with a coded weight of 5 assigned to “Highly Effective” down to I for “Not Effective”. for 14 clinical reasoning skills that comprise the 4 elements of the nutrition care plan (assessment, planning, implementation, & evaluation). The differences between effectiveness ratings for the teaching methods were analyzed using the one-way ANOVA, repeated measures design. Significant differences between the effectiveness ratings of the teaching methods were found for all skills, except one. The effectiveness rating of clinical experience was the highest for all skills. For most skills, report/research paper rated lower than other methods. When the effectiveness of report research paper was not the lowest, reading assignment received the lowest rating. The ranking of effectiveness ratings to teaching methods in teaching clinical reasoning was: clinical experience, case study, class discussion, lecture, reading assignment, & report/research paper.