A Problem-Solving Flipped Classroom Module: Developing Problem-solving Skills among Culinary Arts Students

Problem-solving skills are important at the workplace in Culinary Arts for initiating innovative and creative solutions. However, graduates from community colleges in Malaysia seem to have only average level of problem-solving skills, while instructors do not seem to emphasise developing problem-solving skills when conducting lessons. Hence, providing more opportunities in solving real-world problems for work is required. A Flipped Classroom approach begins with activities conducted with video lectures on key concepts and gatekeeper quizzes to be completed before class and in-class phase spent on applying concepts learned before class using problem-solving activities. In this study, a Problem-Solving Flipped Classroom (PSFC) module designed for students in the Culinary Arts programme in a Malaysian Community College based on Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction and the Cognitive Apprenticeship framework was employed and implemented among 30 first-semester students and one participating instructor in a selected Community College. The single group pretest and post test quasi-experimental design was used to investigate the effectiveness of the PSFC module for learning and problem solving. Using t-test analysis, the findings indicated that the students had significant learning gains and improvement in problem-solving skills after using the module. Hence, the PSFC module could be used in Culinary Arts at other Community Colleges and TVET institutions to improve problem-solving skills among Culinary Arts students. This is to ensure a significant amount of instruction at Community Colleges include problem-solving instruction using authentic tasks at a level suitable for students to acquire problem-solving skills required in the workforce

Enhancing Literacy Education with Narrative Richness in the Metaverse

Through an education-centric metaverse learning application, this research aims to assess the use of narrative richness to deliver media, language, and sustainability literacy education. The 21st-century learning needs require teaching and learning resources to be shared and managed more effectively across institutions. The use of metaverse features can help to manage varying narrative richness to boost learning reflection and attitude. Despite its potential, it is unclear how narrative richness in the metaverse can enhance teaching and learning. The study proposed in this research, which includes institutions from four Asian countries, is driven by this knowledge and evidence gap. Module leaders conceptualize and evaluate a purpose-built metaverse-learning application to produce rich and realistic learning experiences. We utilize narratives to enhance the realism of learning experiences and will assess the effects of narrative richness on learning reflection and attitude

Using social mobile learning to stimulate idea generation for collective intelligence among higher education students

The importance of social networks has increased in recent decades, yet the use of social learning in higher education is nascent. Little is known how to foster high levels of social learning discourse among students in higher education classrooms. To address this gap, the present study analyses the use of a mobile application (Soqqle) for sharing student-generated content and peer-to-peer communication. Students from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia uploaded videos linked to assessments and received feedback from their instructors and peers through social engagement features (e.g., comments, likes). The majority of students reported that the social learning experience promoted idea generation, increased creativity, and improved attention. These results indicate that integrating online platforms and mobile applications can promote social learning. The findings have important implications for educational practice because many educational institutions have adopted online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Development of a flipped classroom module based on problem-solving of culinary arts for community colleges / Umawathy Techanamurthy

