Students’ Perceptions of Team-based Learning in an Undergraduate Nutrition School

Abstract

Introduction: Current challenges in the food and nutrition fields have required training nutritionists to develop teamwork skills, demanding the use of active methodologies. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study aimed at knowing Nutrition students' perceptions about the use of Team Based Learning (TBL) in a course. Focus groups were conducted and submitted to content analysis. Results: Categories were grouped into three axes: (1) principles of the method (teamwork, individual preparation and teacher's role), (2) results of the experience (knowledge acquisition, critical judgment and communication/argumentation) and (3) meanings of the experience (engagement/motivation and preference for the method). Teamwork was the most frequent category (51 occurrences), followed by knowledge acquisition (44) and engagement/motivation (35). Axis 1 categories came out linked to each other and to at least one Axis 2 category, revealing the course's coherence with TBL principles, thus allowing better knowledge acquisition, communication skills, and development of critical judgment. Axis 3 was connected to the others, pointing out that both principles of the method and results of the experience contributed to students' engagement and preference for the method. Conclusion: According to students' perceptions, TBL can contribute to provide nutritionists with better technical training, critical judgment, and communication skills.

Keywords

• teaching and learning
• public health
• communication skills
• undergraduate