Engaging Prelab Experiences for High School ProStart Students
Kari Bereczky
Introduction:
Colorado ProStart is a hospitality education program for high school juniors and seniors. The program is offered by the Colorado Restaurant Foundation through the Colorado Restaurant Association. The program includes hospitality management, culinary arts, and business economics curriculum that provides high school students college credit, scholarships, and paid work experience opportunities.
I was a Culinary Instructor for the Colorado ProStart program, as well as an Affiliate Chef Instructor for Metropolitan State University. Because culinary school graduates are in high demand, I believe culinary education should be more accessible for students. By creating more options for online learning, students can cover essential curriculum before entering the kitchen.
Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder and MSU Denver have begun moving in this direction and I think it will continue. MSU Denver offers a “Food Fundamentals” class online, as part of their Hospitality program. The class covers basic food knowledge, food safety, and nutrition. The class is a prerequisite that students must take before entering the teaching kitchen. By offering hybrid classes, high schools can better educate future cooks. Through my experience teaching and conversations with colleges and students, it’s determined that students want an interactive learning environment, even when they can’t be in the kitchen. Housing the current ProStart curriculum in the LMS platform Blackboard could bring the ProStart program into a cohesive training hub.
The Problem
High school junior and senior students are excited when they begin the Colorado Restaurant Association’s ProStart program. They can’t wait to get into the kitchen and become the next “Top Chef”. But before they can get into the kitchen there is material that needs to be covered first; equipment knowledge, product identification, measuring, and food safety. Students don’t find these subjects engaging enough. It would be beneficial if they could cover that portion of the curriculum online before entering the classroom. ProStart students can cover these introductory subjects through interactive online learning modules in Blackboard.
Planned Intervention
- The planned intervention is to transfer content from the current Colorado ProStart Google site to online learning modules through Blackboard. The existing site includes materials specifically for teachers and students, including; curriculum, content, quizzes, and community. The 27 Colorado high schools can easily follow the lead of Metropolitan State University’s Hospitality, Tourism, and Events department, by providing a hybrid curriculum to ProStart students. The students can engage in online content that covers material that would otherwise be taught in a classroom. Students will be given a login to access their account. They can also track progress through the chapters and review material already covered. By placing the “prelab” curriculum online, students will be more engaged in the content, therefore resulting in better learning outcomes.
- Colorado ProStart instructors are also Affiliate Instructors at MSU. The instructors will have access and be trained on how to use Blackboard for their ProStart students. Instructors will be trained on how to access the site for use in their classrooms/kitchens. The curriculum currently shared by ProStart teachers in a Google Site will now be converted into modules into Blackboard, the current LMS platform utilized by Metropolitan State University at Denver.
Timeline for Implementation
Weeks 1-4
- Current materials on the Colorado ProStart site will be transferred to Blackboard and converted into Modules.
Weeks 5-6
- ProStart teachers will be introduced to the LMS, Blackboard.
- ProStart teachers will be trained on the functionality of Blackboard.
- Learning Modules will be reviewed by instructors and questions answered.
- Modifications to materials, if necessary.
Weeks 7
- ProStart students will be given an introductory assignment in Blackboard.
- Students will ask questions that will be answered by teachers if there are any issues.
Week 8-20
- Full implementation of Blackboard for Colorado ProStart students.
- Students will complete prerequisite work in Blackboard and track their progress through Blackboard and feedback from instructors.
Week 21
- At the end of the semester, students will be given their ProStart Exam.
- Scores will be evaluated to determine if prelab modules helped learning outcomes throughout and at the conclusion of the semester.
Week 22
- During summer training, ProStart Teachers will evaluate if any modifications are needed for the following year.
Evaluation Plan
- To determine the success of the plan students and teachers were given a monthly survey to rate the success of the prelab online modules.
- Using a Likert Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likert_scale, they have assessed the following areas; accessibility, engagement, effectiveness, and value of Blackboard in ProStart.
Expected Findings / Potential Issues
- I expected that high school ProStart students would be excited to be able to use technology (phones or Chromebook) to access prelab modules.
- Potential issues that we may have encountered would be; students not having access to the internet, a computer at home or they may not have a mobile device of their own.
Description of Implementation
- ProStart students now can access all planned curriculum for the semester online through Blackboard.
- The students can move at their own pace while staying connected with Blackboard through school Chromebooks or their own mobile devices.
Findings
Students were more than happy to utilize technology into their culinary and hospitality studies. They found that the prelab modules helped them better understand what to expect when cooking in the kitchen lab. The kitchen lab time was shortened because students were better equipped when they arrived in class. Instructors were more pleased with the lab outcomes because students were more prepared which resulted in better lab evaluations. Better food products were made as a result and there was time to finish cleaning the kitchen!
Conclusion
Overall the change project was welcomed by instructors, administrators, and students alike. By converting the ProStart curriculum into Blackboard students were able to engage more inessential, but sometimes “dry” subject matter. Students scored higher than in previous years at the end of the year assessment. Instructors were able to shorten lab times which allowed for a smooth transition between classes. Students were not rushed to change into their chef uniforms and there was sufficient time to clean labs afterward. Moving forward Colorado ProStart administrators will work to further develop the hybrid system of implementing the curriculum for future students. The more successful the hybrid curriculum, the chances for expanding the ProStart program into rural Colorado schools is greater.
Resources
Gryczka, P., Klementowicz, E., Sharrock, C., Maxfield, M. and Montclare, J. (2016). LabLessons: Effects of Electronic Prelabs on Student Engagement and Performance. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(12), pp.2012-2017.
Horton, W. (2011). E-Learning by Design. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons.
Müller, K., VanLeeuwen, D., Mandabach, K. and Harrington, R. (2009). The effectiveness of culinary curricula: a case study. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 21(2), pp.167-178.