| Title of Project: | FSMOD: Internet-delivery of Context-specific Food Safety Modules | |
| Project Director: | Mildred M. Cody, PhD, RD | |
| Applicant Organization: | Georgia State University |
Although the Internet provides current food safety information, this information is seldom in a teaching/learning format. Well-developed, context-specific modules provide aids that enhance learning from information-rich websites and demonstrate the importance and usefulness of food safety information. Faculty using these modules need not be food safety experts to incorporate food safety into their courses.
FSMODs consortium includes twenty-two faculty members from eighteen colleges/universities in 10 southeastern states and the curriculum design/evaluation team in the Division of Distance and Distributed Learning Programs and Services (DDL) at Georgia State University (GSU). FSMOD content specialists will develop module objectives and content. DDL will design the modules. After review and revision, FSMOD specialists will use the modules in their courses for evaluation of attention-getting, relevance, clarity, ease-of-use, learner satisfaction, and learner confidence. After revisions based on user evaluations, modules will be posted for unrestricted access on a server at GSU and will be submitted to MERLOT, the National Online Learning Community Initiative.
| Name: | Sidney A Crow PhD | |
| Email: | biosac@panther.gsu.edu | |
| Phone Number: | ( 404) 651-4437 | |
| FAX Number: | ( 404) 651-3157 | |
| Address: | Research and Sponsored Programs, Georgia State University, University Plaza | |
| Atlanta, GA 30303 |
| IRS Number: | 58-6002050 | |
| Congressional District Number: | 5 | |
| Period of Proposed Project Dates: | 08/15/2000 to 06/30/2001 |
| Name: | Mildred M Cody PhD | |
| Email: | mcody@gsu.edu | |
| Phone Number: | ( 404) 651-1105 | |
| FAX Number: | ( 404) 651-1235 | |
| Address: | Department of Nutrition, Georgia State University, University Plaza | |
| Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 |
| Name: | Mary E Kunkel PhD | |
| Email: | bkunkel@clemson.edu | |
| Phone Number: | ( 864) 656-5690 | |
| FAX Number: | ( 864) 656-0331 | |
| Address: | Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Clemson University | |
| Clemson, SC 29634-0371 |
Project FSMOD is a partnership of twenty-two faculty at eighteen institutions in ten states who will share responsibility for developing, implementing, and evaluating three food safety modules. This collaboration is supported by letters of intent from the faculty of participating institutions and subcontracting or consulting agreements with the faculty to fund their efforts. When modules are developed by individuals from multiple institutions, they are more likely to be used by a larger audience. First, the developers have a stake in their use. Second, the larger, diverse participation produces modules that have improved content and broader appeal. Third, the larger core of developers makes it easier to disseminate through professional networking, in addition to the traditional mail, listserv and program presentations.
Context-specific modules make it easier for participants to find and use information appropriate to their problems/issues. Basic food safety concepts can be applied to many different situations. However, application of food safety information is difficult for individuals who are not food safety experts but who use food safety in their professional practice. Examples of professionals who use food safety information in this way are dietitians; Cooperative Extension Agents; WIC nutritionists; school, daycare, and long-term care foodservice supervisors and directors; nurses; and educators. Putting food safety information into a context, such as food safety for pregnant/nursing women, the elderly, immunocompromised persons, child daycare centers, athletic events, etc. makes it easier for practitioners to apply the information to their own settings by taking it from the world of theory to the world of reality. This is especially important for pre-professional students whose practice area will require application of food safety but whose primary training focus is not food safety.
Internet delivery theoretically makes it possible to reach anyone, anywhere, anytime. Practically, resident students have access to the Internet through their institutions and most professionals have access to the Internet through their employers. Additionally, these individuals and others have access through their public libraries and in their homes. Because one cannot "lose" information on the Internet the way that one can lose a pamphlet, book, or videotape, this delivery system is more reliable. While one may not have the most current version of paper or tape material, Internet versions may always be the current version, and some updating is automatic. For example, when government agencies and professional associations update their sites, module information updates automatically.
As a training medium, the Internet offers several additional advantages. First, access to the Internet is virtually free to many users, including students and professionals who access it from their institutions. Second, time on task is adjusted to meet the needs of the individual learner. Third, by participating in many interactive, self-testing experiences, individuals can assess their own achievement, determine whether they need remediation, and develop a greater level of confidence. A fourth advantage that is relevant to this proposed project is that much of the food safety information that forms the basis of professional practice is on the Internet, and learning how to access, evaluate, and use it during academic coursework will better prepare the pre-professional for practice. Lastly, the Internet can serve all equally. In the case of the proposed modules this delivery system will disseminate food safety information to both men and women, to individuals who are isolated because of their geographic location (rural settings, weather-challenged), and to individuals who cannot attend regular training sessions easily (single parents, single practitioners in institutional settings, and the mobility-impaired). The Internet has no ethnic or gender bias. Everyone can use it.
