HNE-10306 Nutrition and Health I: an Introduction to the Field

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

Dutch

Contents:

The course is primarily an introduction and gives the students an overview of the field of nutrition. Students are introduced to:
- de nature and content of the broad field of nutrition, addressing nutrition and health, epidemiology, public health nutrition, physiology and toxicology;
- the type of research questions at the level of the cell, the individual and the population;
- the curricula of the BSc and MSc in Nutrition and Health, including job opportunities. Furthermore the course allows students to develop specific academic skills:
- information literacy: getting familiar with the information resources of the field of nutrition, both university library network resources of the field of nutrition and specific internet sites and portals; - working in groups, with emphasize on the problem based approach (zevensprong);
- general computer skills (EDUweb/blackboard, email, web, word, excel, powerpoint, access).

Learning outcomes:

After the course the students will have knowledge of:
- the study programme Nutrition and Health including its options and specializations and the related job options.
After the course the students will be able:
- to define and describe four scientific fields of Nutrition in relation to human health: Nutrition in - Epidemiology and Public Health, Nutritional Physiology and Health Status, Molecular Nutritionand Toxicology, Sensory Science;
- to recognize, describe, explain and give at least one example of a key research questions in the field of diet, lifestyle and health and disease and to understand the role of diet at the level of cell, individual and population;
- to apply the Zevensprong as a group-wise, problem based case study method.
After the course the students will have the skills to:
- to use information sources that can be accessed via the library network to find, judge and manage information and knowledge efficiently and effectively;
- to apply general computer skills.

Activities:

The course is composed of 5 modules, each with their specific activities. Five fields within the domain of nutrition will be presented during lectures and through a problem based case. The curricula and job opportunities are presented with lectures and computer-based tasks. Both the information literacy and the computer skills are taught using computer-assisted education. The group work is supported by a lecture on problem based education ('Zevensprong') and a short training.

Examination:

Participation in the problem based education is compulsory. All assignments have to be completed. The exam consists of three separate examinations:
- multiple choice exam on the domain of nutrition (80%);
- a computer-based exam for information literacy (10%):
- a computer-based exam for the computer skills (10%).
Each of the exams should be completed successfully (at least 5.5).

Literature:

Course reader including literature can be obtained through WUR-Shop, Forum. Book: Whitney E, Rolfes S. Understanding Nutrition. 12th edition. ISBN-13:978-538-73476-9. Additional literature, documentation and tasks will be provided through the Blackboard learning environment .