Food & Nutrition: Learning Goals & Learning Outcomes

Six Learning Goals for Food and Nutrition Students

  1. Community
    Students will be able to interpret and apply nutrition concepts to evaluate and improve the nutritional health of communities.
  2. Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT)
    Students will be able to interpret and apply nutrition concepts to evaluate and improve the nutritional health of individuals with medical conditions
  3. Food
    Students will be able to identify and apply food principles to food and nutrition systems
  4. Education/Communication
    Students will be able to demonstrate a variety of communication strategies in nutrition and food education emphasizing information technology
  5. Management
    Students will be able to apply management principles to evaluate human, physical and fiscal resources in organizations
  6. Professional Issues
    Students will be able to integrate knowledge and skills in food and nutrition with professional issues affecting the nutrition and/or dietetics fields.

Learning Goals with Specific Learning Outcomes

  1. Community - Students will be able to interpret and apply nutrition concepts to evaluate and improve the nutritional health of communities.
    1. Determine and translate nutrient needs into menus for individuals and groups across the lifespan, in diverse cultures and religions, and for different income levels.
    2. Plan a community intervention based upon a needs assessment
    3. Advocate for a public policy related to nutrition programs or health care
  2. Medical Nutrition Therapy - Students will be able to interpret and apply nutrition concepts to evaluate and improve the nutritional health of individuals with medical conditions
    1. Apply biological, biochemical and physiologic scientific principles to nutrition practice
    2. Interpret of medical terminology and laboratory parameters relating to nutrition
    3. Interpret scientific research, apply it to nutrition practices, and document interventions
    4. Calculate and/or define of diets for health conditions addressed by health promotion/disease prevention activities or uncomplicated instances of chronic disease of the general population
    5. Collect pertinent information for comprehensive nutrition assessments
    6. Determine medical nutrition therapy for a variety of advanced medical conditions. (CPD, DPD only)
  3. Food - Students will be able to identify and apply food principles to food and nutrition systems
    1. Calculate and interpret nutrient composition of foods
    2. Apply scientific research, including microbiology, food science and food safety to functions of ingredients in food and process controls
    3. Demonstrate basic food preparation, quantity food production, and food presentation skills
    4. Modify recipes and recipe proportions for individual, group dietary and volume production
    5. Summarize health promotion and disease prevention theories and guidelines and explain the role of food in promotion of a healthy lifestyle
    6. Analyze foodservice operations using the foodservice systems approach
  4. Education/Communications - Students will be able to demonstrate a variety of communication strategies in nutrition and food education emphasizing information technology
    1. Produce oral and written communications for a group education session
    2. Interview individuals for diet histories
    3. Counsel individuals
  5. Management - Students will be able to apply management principles to evaluate human, physical and fiscal resources in organizations
    1. Apply principles and theories of management to the administration of human, physical and financial resource in food and nutrition services
    2. Apply management concepts to personnel selection, training, evaluation. organizational behavior, governmental influences, labor management relations, marketing and budgeting through case studies and the development of a business plan.
  6. Professional Issues - Students will be able to integrate knowledge and skills in food and nutrition with professional issues affecting the nutrition and/or dietetics fields.
    1. Develop a position on a public policy affecting nutrition and food issues and/or programs
    2. Utilize outcomes based research and statistics to interpret a nutrition issue
    3. Explain health care policy and systems as related to food and nutrition health
    4. Describe issues related to third party reimbursement for nutrition care