The Preparation Environment houses the instructional materials available for faculty access and peer review. In addition to housing modules in-progress, the Preparation Environment will house traditional teaching aids, such as test banks, handouts, and activity descriptions contributed by FSMOD faculty. The Preparation Environment will be linked to the Evaluation Database to record peer use and peer review data. For example, if a faculty person decides to use a classroom activity, they will "check it out" by completing a form describing the intended use. They will be sent an e-mail request for review a week after their intended use date. The peer use and peer review information will be sent to the originators for their use in demonstrating their teaching activities and will be recorded in the FSMOD Evaluation Database for project evaluation. This part of the FSMOD website will have password protection. All FSMOD participants will have access. Other faculty and professionals will be given access on request.
The Learning Environment houses the food safety modules. It will have open access with no password protection. For evaluation purposes, participants (students) will be asked to sign-in and complete a short survey of their background and use, i.e. student, professional, etc. The survey will not request names or other identifying characteristics unless participants agree to complete later surveys from FSMOD. The participants will also be notified that their progress (time to completion, etc.) may be tracked for evaluation. At the conclusion of the module, participants will be asked to complete a brief evaluation that addresses module attention-getting, module relevance, module clarity, ease-of-use, personal confidence and personal satisfaction.
The Evaluation Database will record information from the Preparation Environment and the Learning Environment. FSMOD faculty will be able to retrieve some information from the database. Students (guests) will not be able to retrieve information from the database. For security purposes, most functions of the Evaluation Database will be accessible only to the principal investigators and the evaluation consultant.
The two units directing this project are Georgia State University (GSU) and Clemson University (Clemson). GSU is an urban university located in the center of Georgias telecommunications industry. It is a host site for many state-wide educational initiatives, such as the Galileo Library System, which links all libraries of the University System of Georgia and has been adopted for use by the Southern Region Education Board, a 16-state consortium of colleges and universities. GSU has also been selected by NSF as one of the fifty academic institutions that will help develop the "second Internet." Clemson is a land-grant institution with extensive outreach throughout South Carolina. Both units have staff to support development, delivery, and evaluation of curricula and curricular components. These support units include doctoral-level support staff in the areas of telecommunications, instructional technology, and educational evaluation, as well as staff who concentrate on development and maintenance of Internet and other delivery systems. These staff members are available to demonstrate appropriate use of equipment and facilities, create/refine instructional materials for various delivery systems, develop/support web sites, and evaluate learning/satisfaction outcomes.
Although both units have strong instructional telecommunications support, GSU was selected as the principal unit for this project because the project director has completed extensive training in using technology for effective teaching provided by the University System of Georgia. She has also integrated interactive television, Internet modules, and e-mail into on-going academic courses. As FSMONDs principal unit, GSU through its Division of Distance and Distributed Learning (DDL), will provide technical and curricular support for module development, and GSU will house the completed modules on one of its servers. DDL is the web designer for 25 GSU web sites (the Continuing Education site won the LERN web site of the month last May). DDL also provides the primary technical and instructional design support for GSU faculty teaching online. DDL has been mounting Internet courses since 1997 and is currently supporting over 125 online courses, with another 50 estimated to be in development for the 2000-2001 academic year.
All of the participating FSMOD institutions have Internet access for faculty
and students. Additionally, most of the institutions have strong institutional
information systems and technology units as well as units that support development
and use of educational technologies. The full proposal for this project,
and all communications for the project among FSMOD members, have been completed
electronically, with the exception of support letters and contract/budget
information.
Using the proposed modular approach for infusing food safety information into existing courses enables instructors in these programs, who have their primary training in nutrition/medical nutrition therapy and limited training in food safety, to include food safety in their courses. Well-designed modules can deliver food safety information within the context of a course, providing immediately useful information. According to social marketing theory, this will help learners to learn more easily. These modules can also enhance information delivery by giving concrete examples of theoretical concepts, synthesizing related ideas, and giving participants opportunities to apply concepts to a variety of situations. The importance of food safety messages to nutrition practice is best illustrated by the proposed inclusion of food safety in the revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans ("Keep food safe."), making the potential market for the proposed modules in nutrition curricula a strong one.
FSMOD addresses the general AgTel objectives and the specific objective of enhancing the ability of United States agriculture to respond to food safety concerns by developing Internet-delivered, context-specific, food safety modules within the FSMOD network and posting the validated modules for all educational institutions and agencies to use. Eighteen institutions of higher education throughout the southeastern United States will participate in FSMOD. These participants will invest in the project through identification of content objectives, content review and approval, implementation of the modules within their courses, and participation in all phases of the evaluation process. This level of investment by participants should help ensure the sustainability and usability of FSMOD-produced modules. There are a limited number of dietitians with in-depth understanding of food safety issues. This model for information dissemination allows nutrition programs that do not have faculty with this expertise to access food safety information in a user-friendly format.
