Date of Award

11-28-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Jim Vander Putten

Abstract

The obligation for preparing competent graduates begins with an educational experience in an environment that promotes optimal learning. An important outcome of successful health professions education is the passage of the certification exam. The objective of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes and teaching strategies and the effect on certification exam pass rate in dietetic education programs. A non-experimental associational cross-sectional mixed methods design was chosen for the study in order to gather objective data through the use of the previously validated Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. A 30 item electronic survey was administered to faculty in dietetic education programs (N=232). Descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, factor analysis and analysis of variance were obtained. The sample was 94.2% female, 93.7% white, and 56.3% were program directors. The forced two-factor analysis explained 36.45% of the variance, with shared control/student negotiation comprising the highest loadings. ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p < .05) in the subgroup “students’ influence on teaching strategies” among program types. Data were grouped and re-analyzed to further explore teaching strategies through qualitative questionnaires. An open response electronic questionnaire composed of six questions and a follow-up questionnaire of eight additional questions composed the second phase of data collection to assist in identifying themes. The resulting findings and conclusions indicate that dietetic programs that incorporate constructivist learning environment practices tend to value student opinion of learning, regardless of the type of program. However student involvement in planning and assessing learning was not as well utilized and certification exam pass rate data was inconclusive. Future research should investigate the relationship of instructional strategies used in dietetic programs with individual student pass rates.

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