Erica Preston's Mini-Analysis: Food as Fuel

Topic: Food as Fuel (how the body uses the food we eat as fuel)

Audience: Adult learners interested in incorporating healthy eating habits into their daily lives as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Description of analysis:
What types of questions did you include?

These questions were meant to gather information about the level of interest and prior knowledge of: healthy living in general; and how food plays into living a healthy lifestyle.

1. Are you interested in living a healthy lifestyle? (Studies have shown that living a healthy lifestyle can decrease the risks for certain diseases, increase activity, reduce stress and enhance self-esteem.)

2. Do you think the food that you consume makes a difference in your overall health?

3. On a scale from 1 to 10, please rate how healthy you feel your eating habits are currently, with 1 being extremely unhealthy, and 10 being extremely healthy.

4. On a scale from 1 to 10, please rate how healthy you feel in general currently, with 1 being extremely unhealthy, and 10 being extremely healthy.

5. Are you aware of the processes the food you consume goes through to be turned into fuel for your body to use?

6. Would you be interested in learning more about how your body processes the food you consume and uses it for fuel, as it relates to your health?

7. Have you ever dieted? Some popular types of diets are Atkins, the Grapefruit Diet, the use of appetite suppressants, etc. (Your answer does not have to be limited to one of these diets – these are just examples.)

8. Would you be interested in receiving recipes for healthy meals that actually taste good?

9. Would you be interested in sharing your own recipes for tasty, healthy meals with others?

How many people took the survey, and what did you find out?
Eight respondents completed the survey. All respondents showed interested in living a healthy lifestyle, and all have dieted. The majority of respondents believe that what we eat makes a difference in our health, and are interested in more information on how food and health are related. Although not all respondents showed immediate interest in learning more about the subject, they still are qualified candidates as learners for the subject matter based on the answers to the questions overall.

How can you use this info to help design the course?
-Engage learners and promote interaction by designing short sections with information relevant to actual lifestyles.

-Include short surveys to gather additional information about individual learner needs as the lesson progresses.

-Use photos where applicable, especially when describing food and recipes.

-Provide time for feedback, questions, and sharing of ideas.

-Provide links and/or shared documents containing information that learners can take away from the session to easily incorporate into their daily lives if they choose to do so (i.e. recipes, quick facts, tips and tricks, etc.)