Use Case Studies to Bring Life Into Your Nutrition Course

NutritionCalc Case studies are a helpful way for students to bring life to the information in their textbook and Connect offers a variety of different topics to be used in your class.

Case Studies are great as a stand-alone project but they can also be built into assignments or even expanded upon in a variety of ways.  No matter how you use the case studies your students will gain a deeper understanding of the topic while increasing their critical thinking skills.

How To Use

Here are a couple of ways you can use the auto-graded Case Study assignment in your classroom, whether virtual or in seated class.

Alternative to a personal 3-day record

A case study can be an alternative assignment for students who feel uncomfortable analyzing their diet and/or have a history of an eating disorder. The case study takes the focus off analyzing a personal record.

If needed, you can adjust the questions to focus more on the quality of the diet versus analyzing numbers like calories or grams of protein etc. You could also add more open-ended questions that include students looking for recipes that are suitable for that case study scenario.

Delve deeper to spark conversation into the topic

Use the case studies as an opportunity to have your students delve deeper into the topic with a discussion. If your students are in person, you can have them work in small groups and then discuss the case study. Alternatively, an online class may use discussion boards.

For example, the case study “Staying Energized When Stressed” could be a great case study to have at the beginning of the semester. This case study is a good starting point for students to bring self-awareness and begin to make connections with how college life can impact their eating habits.

Combine with another assignment

Each case study has 10 auto-graded questions that can be an excellent addition to an assignment you already have.

A nutrition article review assignment where students analyze the credibility of the article’s information can be a nice complement to many of the different case studies in Connect. By having an article review at the start of the assignment and then ending with a case study students can better demonstrate understanding and comprehension of the topic.

Add an AI menu planning feature

Take the case study one step further by incorporating a meal plan that is created using AI. Artificial intelligence will not always be accurate but one of the cool things about it is that it can create sample meal plans.

AI platforms can quickly create meal plans for various concerns or medical conditions; the accuracy of these plans is another story. Use an AI meal plan as a learning moment for students.

For example, assign the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome case study and then add an open-ended question where you instruct students to create an AI-generated meal plan. You can have the students write in their thoughts on the accuracy and feasibility of the meal plan. For your in-seat classes, you could have them bring their laptops and discuss in a small group.

Available Case Studies in NutritionCalc Plus: Nutrient Density, Keto Diet, Dietary Guidelines, Whole vs. Refined Grains, Diabetes, Mediterranean Diet, High Protein Diet, Vegan Dietary Pattern, DASH Diet, Weight Management, 5,000-calorie Diet, Breastfeeding Diet, School-Age Dietary Pattern, Okinawan Diet, WIC, Bone Health, Female Athlete Triad RED-S, Constipation.

New Cases coming Summer 2024: Celiac Disease, Elderly, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Fermented/Probiotic Foods, Heart Health, Anemia, Supporting Detox, Staying Energized when Stressed, Metabolic Support.