OBJECTIVE: Describe changes in Nutrition Educator (NE) and Extension Agent (EA) motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability over time after experiential food tasting curriculum training. Identify promoters of curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. DESIGN: Mixed methods design including surveys, lesson implementation reports, and interviews. SETTING: New Mexico limited-resource schools. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of New Mexico Extension NE (n = 42) and their EA supervisors (n = 21). INTERVENTION: Three-hour curriculum training employing Social Cognitive Theory and Diffusion of Innovations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived change in motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability from post-training through 8-month post-training; promoters and challenges to curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. ANALYSIS: Repeated-measures ANOVA analyzed perceived behavior change over time. Significance was set at P ≤ .05. Qualitative responses were categorized by theme. RESULTS: Gains in NE motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability were sustained at 8 months post-training. High adoption/implementation rates (79%) were attributed to strong implementation expectations, observational learning, experiential training elements, and perceived curriculum compatibility. Environmental factors including time constraints, personnel turnover, and scheduling conflicts proved challenging. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Maximizing curriculum simplicity and compatibility and incorporating behavioral capability, observational learning, and expectations into training support adoption and use. Adaptations and techniques to problem-solve challenges should be provided to new curricula implementers. Published by Elsevier Inc.
OBJECTIVE: Describe changes in Nutrition Educator (NE) and Extension Agent (EA) motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability over time after experiential food tasting curriculum training. Identify promoters of curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. DESIGN: Mixed methods design including surveys, lesson implementation reports, and interviews. SETTING: New Mexico limited-resource schools. PARTICIPANTS: Convenience sample of New Mexico Extension NE (n = 42) and their EA supervisors (n = 21). INTERVENTION: Three-hour curriculum training employing Social Cognitive Theory and Diffusion of Innovations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived change in motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability from post-training through 8-month post-training; promoters and challenges to curriculum adoption, implementation, and future use. ANALYSIS: Repeated-measures ANOVA analyzed perceived behavior change over time. Significance was set at P ≤ .05. Qualitative responses were categorized by theme. RESULTS: Gains in NE motivation, self-efficacy, and behavioral capability were sustained at 8 months post-training. High adoption/implementation rates (79%) were attributed to strong implementation expectations, observational learning, experiential training elements, and perceived curriculum compatibility. Environmental factors including time constraints, personnel turnover, and scheduling conflicts proved challenging. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Maximizing curriculum simplicity and compatibility and incorporating behavioral capability, observational learning, and expectations into training support adoption and use. Adaptations and techniques to problem-solve challenges should be provided to new curricula implementers. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Entities:
Keywords:
Diffusion of Innovations; Social Cognitive Theory; experiential; nutrition curriculum; observational learning; self-efficacy
Authors: Timothy J Walker; Heather M Brandt; Abraham Wandersman; Jonathan Scaccia; Andrea Lamont; Lauren Workman; Emanuelle Dias; Pamela M Diamond; Derek W Craig; Maria E Fernandez Journal: Implement Sci Commun Date: 2020-11-11