Social Constructivist Teaching and Dietary Knowledge

The concept of balanced diet which is the combination of the six classes of food: carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, mineral and fiber; in their right proportion is misconstrued by a lot of students. A lot of misconceptions on classification of food items into the six classes of food, function of food classes in the body and percentage composition of classes of food in a balanced diet abound amongst children ages 10-12 years old. This book therefore dealt with these misconceptions by proposing a teaching model based on social constructivist paradigm of teaching and learning which takes into cognizance students¿ prior knowledge of balanced diet. The developed teaching model called Teaching/Learning Sequence (TLS) was compared with the regular teaching method (RTM) on students¿ conceptual understanding and practical skill acquisition of dietary knowledge. The study sample consisted of four primary schools and three secondary schools in a rural mid Wales Healthy School Scheme Award. There was a significant improvement after intervention of the (TLS) over the (RTM) during post and retention test. There was evidence of increase of consumption of healthy snack after the intervention.