Pedagogy in Health Promotion

This IRB-exempt, exploratory, mixed-methods study aims to show how integrating social representations of people, places, and things known as imaginaries can enhance a nutrition course for non-traditional adult learners early in academic programs to support their success. Using an Elicit, Design, Create, Deploy, and Research (EDCDR) process, the accommodations-eligible health imaginaries were embedded into resources and activities in the nutrition course to achieve universal design goals. Through an exploratory mixed methods approach, we evaluated the impact of these health and wellness-focused imaginaries on improving learners’ self-awareness and advocacy following curriculum adjustments. Pre-test and post-test course surveys of the intervention led to a small positive shift in scores, indicating increased student awareness and confidence regarding accommodation eligibility, timing, success, and faculty fairness. The Mann–Whitney U test revealed significant difference in students’ awareness and knowledge of accommodations and ADA resources following the intervention. Key areas of improvement included understanding accommodation eligibility (z = −11.51, p < .001, r = 0.10), the request process (z = −17.83, p < .001, r = 0.15), timing of requests (z = −16.39, p < .001, r = 0.14), perceptions of accommodation success (z = −15.02, p < .001, r = 0.13), and faculty fairness (z = −10.92, p < .001, r = 0.09), with small but meaningful effect sizes. Qualitative results showed participants found the health and wellness course engaging and relatable, especially due to the realistic, diverse characters and their connection to real-life challenges in nutrition and health, though some noted issues with course-material alignment and imaginary character development. The intervention led to small but significant improvements in students’ knowledge and perceptions of accommodations, demonstrating its effectiveness as a low cost, scalable solution for supporting students in higher education.

Lecture recording is a practice several programs and courses (virtual and face-to-face) are employed to allow for students to have access to live self-paced lectures, to provide an additional study tool, and at times, recordings are provided as a source of engagement. Universal software programs such as Echo 360 allow instructors to record and monitor student engagement with video content such as view time. Research has explored student use of lecture recordings; however, this project explores how accessing the videos influenced the student aside from gaining content knowledge. Instructional and demonstration videos were included as supplemental materials within content-based modules on the learning management platform at the institution. Seventeen students were enrolled in the upper-level undergraduate exercise science course and had immediate access to the recordings. Situational motivation was analyzed and reported. On average, at mid-term and the final point in the semester, students were extrinsically motivated when choosing to watch the recording(s), however, positive shifts towards intrinsic motivation were noticed along the continuum of motivation. The significance of the change in motivation was not explored. This pilot case study recommends the addition of active assignments with supplementary materials such as relevant video instructions and demonstrations to guide students in understanding and applying hands-on concepts in upper-level exercise science programming courses to mentally prepare students for undergraduate internships in the field.

Educational technology can be used in the design of transparent writing assignments to support students in meeting learning outcomes. Lettersmith is a free online educational technology that aims to assist students in understanding and completing their writing assignments. In this Original Research paper, we describe a transparently designed public health writing assignment that used Lettersmith and evaluate whether undergraduate public health students perceived improvements in their writing skills after incorporating Lettersmith into a semester-long writing assignment and whether students perceived Lettersmith and its features as useful for supporting their writing. To implement the transparent design, student participants (n = 64) received explicit instructions about the purpose of the blog writing assignment and used Lettersmith as a tool to support their writing. We used pre- and post-surveys with closed- and open-ended questions to collect participant responses. Participants perceived that their writing skills improved after using Lettersmith to complete the blog writing assignment. The skills that participants prioritized while writing were highly pertinent to public health practice, such as communicating scientific research to a general audience. Most participants recommended that public health instructors use Lettersmith in other courses and specified that the tagging function of Lettersmith improved their writing process. This evaluation of Lettersmith integrated into a transparently designed public health writing assignment suggests that the implementation of such tools can support the writing process, improve the writing of undergraduate public health students, and foster public health communication skills.

