Confronting Public Nutrition Misconceptions: Using Timelines and Backchannels to Promote Engagement and Critical Reasoning

Abstract

Nutrition professionals are inundated with questions about food fads. Students struggle with mechanisms for confronting misconceptions. This innovative educational approach's aim was to promote critical reasoning and elicit reflective inquiry about popular diets using a technology‐rich format. Graduate nutrition students (n=8) participated in a semester‐long, student‐led course using timelines and backchannels. Students used a web app, TikiToki, to create an interactive multimedia timeline profiling food documentaries, customized with embedded images, text, and videos. Students then generated a list of “must‐see” documentaries. Subsequent classes involved viewing documentaries (frontchannel: presentation itself), while simultaneously discussing content on Today's Meet (backchannel: online, synchronous chatroom). Interview data were collected at the end of each class. Qualitative methods were used for analysis. Students generated a timeline profiling 16 documentaries and averaged 187±87 Today's Meet postings per class. They stated this provided a “safe” environment to challenge ideas and reaffirm knowledge of evidence‐based guidelines. Faculty believed multiple learning styles were accommodated by enabling verbally quiet students to express themselves more openly in a virtual classroom. Perceived benefits over Twitter included the private/isolated environment, no account registration, and no need for hashtags. In a society with unrestricted Internet access, timelining and backchanneling serve as meaningful ways to incorporate technology into classes. These techniques present unique methods for disseminating ideas, sharing knowledge, and fostering understanding.