“Is there any sugar in bread?” A qualitative video analysis of student activating learning tasks in Home Economics

Abstract

The Norwegian Food and Health (FH) school subject aims to develop students' ability to understand the association between diet and health. Research on FH in Norway indicates that the main focus today is on cooking and the development of practical cooking skills, leaving little emphasis on activities related to the more theoretical aspects of the curriculum. To increase students’ knowledge and skills regarding nutrition and health, we aimed to evaluate three newly developed student-activating learning tasks. Three 6th grade FH classes in Southern Norway participated. Audio and video recording of the learning tasks were used to evaluate the activities. Also, data from focus group discussions with FH teachers and students, which were conducted afterwards, was included in the analysis. By emphasising sociocultural learning and using the skills highlighted as essential in social learning and development as basis for the activities, we found the activities valuable in working with FH. The students’ learning process was stimulated while they engaged with the learning tasks by working in groups, by being active in interaction, dialogue, communication and collaboration, and by being given the opportunity to listen and argue. Language was used as a peda­gogical tool and was central in the students’ learning process. Both the students and their teachers valued the active and practical outline of the learning tasks. We propose a stronger emphasis on practical learning tasks in FH, to strengthen the students’ social learning and thus the learning in the subject, by using this as a pedagogical approach in FH classrooms.
 Keywords: Food and Health, Home Economics, social learning, sociocultural learning, learning tasks, video analysis
 
 «Er det sukker i brød?»: En kvalitativ videoanalyse av elevaktive læringsaktiviteter i Mat og Helse
 Sammendrag
 Mat og Helse (MH) i skolen har som mål å utvikle elevenes evne til å forstå sammen­hengen mellom kosthold og helse. Forskning på MH i Norge indikerer at hovedfokuset i dag er på matlaging og utvikling av praktiske matlagingsferdigheter, med mindre fokus på aktiviteter som retter seg mot det mer teoretiske innholdet i læreplanen. For å øke elevenes kunnskaper og ferdigheter relatert til ernæring og helse, ønsket vi å evaluere tre nyutviklede elevaktive læringsaktiviteter utviklet spesielt til MH-faget. Tre 6. klasser i Sør-Norge var med på utprøvingen av aktivitetene, og lyd- og videoopptak ble brukt til å evaluere aktivitetene. I tillegg ble data fra fokusgruppeintervjuer med MH-lærere og elever, som ble gjennomført i etterkant, inkludert i analysen. Aktivitetene viste seg å være nyttige i arbeidet med MH, ved å legge vekt på sosiokulturell læring og bruke ferdighetene som er trukket fram som essensielle i sosial læring og utvikling, som grunnlag for aktivitetene. Ved å tilrettelegge for at elevene kan jobbe i grupper og ved å oppfordre til interaksjon og dialog, kommunikasjon og samarbeid, og til å lytte og argumentere, ble deres læringsprosess stimulert i arbeidet med oppgavene. I et sosio­kulturelt perspektiv er det nærliggende å anta at dette virker positivt på elevenes lærings­prosess, siden språket er et sentralt pedagogisk verktøy. Under fokusgruppeintervjuene kom det fram at både elevene og lærerne verdsatte at aktivitetene var elevaktive og praktiske. Basert på dette foreslår vi et større fokus på praktiske læringsaktiviteter i MH for å styrke elevenes sosiale læring, og dermed læring i faget, ved bruke dette som en pedagogisk tilnærming.
 Nøkkelord: Mat og Helse, sosial læring, sosiokulturell læring, læringsaktiviteter, videoanalyse

Does food and health education in school influence students’ everyday life?

“…This study was undertaken as part of the LifeLab FH project at the University of Agder (UiA), Norway, which aimed to develop and evaluate different learning tasks in FH (Beinert et al, 2020(Beinert et al, , 2021. Data for the study consist of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), investigating how students experienced the subject, and the ways they believed it impacted on their everyday lives.…”

Project LifeLab Food and Health – Innovative Teaching for the Future: Development of Student Active Learning Tasks for Home Economics Education in the 21st Century

“…Overall, both the FH teachers and the students had a positive experience with the different learning tasks (Beinert et al, 2021). The students enjoyed having an active role, which was supported by the FH teachers.…”

“…Moreover, skills in problem solving, communication and collaboration are highlighted as important in 21 st century learning (Kay, 2015). For more details on the development and the pedagogical basis of the learning tasks, please see Beinert (2021) and Beinert et al (2021).…”

“…The test groups consisted of three groups of sixth graders and four groups of ninth graders (79 students in total) and the learning tasks were conducted in one of the students' scheduled FH classes (approximately two school hours). However, due to the extent of the project, we were only able to analyse grade six, consisting of one class of 13 students, and two other classes with 15 students in each class, i.e., 43 students in total (Beinert et al, 2021). Audio and video recordings were used to evaluate how the learning tasks worked.…”

“…The overall theme of the LifeLab FH learning tasks was food choices, and the analysis and findings of the evaluation of three of the six tasks can be found elsewhere (Beinert et al, 2021).…”