Problem-solving skills is one of the employability skills required by the industry. However, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates seem to lack problem-solving skills despite having the technical skills. One of the causes to this problem may be due to the insufficient practice in solving real-world problems, even instructors lack the pedagogical skills to teach for problem-solving. Hence, in this study a Problem-Solving Flipped Classroom (PSFC) module was developed for enhancing students’ problem-solving skills. A design and developmental research approach with three phases for needs analysis, design and development, and evaluation, was employed. In the first phase, 831 Culinary Arts students from all the 11 Community Colleges offering Certificate in Culinary Arts were surveyed to identify their level of problem-solving skills and their readiness for flipped classroom (FC) implementation. In addition, semi-structured interviews with 10 instructors were to gain insights into their current teaching practices. Findings indicate that students had average levels of problem-solving skills but exhibited high-level of readiness towards FC implementation. Instructors’ seem to follow the traditional culinary pedagogical model which did not seem to develop problem-solving skills. Thus, there was a need for a module to develop problem-solving skills and the FC approach could be used. In the design phase, the elements appropriate for the PSFC module were determined using the Fuzzy Delphi (FD) method. Firstly, semi-structured interviews with six experts was conducted and the data was analysed into themes to design the FD Instrument. The instrument was distributed to a panel of 19 experts for consensus on the elements in the module. The consensus was achieved for elements of instruction in nine lessons for real-world problems related to Standards of Professionalism, Food Safety, Kitchen Safety and Kitchen Fundamentals. The PSFC module developed was reviewed by six experts and improved before implementation. In the module, lessons were facilitated by instructors using Telegram, while the instructional materials and resources were hosted on Schoology. The PSFC module was implemented among 30 students in a Community College in the evaluation phase using a single-group experiment. In addition, surveys on students’ perception of the module and interviews with the participating instructor were done to determine the module’s usability. The t-test analysis indicates a significant difference in pre-test and post-test scores for learning, t(29) = 12.458, p < .05 and for problem-solving, t(29) = 17.943, p < .05. Students also had positive perception towards their learning experience and the instructor found the module pedagogically and technically usable. The findings show that the module is effective in improving students’ problem-solving skills and learning. The module enables instructors to teach problem-solving using authentic tasks and resources in teaching Culinary Arts. It is recommended that the module could be implemented in other Culinary Arts classrooms to improve students’ problem-solving skills

Problem-Solving Strategies Among Culinary Arts Students in Community Colleges

Culinary Arts is an area in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) where students need to possess problem-solving skills besides having fundamental subject matter knowledge and hands-on skills required for the technical aspects of cooking. The key components for learning to solve problems are analogizing, modelling, reasoning causally, and arguing. The development of these strategies will assist students in completing numerous cognitive tasks. However, little research has been done which provide information on the level of these skills in the context of students at Community Colleges, particularly among Culinary Arts students. Drawing from a survey data, the paper examines problem-solving skills of 831 Culinary Arts students, most of whom were aged 18-24, from eleven Community Colleges offering Certificate in Culinary Arts Programme throughout Malaysia. The analysis results revealed that students had only medium level of problem-solving skills. The finding is of great significance as knowing the level of problem-solving skills of Culinary Arts students is essential before designing a suitable intervention for them. Specifically, the findings can be used to justify the design of new learning environments towards developing problem-solving skills more effectively

Problem-solving strategies among culinary arts students in community colleges

Culinary Arts is an area in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) where students need to possess problem-solving skills besides having fundamental subject matter knowledge and hands-on skills required for the technical aspects of cooking. The key components for learning to solve problems are analogizing, modelling, reasoning causally, and arguing. The development of these strategies will assist students in completing numerous cognitive tasks. However, little research has been done which provide information on the level of these skills in the context of students at Community Colleges, particularly among Culinary Arts students. Drawing from a survey data, the paper examines problem-solving skills of 831 Culinary Arts students, most of whom were aged 18-24, from eleven Community Colleges offering Certificate in Culinary Arts Programme throughout Malaysia. The analysis results revealed that students had only medium level of problem-solving skills. The finding is of great significance as knowing the level of problem-solving skills of Culinary Arts students is essential before designing a suitable intervention for them. Specifically, the findings can be used to justify the design of new learning environments towards developing problem-solving skills more effectively

A framework of culinary-specific competencies for sustainable professional development in gastronomic tourism

The aim of this qualitative study is to develop a framework of culinary - specific competencies for sustainable professional development towards contemporary gastronomic tourism in Malaysian context . In specific, the study outlines an effective approach in the development of competency framework for culinary professionals in Malaysian hotels sector. In the qualitative stage, interviews were conducted among culinary educators and high performers’ chefs in Malaysian culinary industry. The qualitative study successfully identified 14 indicators of important competencies . Subsequently , the study develops a competency framework of the technical (culinary - specific) competencies based on the data gathered from the interviews . The outcome of the study would be an opportunity for the human resource management in developing comprehensive training and development programs for the workforce targeted to specific areas of employees’ competencies