Many food safety messages are sent to the public: safe handling labels on meat, open dating of perishable foods, warning labels for special populations on aspartame-containing products, and various reports through the media. The Partnership on Food Safety Educations FightBAC campaign provides a set of unified messages. The four simple messages–CLEAN, COOK, CHILL, and SEPARATE–are a good beginning. To be useful, they need to be put into appropriate context and linked to specific instructions. For example, what is the appropriate temperature for cooking, and how does one measure it? Dietitians are the professionals who are most likely to explain these connections to vulnerable populations and their caregivers.
The agricultural industry and its regulators stand to benefit through extension of their food safety efforts if these educators have improved knowledge of food, of food safety systems, and of personal practices that maintain the safety of food. Since dietitians are educated exclusively in programs approved/accredited by the Commission on Approval/Accreditation for Dietetics Education, it is important that the coursework in these programs address food safety issues and prepare students to use food safety information resources appropriately in their future practice.
The unrestricted Internet-delivered modules would be available to students as they become practitioners, geographically separated from libraries and instructor expertise. Also, students who learn how to use professional tools while they are in their academic programs will carry those skills with them for life-long learning throughout their practice.
FSMOD specialists in nutrition, food safety, and curriculum development will work in teams to develop the module objectives, content, and format. Nutrition faculty will contribute the context for the food safety information; food safety faculty will develop the module content; and curriculum specialists will provide the format for information delivery. Specialists in distance learning technologies will be consultants to the development and evaluation process and will install the modules on the GSU server for unrestricted access.
FSMOD consortium expertise ensures high quality content and dissemination through collaborative development, testing, and implementation. Within the first year of development the modules will be used in eighteen academic programs in ten states. After revision, module availability will be announced to other institutions through presentations, announcements on targeted listservs, and targeted mailings.
Material for review will be on the FSMOD website Preparation Environment. The Preparation Environment will be linked to the Evaluation Database to track the review process.
The specific objectives for the modules will be determined by the twenty-two FSMOD faculty from eighteen institutions; however, each module will be: 1) context specific to make it easier for students and others to apply general concepts to their situations; 2) linked to references from governmental and non-governmental agencies and from professional associations to provide for easy updating and life-long learning; 3) enhanced by addition of internal glossaries, annotated bibliographies, self-tests and other learning aids; 4) developed, implemented and evaluated by college faculty in approved/accredited dietetics programs who teach a variety of nutrition courses in areas other than food safety 5) interactive; and 6) linked to the FightBAC! consumer-action program, enhanced by context-specific action instructions. A draft prototype module is on the FSMOD website (select "Maternal and Infant").
Products from this project (food safety modules) will be delivered to users
on the Internet through a GSU server. The modules will be platform independent
and open-access, with no password protection, to facilitate use.
The diversity of the FSMOD institutions and faculty in the southeast insures delivery to a diverse student body. For example, Florida International University has a large (approximately 50%) Hispanic population. Also, several historically black institutions are participating in the FSMOD project.
Secondary audiences include practicing healthcare, public health, Cooperative Extension, foodservice, and education professionals; high school students; child and adult day care providers; immunocompromised individuals and their caregivers; and other at-risk consumers. In a later project, the FSMOD collaborators anticipate validating (and revising, if necessary) the modules for use by these populations.
Faculty from the following institutions will support the project by determining
module topics and concepts for story lines; establishing module objectives;
validating module content and story lines; contributing complementary learning
aids; reviewing modules for attention-getting, relevance, clarity, ease-of-use
and for potential use in FSMOD courses; and implementing modules into courses.
Black River Technical College
East Carolina University
Florida International University
Fort Valley State University
Harding University
Lipscomb University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana Tech University
Murray State University
South Carolina State University
Tennessee Technological University
University of Georgia
University of Kentucky
University of Memphis
University of Southern Mississippi
Virginia State University
Within the structure of dietetics training, pre-professional students focus on the roles of food in health and in treatment of disease. In most curricula, food safety concepts are included in foodservice management coursework, which is one appropriate context. However, many dietetics students focus instead on community, wellness, or clinical nutrition, where the foodservice-oriented messages do not fit. Additionally, many of the instructors in these content areas are not food safety specialists. They are not prepared to take the many food safety messages and interpret them for students within the context of community, wellness, or clinical practice. Self-contained food safety modules that approach food safety from these contexts would make it possible to deliver strong food safety content within the learning context of the student. The unrestricted Internet-delivered modules would also be available to these students as they become practitioners geographically separated from libraries and instructor expertise.
It is unlikely that college curricula and enrollment numbers in food and agricultural sciences will allow for addition of food safety courses. Programs of study for some students are also partially determined by pre-professional certifying bodies, such as the Commission on Accreditation/Approval for Dietetics Education. These external demands, as well as general education requirements, limit flexibility to adapt curricula at will. One-hour modules of food safety information that could be delivered as parts of related courses would satisfy the societal need to increase the delivery of food safety education as much as possible. Examples of courses at FSMOD cooperating institutions that would benefit from the availability of such material (based on a survey of faculty who teach in dietetics curricula) include: normal nutrition, cultural foods, medical nutrition therapy, nutrition education, community nutrition, maternal and infant nutrition, and sports nutrition.
