Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions
College courses are often offered from various disciplines, and depending on which department offers the class, the course could be taught by faculty with different educational preparation or training. This could result in significant differences in the approach and content of the course (i.e., theo...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Sports |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/11/9/176 |
| _version_ | 1797576830104895488 |
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| author | Kayla Marie Norton Randall Spencer Davies James Derek LeCheminant Susan Fullmer |
| author_facet | Kayla Marie Norton Randall Spencer Davies James Derek LeCheminant Susan Fullmer |
| author_sort | Kayla Marie Norton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | College courses are often offered from various disciplines, and depending on which department offers the class, the course could be taught by faculty with different educational preparation or training. This could result in significant differences in the approach and content of the course (i.e., theoretical or applied) or a difference in the instructors’ perceived importance and, therefore, the depth and time spent on various topics. We evaluated potential differences in the sports nutrition curriculum because it is a course that is usually taught by either nutritionists or exercise physiologists. A cross-sectional survey was sent to sports nutrition instructors at accredited large U.S. institutions. Descriptive statistics were analyzed via an ANOVA and <i>Χ</i><sup>2</sup> using Crosstabs in Qualtrics. Alpha was set at <i>p</i> < 0.001. Additionally, short interviews with some participants were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The findings of this study indicated that regardless of the instructor’s educational preparation and discipline, the majority of sports nutrition topics received similar time and depth and were rated as similarly important (<i>p</i> > 0.001). Out of 10 current textbooks, the majority of instructors preferred only 1 of 4 of them. From the short interviews, instructors reported that their courses were more applied than theoretical or balanced between the two. Most instructors designed their courses with a focus on achieving applied outcomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:59:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4b63eedad1fe4e75ba5808b72b367eff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4663 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:59:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sports |
| spelling | doaj.art-4b63eedad1fe4e75ba5808b72b367eff2023-11-19T13:00:26ZengMDPI AGSports2075-46632023-09-0111917610.3390/sports11090176Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. InstitutionsKayla Marie Norton0Randall Spencer Davies1James Derek LeCheminant2Susan Fullmer3Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Instructional Psychology and Technology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USADepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USACollege courses are often offered from various disciplines, and depending on which department offers the class, the course could be taught by faculty with different educational preparation or training. This could result in significant differences in the approach and content of the course (i.e., theoretical or applied) or a difference in the instructors’ perceived importance and, therefore, the depth and time spent on various topics. We evaluated potential differences in the sports nutrition curriculum because it is a course that is usually taught by either nutritionists or exercise physiologists. A cross-sectional survey was sent to sports nutrition instructors at accredited large U.S. institutions. Descriptive statistics were analyzed via an ANOVA and <i>Χ</i><sup>2</sup> using Crosstabs in Qualtrics. Alpha was set at <i>p</i> < 0.001. Additionally, short interviews with some participants were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The findings of this study indicated that regardless of the instructor’s educational preparation and discipline, the majority of sports nutrition topics received similar time and depth and were rated as similarly important (<i>p</i> > 0.001). Out of 10 current textbooks, the majority of instructors preferred only 1 of 4 of them. From the short interviews, instructors reported that their courses were more applied than theoretical or balanced between the two. Most instructors designed their courses with a focus on achieving applied outcomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/11/9/176sports nutrition educationhigher educationsports nutrition curriculuminstructor preparationnutritionistexercise physiologist |
| spellingShingle | Kayla Marie Norton Randall Spencer Davies James Derek LeCheminant Susan Fullmer Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions Sports sports nutrition education higher education sports nutrition curriculum instructor preparation nutritionist exercise physiologist |
| title | Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions |
| title_full | Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions |
| title_fullStr | Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions |
| title_short | Educational Preparation and Course Approach of Undergraduate Sports Nutrition instructors in Large U.S. Institutions |
| title_sort | educational preparation and course approach of undergraduate sports nutrition instructors in large u s institutions |
| topic | sports nutrition education higher education sports nutrition curriculum instructor preparation nutritionist exercise physiologist |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/11/9/176 |
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