Public Health Nutrition

Samantha Wilkinson and Harriet Rowley

Cultivating a Community of Practice to Work Towards UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) Supervisor Recognition: Empowering Supervisors to Critically Reflect on Supervisory Practices and Experiences.

We are currently facing a ‘public health emergency’ as highlighted by the House of Lords Diet and Obesity Committee (2024), which has called on the Government to address the obesity and diet-related diseases that impose a substantial financial burden on society each year in terms of lost productivity and healthcare costs. We would like to submit the assessment for the module Public Health Nutrition for consideration in the category of “Innovation and authenticity in teaching, learning and assessment”. Gulikers et al. (2004) defines authentic assessment as the type of assessment that requires students to employ the same set of competencies, knowledge, and attitudes that are necessary in a real-world setting. We have been delivering Public Health Nutrition at Level 6 and Level 7 across two Faculties (Science and Engineering, and Health and Education) at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) for 5 years. It is designed to equip our BSc and MSc Nutrition students with the skills and attributes essential for the professional world in the midst of a public health crisis. The primary objective of the authentic assessment is for student groups to develop a public health nutrition campaign from conceptual design through to delivery, emulating real-life public health practice. Students are given autonomy to create their groups and to develop an idea based on a thorough needs analysis of the evidence at a local, national and international level. We have established connections with local health and community groups, identifying the need for evidence-based nutrition information across various population groups, cultures, and health issues across Greater Manchester. These groups include the African Caribbean Community, MCRactive, Sure Start and Intergenerational England. Consequently, students are creating campaigns tailored to the local community, providing exceptional Campus Connection to Place, and fostering a sense of belonging and significance among our students. The presentation will showcase the assessment from design to delivery and how authentic assessments can provide students real world experiences and provide an overview of the lessons learnt over the past 5 years. It will provide attendees with an overview of benefits of using authentic assessment to enhance students learning and experiences.