While there are food safety metasites (The ISU Food Safety Project, the National Food Safety Database, and www.foodsafety.gov, etc.) on the Internet, these sites do not offer a teaching/learning environment with aids such as context-specific glossaries, self-testing, explanations of concepts, and other learning aids. Introduction to these sites through the FSMOD modules increases the likelihood that consumers can effectively use the information from those sites.
Collaborative development of curricular materials is time-consuming but guarantees wider acceptance and use. Building better modules increases their use across diverse institutions, making the cost per use smaller and off-setting the initial investment. Also, successful collaboration at one level often leads to successful collaboration on other levels. In this case, FSMOD specialists anticipate development of additional modules once the process model is streamlined.
FSMOD is a developmental model for interdisciplinary, collaborative production
of instructional materials delivered by a universally available system.
The modules will demonstrate that modules can be developed for use in different
contexts and at multiple sites.
Evaluation of FSMOD modules includes both formative and summative components for FSMOD specialists and summative components for participants (students). Module evaluation will focus on improving content and making delivery/access as simple and as effective as possible. These evaluations will be qualitative, based largely on responses from FSMOD specialists and participants (students). Formative evaluation during module development will begin with review of module objectives and story line (content) by FSMOD specialists. After the content is validated, it will be translated into a module for Internet delivery and posted to the Preparation Environment of the FSMOD website, where it can be accessed by FSMOD specialists from their home institutions and reviewed for content validity, instructional integrity, and utility of learning aids. After this revision, the FSMOD specialists will review the basic instructional use characteristics of the modules, such as attention-getting, relevance, clarity and ease-of-use. After this evaluation, FSMOD specialists will develop and evaluate instructor aids. Then the module will be implemented in FSMOD courses and evaluated online by participants (students) for the basic characteristics of the module (attention-getting, relevance, clarity, and ease-of-use) and other participant outcomes (confidence and satisfaction).
Implementation of the modules will be evaluated from a user perspective both by students and by FSMOD faculty. During the online module evaluation (above), students will be asked where they are accessing the module (which institution) and how they plan to use the module (class assignment, etc.). FSMOD will also ask permission to contact students by e-mail at a later time for additional information on how they have used the module content. The primary tool for assessing FSMOD faculty use of the modules and instructor aids will be the teaching portfolio developed for each module. The portfolio will include user information given in "portraits" or "vignettes" that describe what materials the FSMOD specialists (users) have accessed, how they have used these materials, and how the materials contributed to their course success. These vignettes will be on the Preparation Environment for use by both FSMOD and non-FSMOD faculty to help them select and implement modules and teaching aids appropriate to their needs. This information will also be used to annotate modules and teaching aids, where appropriate.
FSMOD specialists will maintain an online log of activities to measure various aspects of the collaborative development process. The log entries will include monthly records of time spent on specific project activities and intellectual contributions to the project. Quarterly questionnaires will seek information on the amount of additional food safety information in courses since inception of the project and opinions from FSMOD specialists on the collaboration process, their ability to select and use appropriate instructional teaching aids and technologies, and their regional network building. These data will be maintained in the Evaluation Database and evaluated quarterly.
The initial dissemination will be through the eighteen FSMOD institutions (collaborating institutions and the institutions of the principal investigators). In addition to careful wording for key-word pick-up by Web browsers, FSMOD will seek permission to link the food safety modules and selected instructor aids to government, professional association and university websites and to MERLOT (National Online Learning Community Initiative). Also, the availability of the modules (their URLs) will be announced in professional publications, through listservs that target food and nutrition educators, and by direct mailings to accredited/approved dietetic programs, Extension specialists, and departments of nutrition and food science at land-grant institutions. Because the availability is universal and without cost to the end user, dissemination should be fairly rapid and measurable through the online module and user evaluation tools developed for the formative and summative participant (student) evaluations.
Research findings from the project will be reported by FSMOD faculty at
appropriate meetings and through peer-reviewed publications. The diversity
of the faculty and institutions represented makes dissemination through
professional channels particularly robust, since FSMOD specialists from
community colleges can present to community college audiences, FSMOD instructional
design specialists can present to instructional design audiences, FSMOD
specialists who are Extension faculty can present to Extension audiences,
etc.
Inclusion is a hallmark of the FSMOD process. Participant diversity is exemplified by the diversity of participating institutions (2-year/4-year/university; urban and suburban; public, private, land-grant, historically black) and of specialists who have many different educational backgrounds and professional experiences. Groups that are under-represented in many programs have full representation in FSMOD: women are represented by FSMOD principal investigators, specialists, and support staffs; most dietetics professionals and students are female; one University has a high percentage (50%) of Hispanic students; several historically black colleges are represented; and the instructional delivery system is user-friendly for individuals with many handicapping conditions. Extensive peer review also ensures that the voices and experiences of the many southeastern clientele will be well served by the module content.