Educators can fulfill multiple roles in the realm of teaching and learning, such as scholars, learners, practitioners, and advocates. Public health educators can engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) through various methods and levels, ranging from teacher-centered and informal approaches to student-centered and reflective practices. However, effective teaching practices are frequently not emphasized or included in public health graduate program curricula. The SoTL is rarely included in faculty onboarding and public health graduate programs and information on effective teaching practices is omitted from the curriculum or not a major focus. With the lack of training in the SoTL there comes a lack of dissemination of these practices to others. While many educators in public health are engaging in innovative projects or educational strategies, many lack the knowledge of how to study this or how to disseminate results from their work. Specifically, this paper advocates for an “ecosystems” approach—that is—understanding that public health education is taking place in living environments where students, faculty, and administrators are all engaged in acting upon one another and being acted upon simultaneously. An ecosystem approach to promoting the SoTL recognizes that teaching about public health is a naturalistic, living interaction that is influenced by events within the system and outside the system. This paper seeks to call to attention the need for institutional support for the SoTL practices and possible strategies for increasing the SoTL in public health.

As the national population grows more demographically and culturally diverse, it is critical that public health and health promotion students are equipped to engage with people from varied demographic and cultural backgrounds. One approach to address this need is the utilization of pedagogical approaches that promote cultural responsiveness and facilitate opportunities to apply course material to a multicultural environment. We posit that pedagogical strategies should apply a multicultural lens to real-life healthcare issues, while simultaneously prioritizing experiential learning. Our recommendation is to utilize the integration of two pedagogical approaches: Gay’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and Kolb’s Experiential Learning approaches to integrate diverse student experiences in course assessments, and to promote cultural responsiveness as an outcome in health promotion courses. This paper will examine the application of the integration of the two frameworks in university level health promotion courses.

Universities and other institutions across the United States are responding to a growing need and demand for education in participatory research and action to improve health, including training and education in community-based participatory research (CBPR). We describe the design and ongoing implementation of a CBPR summer institute on indigenous and critical methodologies at the University of New Mexico. Built on an empirically tested CBPR Model, the institute is grounded in Freirean pedagogy and decolonizing methodologies that honor local community knowledges and reflect a culture-centered approach. Course concepts are translated into experiential processes that facilitate integration of CBPR principles for research and practice. The curriculum is organized around four key CBPR domains: Context, the socio-political-economic context, or where the research takes place; Partnering Processes, the how and with whom the research team is partnering; Intervention/ Research where the action, or research work, of the partnership occurs; and, Outcomes which represents the intermediate or longer-term impacts on the community represented in the partnership. Using active learning, participants are tasked with examining and reflecting on their identity and positionality through the Institute’s daily activities. From 2010 to 2023, 621 participants from across the nation and internationally have completed the Institute, representing masters and doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, non-clinical multidisciplinary faculty, community and tribal members, public health practitioners, and clinicians. The Institute offers building blocks for academic and community partners to apply CBPR core concepts and principles in teaching, research, and practice.

In response to the ever-changing and complex nature of public health, education and training for public health professionals needs to focus on competencies and transferable skills. To do this effectively, pedagogy must be more sophisticated and shift away from didactic and traditional lecturing techniques. Many health professional education pedagogies encourage a more competency-focused approach. A common technique adopted by many business schools is case-based learning (CBL). CBL is an active learning approach that enables students to apply their knowledge to simulated real-life scenarios (cases), working toward developing an action plan to solve problems based on provided data. CBL incorporates an interactive, learner-driven environment within the classroom. The Master of Public Health (MPH) program at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University uses CBL in their 12-month compressed MPH degree. In addition, the program aims to achieve the protégé effect in the third term by having students develop their own case meant for use in the MPH classroom. Drawing on the literature on pedagogical best practices, we believe this case-writing experience elevates learning by offering opportunities to cultivate the critical and creative thinking skills essential for public health professionals. Students develop, synthesize, integrate, and refine a case study to demonstrate their learning across the program’s core competencies. This work contributes to the growing body of literature on experiential and integrative learning by showcasing how case-based approaches can effectively foster competency development in public health education.

The public health domain is faced with many challenges that require unique approaches that foster innovation and creativity. One strategy to increase the effectiveness and reach of public health programs is to infuse social entrepreneurship into public health education. Social entrepreneurship, characterized by its mission to create social value and pursue innovative solutions, offers a distinct approach to problem-solving within the public health domain. While social entrepreneurship traditionally emphasizes generating social impact over monetary wealth, its application within public health remains relatively uncharted. This project explores non-profit social entrepreneurship strategies and their integration into public health education to meet the Applied Practice Experience (APE) requirements set by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). This project focuses on the transformation of a community crowdfunding event, Buffalo SOUP, into a public health-oriented organization. By aligning the event with environmental health and sustainability education, the initiative addressed various Master of Public Health (MPH) competencies, including population-based intervention development, assessing community needs, and stakeholder engagement.