Cecilie Beinert works as an associate professor at the Department of Nutrition and Public Health at the University of Agder. She has been a doctoral fellow at the University of Agder and completed her doctoral education at the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences. The doctorate was funded by the University of Agder.
Evaluation Committee:
- Professor Christel Larsson, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
- Professor Hege Wergedahl, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences
- Leder av komitéen: Associate professor Erik Aasland, University of Agder
Supervisors:
- Professor Frøydis Nordgård Vik, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Agder (main supervisor)
- Professor Nina Cecilie Øverby, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Agder (co-supervisor)
- Associate professor Gun Katarina Åbacka, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, University of Agder (co-supervisor)
Summary
The overall goal of this thesis was twofold: First, to map teaching practices in food and health, then to develop and test various learning activities with the aim of strengthening nutrition education in food and health.
Results from the thesis indicate that there is a mismatch between the goals in the curriculum and the practical implementation in the subject. With little time for student active work related to the more theoretical topics in the subject, it can be a challenge to meet the ambitious learning objectives in the subject, and the need for further development of the subject is argued for.
Four articles form the basis of the thesis.
Specifically, the findings from article I show that there is varying use of different learning activities in food and health education and that most of the time is spent on practical cooking. Article II shows that the proportion of food and health teachers with credits in the subject is low. Furthermore, it appears that teachers with credits in food and health are more satisfied with teaching and feel more capable of teaching.
Article III shows that there is a mismatch between curriculum and practical implementation of the subject and teachers express that lack of time is a challenge in the subject. In the teaching context, students and teachers express the importance of student-active teaching that is fun to do.
These inputs were used to develop various learning activities that were tested in both sixth and ninth grades. The learning activities activated the students to varying degrees and the feedback from teachers and students was positive. These findings are presented in article IV and argued as a possible approach to the theory in the subject.
The results and implications of these findings will be discussed during Beinert's public defense on April 28, 2021.