FSMOD participating institutions and specialists anticipate that the modules developed by the project will be used in their own institutions and by similar institutions across the country. Additionally, the modules, once in place, can be accessed and used by professionals and consumers without additional cost. FSMOD participating institutions and specialists also anticipate developing additional food safety modules once the collaborative development process is streamlined and sharing the collaborative development process with their colleagues in other academic and professional areas. If successful, the FSMOD collaborative model offers a relatively inexpensive way to develop strong curricular components with extensive evaluation and broad-based application.
September:
*Validate story lines
*Translate story lines and auxiliary learning aids into Internet-deliverable
modules
*Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
October:
*Translate story lines and learning aids into Internet-deliverable modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
November:
*Translate story lines and learning aids into Internet-deliverable modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
December:
*Evaluate draft modules
*Revise modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
January:
*Revise modules
*Implement modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
February:
*Implement modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
March:
*Implement modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
April:
*Implement modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
May:
*Evaluate modules
*Disseminate modules
Develop complementary auxiliary learning aids
Develop complementary instructor aids
Maintain activity logs
*Primary tasks
Mildred M. Cody, PhD, RD–FSMOD Project Director; Georgia State University;
Associate Professor of Nutrition, Georgia State University (25%)
Dr. Cody earned her doctorate in food science at Rutgers University. Her
relevant professional experience includes two years as a science advisor
to the Food and Drug Administration, where she supervised the food safety
research activities of 40 chemists and entomologists; five years experience
as an Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist at Clemson University, where
she was responsible for statewide programs in food preservation, food safety
and food preparation; and eighteen years experience teaching food safety
courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at New York University
and Georgia State University. Dr. Cody is the author of The American Dietetic
Associations professional and consumer food safety publications and several
book chapters that focus on food safety. She holds University and national
awards for instructional innovation, and has received extensive University
System training in instructional technology. Her current courses feature
extensive use of educational technologies including interactive Internet
learning aids, interactive television, and listservs. In addition to funding
for laboratory research-based projects, Dr. Cody has been the principal
investigator on curriculum-based grants from Georgias Department of Human
Resources Office of Nutrition, Georgias Statewide Academic and Medical System,
and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Dr. Cody has
recently accepted an appointment to the US Delegation for the Codex Alimentarius
Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses. Earlier this
year she served on an FDA hearing panel for labeling of bioengineered foods.
Dr. Cody is a nationally registered and state-licensed dietitian who is
also certified in Family and Consumer Sciences. A more complete biographical
description is in the pre-proposal.
Recent Relevant Publications:
Cody M. and Keith M. Food Safety for Professionals: A Reference and Study
Guide. Chicago, IL: The American Dietetic Association; 1991.
Cody MM, Sottnek HM and OLeary VS. Recovery of Giardia lamblia cysts from
chairs and tables in child day care centers. Pediatrics supplement Proceedings
of the International Conference on Child Day Care Health: Science, Prevention,
and Practice 1994;94:1006-1008.
Cody, M. Safe Food for You and Your Family. Minneapolis, MN: Chronimed Publishing;
1996.
Cody, M. Current Issues in Food Safety. In: Jackson RF, ed. Nutrition and
Food Services for Integrated Health Care. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers,
Inc.; 1997.
Cody, M. and Kunkel ME. Food Safety for Professionals: A Reference and Study
Guide. Chicago, IL: The American Dietetic Association; 2000 (in press).
M. Elizabeth Kunkel, PhD, RD, FADA--Project Co-Director; Professor of Food
Science and Human Nutrition, Clemson University (15%)
Dr. Kunkel holds an earned doctorate in Nutrition from the University of
Tennessee and completed her NIH/NIDR postdoctoral experience at the University
of Alabama-Birmingham School of Dentistry. Dr. Kunkel has eighteen years
teaching experience at Clemson University and is currently the principal
investigator on an educational outreach partnership with South Carolina
Public Television. She currently serves on the Council on Professional Issues
for the American Dietetic Association and was recently elected Speaker of
the House of Delegates for that association. She completed her service on
the Standards of Professional Practice Implementation Task Force and on
the Executive Leadership Development Task Forces of The American Dietetic
Association in 2000. Dr. Kunkel is a nationally registered dietitian and
a Fellow of The American Dietetic Association. A more complete biographical
description is in the pre-proposal.
Recent relevant publications:
Kunkel, ME and Seo, A 1994 In vitro digestibility of selected polymers.
J. Environ Polymer Degradation. 2:245-252.
Kunkel, ME, Seo, A and Minten, TA 1997 Magnesium binding by gum arabic,
locust bean gum and arabinogalactan. Food Chem 59:87-94.
