Nutrition 572: Community Education

As a Service Learning (SL Certified) course, Nutrition 572 provides an opportunity for students to apply nutrition knowledge through a team-based project, in collaboration with community partners.  Students participate in weekly service placement with a community-based organization for nutrition education. Knowledge and skills gained in the course are transferable and can be applied in public health, medical practice, allied health practitioners, nurses, and dietitians. 

Service Learning fosters meaningful and respectful community engagement that integrates community service with structured learning and facilitates reflective thinking. Through their projects, students learn skills for creating productive collaborations that facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of nutrition education that meets the needs identified by their community partners. 

In this class students work with their peers to learn the skills and techniques needed to effectively carry out community nutrition programs and nutrition education, including knowledge of agencies and programs, community assessment, legislation, nutrition education, and working with people. They also present a reflection of their community engaged work to their classmates.

Students leave the class with an understanding of the core principals of community nutrition through application of their knowledge in the design and implementation of a community-based nutrition project. Students also engage in discussions on a range of community nutrition topics aimed at increasing understanding of the critical contribution social and environmental determinants of health have on health outcomes.