Assessment of Cultural Sensitivity in Dietetics Education

Abstract

Cultural sensitivity and competency are skills needed for agricultural professionals including nutrition and dietetics practitioners. The objective of the current study was to examine the learning transference of cultural sensitivity topics taught in a cultural foods course into case study assessments of a capstone-level course. This study is a cross-sectional, content analysis of cultural sensitivity assessment rubric (CSAR) scores for two case study assessments. The study was conducted in a landgrant, research-intensive university and 55 students (60%) from a capstone-level dietetics course participated. T-tests were used to compare CSAR scores between students who had completed a cultural foods course and those who had not. Students who completed the cultural foods course, n= 39 (71%), on average scored significantly higher (p\u3c 0.037) on the CSAR, 2.11/10, versus an average score of 1.03/10 among the students who had not completed the course, n=16 (29%). Students who completed the cultural foods course were more likely to apply cultural sensitivity knowledge and awareness without explicit elicitation than those who had not completed the course. Findings reinforce the use of intentional assessments of cultural sensitivity and competency topics and provide support for laying a cultural sensitivity foundation in undergraduate education

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