This project is expected to contribute to the improvement in human nutrition education, especially, among HE students, as future healthcare professionals and also among Dietitians, through an effective method of experiential learning. The priority in any effective training programme should be placed on the development of a proper environments for active learning and real-based scenarios.
The project aims at covering the gap of practical competences considered as a critical issue for all healthcare professionals. Possible solution goes through early interaction between potential patients and the educational system in non-critical situations. Thus, common training will be complemented with real practice, which includes individual and collaborative work, very different from traditional training assignments, since it will connect people with learners. This DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT BASED ON EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING with individuals and the generation of a VIRTUAL PATIENT BASED ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE are the cores of our innovative proposal.
As additional benefit from the project, we will introduce digital tools that open chances of SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY as it will be possible to help individuals with assessments and advices on their diets. Here we introduce the Community- Service/Service-Learning approach.
SERVICE-LEARNING is an “educational proposal that combines learning processes and community service in a single well-articulated project where participants learn by working on real needs of the environment in order to improve it (…) an innovative pedagogical approach that integrates meaningful community service or engagement into the curriculum and offers students’ academic credit for the learning that derives from active engagement within community and work on a real world problem. Reflection and experiential learning strategies underpin the process and the service is linked to the academic discipline” (McIlrath et al., 2016, p. 5).
In the context of Community-Service/Service Learning, we also introduce some transversal aims of this approach, we appoint special considerations to individuals with social/economic obstacles or event health problems, elder people andsome the promotion of Mediterranean Diet and SUSTAINABLE EATING.
General objective
The general objective of this project is the improvement of the practical trainings in Dietetics Education and the promotion of a community/service-learning approach related to nutrition and healthy habits as a social responsibility of the university.
In order to reach this aim, we pursue to develop and validate innovative training digital products oriented to facilitate interactive learning experiences in the education field of dietetics.
Specific objectives
- to produce practical scenarios of EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING around the most relevant clinical cases and general practice of the community dietitian.
- to produce educational technologies for training practical and INTERPERSONAL SKILLS in health issues related to dietetics.
- to increase SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY of the higher education institutions giving response to the third mission of the University and promoting healthy and sustainable eating habits.
- to promote and better ALIGN EDUCATION IN DIETETICS with the health systems and policy-makers
