Burke R, Danaher P. 2018. Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning within Molecular Gastronomy Education: Does it Benefit Students?

Burke R, Danaher P. 2018. Interdisciplinary   Teaching   and   Learning within   Molecular   Gastronomy   Education: Does it Benefit Students?, International Journal of Molecular Gastronomy. 2018, 1, 1-12. DOI: 10.17180/ijmpg-2018-art01.

Abstract:
Since the creation of Molecular Gastronomy (MG)
as a scientific discipline in 1988 a variety of higher education   modules   and   programmes   in   that discipline have developed around the world. At the Dublin Institute of Technology, MG has been taught using an interdisciplinary approach since the academic year 2012/2013. A Culinary Science
lecturer   and   a   Culinary  Arts   lecturer   work   in synergy and teach an interdisciplinary group of Food   Science   (FS)   and   Culinary   Arts   (CA) students. The students’ work is assessed, in each academic  year,  using   summative  methods   i.e. written exam and a project #assignment#. In the academic year 2016/2017 the assignment reports were, for the first time, jointly written by a member from each student group. The exam results in that academic year were compared and the discussion sections of the assignment reports were analysed for   word   frequencies.   An   open-ended questionnaire   was   also   given   to   the   students
(n=28) to get their opinions about the structure and organisation of the MG module. There was no significant difference in the total (exam + assignment) results of the FS and CA students (P≥0.05). An analysis of results for the module, pre-interdisciplinary vs. interdisciplinary, shows that   the   CA   students   benefited   significantly (P≤0.05) from having FS students in the group whereas there was no significant difference in the FS results when there were CA students in the group (P≥0.05). Almost all the FS students
commented   that   they   enjoyed   the   practical application of MG. Each student said that having an interdisciplinary teaching team added depth and made the module more complete. Results showed   that   when   writing   the   discussion sections of the assignment report, it would be more beneficial for a CA student to write the discussion section together with a FS student. In conclusion   interdisciplinary   teaching   and learning within Molecular Gastronomy education is beneficial for Culinary Arts and Food Science student participants.

Key words:
Molecular   Gastronomy,   Interdisciplinary, Project-Based Learning, Team Teaching.
 

Published :
2018

Download here : Burke R and Danaher P. International Journal of Molecular Gastronomy. 2018, 1, 1-12. DOI: 10.17180/ijmpg-2018-art01.