Kunkel, ME, Seo, A, Kolb, KB and Minten, TA 1993
"Nutrient composition and nutritional availability of selected carbohydrate
polymers." In: Biodegradable Polymers and Packaging. Technomic Publishing
Kunkel, ME 1998. "The changing and dynamic food supply." In Nutrition in
the Community, 4th ed. Moby Publishing
Cody, M. and Kunkel ME. Food Safety for Professionals: A Reference and Study
Guide. Chicago, IL: The American Dietetic Association; 2000 (in press).
Technology and Instructional Design Support:
Carla Relaford, EdD--FSMOD Instructional Technology Specialist; Director
of the Division of Distance Learning Programs and Services, Georgia State
University (10%)
Dr. Relaford holds an earned doctorate in telecommunications and instructional
technology from Texas Tech University. She has over twenty-five years of
experience in instructional technologies, including development, administration
and evaluation of interactive technologies, instructional television, and
professional training. She will coordinate the technical and instructional
design group.
Sara Wakai, Ph.D.--FSMOD Evaluation Specialist; Research Analyst, Division
of Distance Learning Programs and Services, Georgia State University (25%)
Dr. Wakai supervises research for the GSU Division of Distance Learning
Programs and Services on ways to incorporate instructional technology into
classrooms. She serves as a member of the Interactive Technology Project
Advisory Committee established by the State of Georgia to examine existing
and emerging technologies in distance learning and state educational arenas.
Her research has centered on instructional technologies, distance education
and student-centered pedagogy. She will develop and implement the evaluation
tools.
Jean Weed, MS, SH,MT--FSMOD Course Portfolio Designer; Associate Professor
Emeritus, Georgia State University (10%)
Ms. Weed has over twenty-five years university teaching experience. For
the past five years she has focused on evaluation of teaching/learning through
the development and use of teaching portfolios. She will develop the FSMOD
teaching portfolio.
Stephen D. Rehberg–FSMOD Web Master; Web Resources Manager, Division of
Distance Learning Programs and Services, Georgia State University (30%)
Mr. Rehberg has over twenty-five years experience working with computer
and desktop applications in a wide range of roles, from programmer, technical
writer, trainer, database designer, documentation writer, to website designer.
Mr. Rehberg has supervised the translation of over 300 college/university
courses to Internet delivery. He co-hosts a twice monthly videoconference
with other Georgia colleges and universities on instructional technology.
He is co-chair of the Instructional Design Tract for the WebCT2000 International
Conference (WebCT is the most used courseware worldwide in higher education).
He will translate the food safety modules for Internet delivery.
FSMOD Specialists (listed below) will support the project by determining module topics and concepts for story lines; establishing module objectives; validating module content and story lines; contributing complementary learning aids; reviewing modules for attention-getting, relevance, clarity, and potential use in FSMOD courses; and implementing modules into courses.
Wayne E. Billon, PhD, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Associate
Professor, The University of Southern Mississippi (5%)*
Dr. Billon received his BS degree from Mississippi State University in Animal
Husbandry in 1968. Following graduation, he spent two years on active duty
in the U.S. Navy Reserves as a Hospital Corpsman, one of those years in
Vietnam. Upon his release from active duty, he entered graduate school at
Clemson University and completed his MS degree in Animal Science in 1972
and received a PhD in Nutrition in 1976. He taught nutrition and dietetics
at Winthrop College (now Winthrop University) from 1976 until 1982. In 1982
he began working at Charlotte Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (now
Carolina Medical Center) as a member of the Nutrition Support Team and ICU
Nutritionist. In 1989 he left Charlotte Memorial to return to teaching at
The University of Southern Mississippi, where he teaches normal and clinical
nutrition and serves as the athletic departments nutritionist. He has also
served as a consultant to a nursing home, home health care agency, and a
state school for the mentally retarded.
Juanita Bowens, PhD, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Assistant
Professor of Nutrition and Food Management, South Carolina State University
(5%)*
Dr. Bowens earned her doctorate in human nutrition at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University. She holds a BS degree in biology. Dr. Bowens
has served as nutrition specialist at the University of Maryland Eastern
Shore and provided food safety classes for Cooperative Extension Home Economists.
She has been teaching food science classes in her present position for 4
years. She also teaches food safety in several other classes in the area
of nutrition.
Angela Caldwell, MS, RD--FSMOD Food Safety and Nutrition Specialist; Dietetics
Program Director, Black River Technical College (5%)*
Ms. Caldwell earned her bachelors degree in Dietetics from Harding University,
completed her dietetics internship through the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences, and earned her MS from Arkansas State University in vocational
technical administration. In addition to serving as the program director
for the only dietetics technician program in Arkansas, she is a consultant
dietitian for Black River Area Development Head Start.
