Teaching food and nutrition using the SAIL approach

Introduction

Formal assessments are the leitmotiv of the education epoch. Summative and quantitative tests included in the curriculum are often used as indicators of students' understanding and depth of learning. However, education system is dynamic, especially living in a moment of deep, historical mutation, in which traditional meanings are dissolving, educators began to re-think the essentials of effective teaching and learning.

The new initiative ‘Teach Less, Learn More' puts the importance of dispensing information to inject interest and excite passion for learning in the limelight. The focus on ‘quantity' education, by degrees, has shifted to ‘quality' education. More ‘quality' education encompasses classroom interaction, opportunities for expression, the learning of lifelong skills and the building of character through innovative and teaching approaches and strategies. In the contrary, less ‘quantitative' education refers to rote-learning, repetitive tests and following prescribed answers or set formulae. Students should be provided with more opportunities to exercise initiative and shape more of their own learning.

According to the literature on education, active learning goes beyond listening and taking notes. Bonwell and Eison (1991) define active learning as instructional activities ‘involving students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing' Simons (1997) says that active learning has two dimensions: independent learning and active working. Independent learning refers to involving students in making decisions about the learning process (for example, choosing a research topic, evaluating peers' contributions in a group project and setting learning goals for a task). Active working refers to ‘the extent to which the learner is challenged to use his or her mental abilities while learning' (Simons, 1997). The successful implementation of these learning activities will ‘foster curiosity and the capacity to manage one's own learning agenda' (Stern, 1997) and align the learning outcome to the lifelong learning imperative of the knowledge-based economy.

Strategies for Active and Independent Learning (SAIL) Approach

Aim. The SAIL approach aims to engage students in active and reflective learning, and to cultivate independent learning habits. Students should foster habits of self-directed learning and take higher accountability in their education.

Structure. The SAIL approach entails learning as a formative and developmental process, in which instruction and assessment point the way for students to learn and improve continuously. It is supported by a set of tools:

• broad statements of learning expectations;
• tasks that provide scope for students to learn and demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes articulated in these statements of learning expectations;
• assessment tools that spell out the various dimensions for evaluating students' performance in these tasks, as well as the levels of attainment for each of the dimensions.

Teachers will communicate the learning expectations and assessment criteria clearly to students. The statements of learning expectations are kept broad, so as to allow teachers to select open-ended tasks that encourage divergent thinking and alternative responses. Teachers will use the assessment criteria to provide students with qualitative feedback that will help them better understand their areas of strength, and discover what they need to do to improve their performance. In addition, teachers will provide opportunities for students to use the assessment criteria to evaluate their own work and that of their peers. The approach then becomes a learning tool for students to reflect on their performance and articulate what they have learnt. This will help enliven the classroom, by stimulating questions and discussion on what the students learn.

Teaching food and nutrition through the SAIL approach

From the preceding sections, it is evident that active learning approach requires substantial effort in planning and implementation. Here I would like to share my experience, as a beginning teacher, how the SAIL approach was employed in the teaching of Food and Nutrition, to complement the education initiative, ‘Teach Less Learn More' and engage students become better thinkers and learners.

What was the motivation to change the usual teaching practice? ‘Education for a future of change' is a driving slogan liberally expounded by education bodies. It stems from the need to prepare students to become better thinkers and learners in reduced content curriculum practices. Learning styles of students are not homogeneous and this remains a challenge for educators and beginning teachers to a greater extend.

Responding to students' thin interest in chalk-and-talk lessons, this review takes up the challenge of widening the white space in classroom and at the same time engaging students to participate in a supportive learning environment.

How was the lesson implemented to make learning more exciting and effective?

The lesson was carried out for a class size of 20 students. Students work in pairs and are assigned to revise six chapters as a part of preparatory for the End-of-Year Examination. The objective of the lesson is to include cooperative learning and peer-teaching alongside with the SAIL approach.

First, an intellectual environment was structured to prepare the mindset of students that the lesson will be taught differently (Miller, Groccia and Wilkes; 1996). The lesson objective is communicated to the students and is opened to shared inquiry. The students are required to pace themselves, in a pair-work fashion, to complete the revision of six chapters within 45 minutes. Each of the members will read through three chapters and peer-teach to exchange content. Peer-teaching stimulates the cognitive acquisition of the content knowledge through cooperative learning and serves as a domain for active learning to take place when students question and reflect. Simple interpersonal skill and communication skills, such as paying attention to what the other student have to say, is emphasised.

After which the pairs will receive a quiz, comprised of questions in sets, each with learning expectations and assessment criteria. The quiz is time-bound to influence speed processing and recalling key information and is to be sat for in pairs to promote positive interdependence, literacy and language skills through communication and active learning.

This quiz is also serves as a pre-requisite structure for the flow of the next practical lesson on ‘Pizza-Baking with Yeast and High Gluten Flour'. Students are driven to do a thorough revision in order to be fully prepared for the assessment as they are awarded not in terms of marks, but different food ingredients that will make up the toppings for their pizzas.

The assessment criteria clearly indicate the number of correct attempts and relevant points in proportion to the quantity of particular food ingredients the students will be awarded with. The quiz was structured to incorporate different thinking skills with varied order of difficulty levels. Basic ingredients such as seasoning, base spread, onions and capsicum are awarded for lower-order questions while more luxurious items such as chicken meat, ham slices, sausages and cheese are awarded for higher-order questions.

What are the limitations to this new approach in teaching and learning?

The essentials of active and reflective learning encompass what students should know and be able to do, and the need to improve and progress. This awareness is the springboard from which students' foster habits of self-directed and independent learning. Inculcation of such awareness needs not only a lesson or two to accomplish the objective but a considerably long period of time for habits to take shape.

Another important factor which determines the design of the lesson is the delineation of the objectives. Students have to be clear of the broad instructional statements and have a common group goal to work towards. The cognitive and conceptual links between the content and the activities have to be mapped out to serve as an evaluation tool to assess the capacity of learning.

How this method of innovative teaching and learning practice has improved learning outcomes?

Students are engaged in their revision as the award of food ingredients serves as an extrinsic motivation. They are able to manage the allotted time to revise the key contents and set aside time for peer-teaching. The exchange of knowledge and teaching methodologies of each individual set a new classroom climate, where the teacher's role hence becomes a facilitator primarily.

In terms of positive measurable outcomes, the results of the quiz conclude no failures and most achieved sufficient food ingredients to present a basic pizza in their next practical lesson. Students are aware of their performance and able to evaluate their individual strengths and weaknesses using the assessment criteria.

The revision and peer-teaching is evident to be effective in better memory retention. The questions phrased from the six chapters in the End-of-Year Examination are better managed by the students as compared to others of the same level of difficulty.

In conclusion, innovative methods of teaching should replace a fraction of traditional chalk-and-talk lessons to steer positive changes in the education system and empower learners to learn.

References

1. Charles & Mertler (2002). Introduction to Education Research. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

2. Nanyang Technological University. REACT, Vol. 22, Number1, June 200.

3. Assistant Professor Donald F. Favareau (2005). Teaching ‘Process as Practice' Using the Model of Reflective Thought. http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/brief/V8n2/default.htm

4. Shamugaratnam, T (2004). Speech by Mr Tharman Shamugaratnam, Minister for Education, at the launch of the Monograph on Strategies for Active and Independent Learning (SAIL), held on 25 March 2004. http://app.sprinter.gov.sg/data/pr/2004032598.htm.