Assignment

One of the first assignments  I had in my Dietetics Practicum class was the student lead tutorial. My group focused on Inter-cultural Communication, which proved to be a very complex and interesting subject. We chose this topic as it is quite relevant and important for healthcare professionals, especially in a multi-cultural city such as Vancouver. With the multiple interactions we have each day, there are so many people we communicate with who may, for various reasons such as ethnic, cultural or religious, communicate slightly differently than us. As a future Dietitian it is important to start thinking about potential differences in, or barriers to, communication. Within our Dietetics class of 35 students, there are 16 cultures represented, including different Asian cultures, German, English, Indian, Greek and Ukranian, to name a few. In the beginning stages of our research we explored the Dietitians of Canada website to find any relevant research or competencies that related to this topic. There are many communication topics included in the competencies, so we chose a few that relate specifically to inter-cultural communication and used these as the basis for our tutorial. One issue we realized quite early on was the vastness of the topic we chose. While this made it very interesting, it was also a challenge to focus the tutorial on a specific area. After much discussion and work, we chose to let the competencies guide our discussion, and we paired this with Principles for Effective Inter-Cultural Communication.

Reflection

I felt that the tutorial was successful, and I was very happy with how our group chose to run it. We wanted to make sure that we added a good amount of information for the class to learn, but we also wanted to ensure that the tutorial was engaging and interactive. It was definitely an assignment that I was nervous about. I have done many presentations in my academic career, but I have never been responsible for leading a tutorial or learning session. I think this activity is an excellent way to get us thinking about the education side of Dietetics. I know that for me, one of the most attractive parts of the profession is the opportunity to be able to share what I am learning about nutrition and health, and this tutorial was a good way to start thinking about how this can be done. It is an interesting experience teaching something to someone who is hearing your information for the first time. What I mean by this is, it is important to be acutely aware that, while I may have spent a lot of time learning the topic and doing research, the audience to which I am directing this information  may not have the same level of knowledge of this topic as I do. This is definitely something to keep in mind in my future profession, as I will be responsible for educating people about information and knowledge that I have gathered over a number of years. It will be important to present the same information in multiple ways because not everyone learns the same way. In our tutorial we had some slides of information, as well as a handout and an interactive activity where the class had group discussions about a case study. This way, we felt that multiple learning methods would be catered to, thus creating a better learning environment for everyone. This is a skill that I will certainly take into my future profession.

Another aspect of the tutorial assignment that I found quite valuable was the feedback session at the end. This was an opportunity for the professor ( in this case it was Kara Vogt), and our fellow students to talk with us about our performance, as well as strengths and weaknesses of the presentation. The feedback was all constructive, and it seemed that the class found our case study interesting and were happy with how we broke the information down and made it relevant. They liked the wheel we used to show the cultures represented in our own class. There were some areas that we could have strengthened as well, and this included having an Objectives slide at the beginning of our presentation. This slide would have given the class a nice, focused breakdown of what we were going to discuss, which would have helped direct the learning a bit better. Additionally, it was pointed out that, at the end of the tutorial, it would have been beneficial for us to have included a wrap-up slide that briefly touched upon the topics we had discussed. These are areas for improvement that I will certainly keep in mind for any future presentations I do.

I am happy with how the tutorial went and I think that these experiences will only help to strengthen by abilities and skills as a professional Dietitian in the future.