Cathy Hix Cunningham, PhD, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Professor
of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics and Program Director for the Didactic Program
in Dietetics at Tennessee Technical University (5%)**
Dr. Cunningham earned her PhD from the University of Tennessee in Animal
Science, following her BS and MS degrees from the University of Tennessee
in Food Technology and Science. She completed two years of post-doctoral
study in genetic toxicology for the National Research Council, Environmental
Protection Agency. From 1993-94 she served as a Fellow, American Council
on Education in Washington, DC. She currently teaches courses in Human Ecology,
Food Science, Nutrition, Dietetics and Biology. She has hosted the regionally
telecast PBS show "Cumberland Cooking" since 1987 and received the Outstanding
Faculty Award at Tennessee Technological University in 1996-97.
Joan Fischer, PhD, RD--FSMOD Nutrition Specialist; Assistant Professor,
Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia (5%)*
Dr. Fischer is the Program Director for the Didactic Program in Dietetics
and teaches medical nutrition therapy and foodservice management courses.
Her BS degree is from Michigan State University, and her graduate degrees
are from the University of Georgia. She completed her dietetic internship
at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. She has professional work experience
in both clinical dietetics and foodservice management in hospitals and long-term
care facilities.
Valerie George, PhD, LD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Assistant
Professor, Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Florida International
University (5%)*
Dr. George has taught courses in nutrition education and principles of nutrition
for a number of years. For the past four years, she has also directed a
state-wide nutrition education program targeted to food service employees,
teachers, and parents on the nutritional needs and the importance of food
safety for the exceptional child. Earlier in her career (1993-95) she was
the principal investigator and project director for the Miami Center of
the Women Health Trial, a study supported by the National Cancer Institute
aimed at reducing dietary fat intake by women. Dr. George has a major interest
in the use of technology in education and most recently has had a manuscript
"Computer assisted education for dietetics students: a review of selected
literature," published in the Journal of Nutrition Education.
Bonnie L. Hackes, PhD, DTR--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Assistant
Professor, School of Human Ecology, College of Applied and Natural Sciences,
Louisiana Technical University (5%)*
Dr. Hackes earned an AAS in Dietetic Technology and Foodservice Management
from Southeast Community College, a BS in Natural Resources from the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, an MS in Foodservice Management from the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a PhD in Foodservice and Hospitality from Kansas
State University. She is completing work on an instructional grant, "Enhancement
of food and nutrition courses through multimedia" at LTU and was named Nebraskas
Recognized Dietetic Technician of the Year in 1998.
Rita Haliena, MS, RD–FSMOD Nutrition Specialist; Instructor of Food Science
and Human Nutrition, Clemson University: (5%)
Ms. Haliena earned a BS from Ohio State University in Medical Dietetics
and an MS in Nutrition from Ball State University. She currently teaches
nutrition courses to nursing and health science majors and community nutrition
and diet therapy courses to nutrition majors at Clemson University.
Vivian Haley-Zitlin, PhD, RD--FSMOD Nutrition Specialist; Assistant Professor
of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Clemson University (5%)
Dr. Haley-Zitlin earned her PhD in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, and her bachelors degree through the Honors Program at the University
of Kentucky, Lexington. She completed her postdoctoral program in the Department
of Physiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
in 1993. She currently is coordinator for the Diet Therapy course at Clemson
and for a Diabetes Counseling and Practicum course for dietetic students.
She also teaches Human Nutrition and Introduction to Nutrition for Nursing
and Health Sciences majors as well as special topics in aging. She has several
professional projects related to the proposed project, "Nutrition for the
21st century: Integrating research skills into didactic programs using computerized
problem based learning" and "LINC: Nutrition education for food stamp recipients."
Nancy Harris, MS, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Lecturer, Department
of Nutrition and Hospitality Management, School of Human Environmental Sciences,
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC (5%)*
Ms. Harris earned her MS in food, nutrition and institutional management
from East Carolina University. Before serving as a lecturer in her current
position she was a clinical instructor of pediatrics in the Department of
Pediatrics, School of Medicine, East Carolina University. She has over a
decade of experience in delivery and management of clinical and community
nutrition services and currently serves as a consultant to a long-term care
facility. She has several recent presentations that reflect her interest
in teaching, including "Expanding the traditional classroom experience"
(1999-2000 Teacher Awards Symposium, East Carolina University), "Hyperlipidemia
Module" developed for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human
Services Division of Public Health, and "Helping students understand teamwork"
(presented at the 23rd International Conference on Improving University
Learning and Teaching in Dublin, Ireland).
Nancy Hunt, MS, RD---FSMOD Food Safety Specialist; Program Director for
the Didactic Program in Dietetics at Lipscomb University (5%)*
Ms. Hunt holds a BS degree in nutrition from the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville, an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction from Middle Tennessee
State University and an MS from Western Kentucky University in Nutrition
and Foods. In addition to serving as a Program Director for 12 years, Ms.
