Dataset Information

University Student Perspectives of Entomophagy: Positive Attitudes Lead to Observability and Education Opportunities.

ABSTRACT: Positive experiences with insect food items that highlight the benefits of insect production and reduce the novelty of entomophagy are needed. Toward this goal, we developed an experiential learning lesson plan that would provide a positive experience with entomophagy and associate key educational content related to insect food items. First, two cricket powder brownie taste-test surveys were conducted with groups of university students to evaluate attitudes relating to insects as food, sustainability of insect production, and nutritional content. Students displayed a taste preference for cricket flour brownies but could not consistently differentiate between brownie types, ranked environmental and nutritional benefits associated with insect food products over taste factors alone, and indicated a positive attitude toward purchasing insect products in the future. Willingness to try other insect products in the future was significantly greater for students with increased experience with consuming insect products. These results were then used to create an university lesson plan that will allows for future evaluation of student attitudes while increasing exposure to entomophagy and providing education on the positive aspects of insects as food production. Our work highlights the favorable attitude toward insect food products shown by university students and how positive perception of entomophagy increases with continued exposure to the practice.

SUBMITTER: Petersen M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7585318 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

University Student Perspectives of Entomophagy: Positive Attitudes Lead to Observability and Education Opportunities.

Petersen Matthew M Olson Olivia O Rao Sujaya S

Journal of insect science (Online) 20200901 5

Positive experiences with insect food items that highlight the benefits of insect production and reduce the novelty of entomophagy are needed. Toward this goal, we developed an experiential learning lesson plan that would provide a positive experience with entomophagy and associate key educational content related to insect food items. First, two cricket powder brownie taste-test surveys were conducted with groups of university students to evaluate attitudes relating to insects as food, sustainab ...[more]

PMID: 33098432

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundSubstance misuse teaching within the undergraduate medical curriculum has been underrepresented compared to more traditional medical topics. In response several national curriculum reviews such as the most recent UK department of health initiative (DOH) have identified deficiencies in substance misuse education and have suggested curriculum interventions for local faculties to implement. The student perspective however has largely been muted during this process and this study aims to explore this using a constructivist grounded theory approach.MethodsEleven final year and intercalating medical students across three separate focus groups participated in this study over a three-month period commencing from March 2018. Time between the audio recorded focus groups allowed for a parallel process of data collection and analysis into more focussed codes and categories to occur, consistent with the grounded theory approach. The qualitative study took place in a single medical school in the UK.ResultsMedical students had a common consensus that substance misuse education was an underperforming subject in their curriculum, from limited teaching hours to curriculum design and organisational problems. Students identified an alternative curriculum is required to not only prepare students for their future clinical duties but also their own personal lives. Students highlighted this proximity to a 'dangerous world' where exposure to substance misuse risks were faced daily. This exposure also provided a source of informal learning experiences which students deemed as being potentially unbalanced and even dangerous. Students also identified unique barriers to curriculum change with reference to a lack of openness due to the impacts of disclosure in substance misuse.ConclusionLarge scale curriculum initiatives appear to correspond to the student voice obtained in this study, providing backing for the implementation of a co-ordinated substance misuse curriculum within medical schools. The student voice however provides an alternative lens by outlining how substance misuse pervades into students' lives and how informal learning is a largely underestimated hidden source of learning with more dangers than benefits. This together with the identification of further barriers to curriculum change, provide space for medical faculties to incorporate and work with students to facilitate local level curriculum changes relating to substance misuse education.

Project description:Background: Future health care increasingly requires interprofessional thinking and decision-making which should be taught during medical study and vocational training. Against this backdrop, the Medical Faculty at TU Dresden developed an elective course on "Interprofessional Palliative Medicine" in which medical students and trainees in different health professions have been taught together since the 2017 summer semester. An extensive and simultaneous course evaluation conducted in the 2019 summer semester and 2019/20 winter semester investigated if and how strongly attendees' perceptions of interprofessional collaboration had changed as a result of the elective course. Method: The course evaluations included quantitative pre- and post-questions on a questionnaire (n=50) covering, among other things, the perception of roles, according to the Role Perception Questionnaire, and qualitative interviews (n=20). The pre- and post-questions were compared using the Wilcoxon test for related samples and the effect sizes were calculated according to Cohen. The qualitative interviews were analyzed for content using a combined deductive-inductive approach. Results: It was seen that the perceptions and attitudes of each professional group were mutually influenced as a result of the elective course. The quantitative analysis showed the largest effects regarding gains in understanding the roles and competencies of one's own and the other professions (d=0.975) and a reciprocal feeling of "being dependent on each other" (d=0.845). In the interviews, it was seen that medical students developed a greater appreciation for the subject matter and tasks associated with nursing. A strengthening of self-perception was primarily found in the trainees. Conclusion: The elective course on "Interprofessional Palliative Medicine" contributed to the changes in attitude not only with an increased self-awareness of one's own professional group, but also a greater understanding of the roles and expertise of the other health professions. The results speak for the benefit of expanding the interprofessional courses offered.

Project description:IntroductionThe majority of large public universities have exclusive pouring rights contracts with beverage companies that produce and market sugar-sweetened beverages. Pouring rights contracts contain provisions that conflict with recommendations from major public health organizations that institutions reduce sugar-sweetened beverage availability, marketing, and consumption. This study assessed the following among students at 3 public universities: student perception of pouring rights contracts (the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts), the association between student socioeconomic characteristics and perception of pouring rights contracts, student estimates of pouring rights contract revenue, and the association between student pouring rights contract revenue estimates and perception of pouring rights contracts. To contextualize results, actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues was estimated.MethodsA cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted among a convenience sample of 1,311 undergraduate sugar-sweetened beverages-consuming students recruited from 3 large and diverse public universities in Northern California. On an online questionnaire, undergraduate students indicated the extent to which they favored or opposed pouring rights contracts on a 10-point scale (oppose=1-5, favor=6-10) and provided a numeric estimate of the percentage of total university revenue they thought their university's pouring rights contract generated. Regression models were used to analyze differences in perception of pouring rights contracts by student socioeconomic characteristics and estimates of university revenues generated by pouring rights contracts. In addition, pouring rights contracts and financial reports were obtained from the 3 universities to estimate actual pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total revenues. Survey data were collected between August and November 2018 and analyzed in August 2022.ResultsA large majority of students (81%) opposed pouring rights contracts, and the opposition did not significantly differ by student socioeconomic characteristics, including by levels of food security, need-based financial aid, participation in federal food assistance or healthcare programs, parental education, or parental income (all ps>0.14). The median student estimate for pouring rights contract revenue as a percentage of total university revenue was 10%. In contrast, the estimated actual annual revenue generated from the pouring rights contracts ranged from 0.01% to 0.04% at these schools. Revenue estimates were not significantly associated with participants' opposition or favoring of pouring rights contracts (p=0.65).ConclusionsA large majority of students opposed pouring rights contracts, and this opposition was similar regardless of student socioeconomic characteristics or student estimates of pouring rights contract revenues. Students markedly overestimated (by >100-1,000-fold) the percentage of university revenue that came from pouring rights contracts. University administration should consider student views on pouring rights contracts when deciding whether to exit or continue with pouring rights contracts.

Dataset Information

University Student Perspectives of Entomophagy: Positive Attitudes Lead to Observability and Education Opportunities.

Publications

University Student Perspectives of Entomophagy: Positive Attitudes Lead to Observability and Education Opportunities.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets