Student-faculty partnership to enhance online engagement through interactive HTML5 content in an introductory nutrition course

Cohort April 2024: Faculty of Land and Food Systems – Elizabeth Novak, Sarah Schneidereit, Camila Remolina, Gabriel Smith

Project background

FNH 250: Nutrition Concepts and Controversies is offered both in-person and asynchronously and covers introductory concepts in nutrition. It is required for Food, Nutrition, and Health (FNH) and Nutritional Sciences majors, and is a popular elective for Kinesiology, Science, and Pharmaceutical Sciences students. FNH 250 provides core understanding of macro and micronutrients, diet planning, and popular nutrition controversies. This course lays the foundation for success in upper-level nutrition courses and provides an overview of healthy diets for non-nutrition majors. 

The asynchronous section of FNH 250 was last updated over five years ago, and registration was recently increased from 50 to 150 students per semester. With increased class size, it has been challenging for the instructor to connect with students in a meaningful way. In recent Student Evaluations of Instruction, students appreciated the flexible and accessible course format but stated they would prefer more interactive content and opportunities to connect with the instructor and students. Much of the FNH 250 content is delivered through Canvas with little opportunity for active learning and interaction. FNH 250 would benefit from an update to match student needs for interactivity using newly available technology.  

Project details

Partnership offers the valuable opportunity to redesign the course with the combined expertise of students, faculty, and staff. Our student partners have taken FNH 250 asynchronously and can use their experiences to ensure student needs are addressed. The instructor’s input will ensure content and learning objectives are met. Our staff partner, from the Land and Food Systems Learning Centre will connect us with available technologies and educational strategies to meet our goals. 

The goal of this project is for students, staff, and faculty to work in partnership to redesign the asynchronous section of FNH 250 to:

  • Enhance student engagement with course materials.
  • Increase opportunities for student-instructor and student-student interactions.

Central to enhancing student engagement will be the incorporation of interactive HTML5 Package (H5P). The H5P content will be inserted into Canvas to add interactive elements, including short answer questions that provide instant feedback, games, photos, and interactive videos. Student partners will lead the development of these tools, ensuring a student-centred approach to learning. In these activities, diverse examples will be included that will help students apply course content to a variety of foods and diets. Interactive content may be preferred by students who are active learners or face difficulties concentrating on heavy reading tasks. Embedded assessments will also alert students to topics they may need to revisit for review. 

To increase opportunities for student-instructor and student-student interactions, we will seek input from students to identify common barriers to communication in online learning and strive to develop accessible tools to address these. Potential ideas include adding a portal for students to check in with instructors at set points or online games to promote student connections.

With this partnership, we will use the student perspective and new technology to enhance engagement in FNH 250, with the ultimate goal of sharing effective strategies for using the student voice to improve online learning.