Hunt has worked as a clinical dietitian and as a dietetics consultant.
Sharon Hunt, MS, RD--FSMOD Food Safety Specialist; Assistant Professor,
Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Fort Valley State University
(5%)*
Ms. Hunt holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in food, nutrition and
institutional administration from Oklahoma State University. She teaches
professional courses in dietetics and is the Program Director for the Didactic
Program in Dietetics at Fort Valley State University
Virginia OLeary, Ph.D.--FSMOD Food Safety Specialist; Instructor of Nutrition,
Georgia State University (11%)
Dr. OLeary holds graduate degrees in food technology from Cornell University
and from Rutgers University. She has taught food safety courses in the traditional
classroom setting and over interactive television for seven years. She has
also worked as a research scientist for the United States Department of
Agriculture (4 years) and for several consulting firms (15 years).
Carol ONeil, PhD, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Professor, Louisiana
State University (5%)*
Dr. ONeil is the Program Director for the Didactic Program in Dietetics
at Louisiana State University. She also teaches courses in community nutrition
and normal nutrition. Her research interests are community nutrition issues
that can be applied to clinical nutrition problems. At present, she is studying
ways to increase calcium intake in low-income minority women; quantifying
stages of change in calcium intake in college students; and working in a
study with the Cooperative Extension Service to provide improved educational
material supplied by EFNEP paraprofessionals. Prior to holding her position
at LSU, Carol was in clinical practice at the Medical Center of Louisiana
in New Orleans. Dr. ONeil entered the field of dietetics relatively recently
after an eighteen year career in allergy and immunology research. During
that time, she studied primarily occupational asthma, including asthma resulting
from food/food products handled in the workplace. Also included in her research
studies were allergenicity of basidiomycetes and some foods; allergenicity/safety
of bioengineered foods and the effect of toxic gas exposure on immune responsiveness.
Lisa Ritchie, MSE, EdD, RD--FSMOD Nutrition Specialist; Instructor, Harding
University (5%)*
Ms. Ritchie is an Assistant Professor of Food Science and Nutrition and
has also served as the Director of their Didactic Program in Dietetics.
She holds an EdD in Higher Education from the University of Arkansas at
Little Rock. Her work experience includes nutrition counseling for two medical
clinics and in a diabetes treatment center. Her primary teaching areas include
basic and advanced nutrition, medical nutrition therapy, and food science.
Susan Roman, M.MSc,SM, MT--FSMOD Microbiology Specialist; Assistant Professor,
Georgia State University (4%)
Ms. Roman completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Florida
and earned her graduate degree in clinical microbiology from Emory University.
Her research focus is on development of rapid detection methods for clinically
significant bacteria.
Terra Smith, PhD, RD--FSMOD Food Safety Specialist; Assistant Professor,
The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN (5%)*
Dr. Smith completed her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Oklahoma State University
in Food, Nutrition, and Institution Administration, and in Food Science,
respectively. She holds a BS degree in Hotel and Restaurant Administration
from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Currently, Dr. Smith directs
the classroom and food laboratory experiences for Food Systems Management
and Dietetic students. She is currently enrolled on the Instructor Directory
of the National Restaurant Associations Educational Foundation for the SERVSAFE
Serving Safe Food Certification course.
Kathy Timmons, MS, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Senior Lecturer
and Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics, Department of Family
and Consumer Studies, Murray State University (5%)*
Ms. Timmons earned her BS in Home Economics Education and her MS in Nutrition
and Foods, both from Auburn University. She has experience as a county agent
for home economics and as a WIC nutritionist and coordinator. She teaches
professional courses in dietetics, including courses in nutrition, food
science, and food service. She is a recent recipient of the Regents Award
for Teaching Excellence at Murray State.
Myrna Wesley, MS, RD--FSMOD Food Specialist; Associate Professor and Director
of Dietetics, University of Kentucky (5%)*
Professor Wesley is a food and nutrition educator with twenty-eight years
experience in university teaching and three years of experience as an educator
for the dairy industry. Her teaching centers in food science, food safety,
and food service. She holds numerous professional and educator awards, including
Outstanding Dietitian for Kentucky, Outstanding Educator of the Kentucky
Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and the Outstanding Educator
Award for the Bluegrass Dietetics Association.
Gloria Young, EdD, RD--FSMOD Food and Nutrition Specialist; Associate Professor
and Program Director for the Didactic Program in Dietetics, Virginia State
University (5%)*
Dr. Youngs professional experience includes six years as director of clinical
nutrition, two years in public health nutrition, four years in contract
foodservice as consulting R.D. and district supervisor, eleven years in
independent private consulting, and twelve years in community college teaching
and directing an ADA-approved Dietetic Technician program and a Dietary
Managers Association-approved Dietary Managers Program. She has been co-principal
investigator in 3 competitive grants, and principal project director in
another competitive grant.
*These individuals are under consultant/subcontract agreements for $2000, or approximately 5% time.