Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

170 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education
education curriculum, through the use of problem - based learning, was compared to
traditional, lecture recitation instructional methodologies and the development and
extensive use of reflective, student portfolios in curricular offerings presented in Web -
based formats. It was hypothesized that active curricular incorporation and use of
problem - based learning methodologies would result in increased “ readiness ” for positive
behavioral change.
METHOD
Participants for this investigation were voluntarily recruited from students enrolled in a
required health education course at a regional university located in eastern Pennsylvania.
The multiple cohorts, as a group, demonstrated characteristics consistent with the enrollment
demographics of the university (Kutztown University, 1999), that is, reflected an
age of 20.68 0.437 years (mean sem), were 62.70 percent female, and 91.89 percent
were under the age of 25 years. Additionally, participants had completed 1.96
0.657 (mean sem) years of university study. The course, Personal Health Management,
was intended to provide a survey of diverse health topics relevant to a college - aged population
and focused on expanding cognitive foundations, promoting the desirability of
informed decision making, expanding repertoires of strategies enabling positive behavioral
alterations, and, ultimately, promoting successful lifestyle modification. The survey
course, offered by established faculty, followed uniform curricular content and was
offered in three formats: lecture recitation (LR), problem - based learning (PBL), and
interactive distance learning (DL). The lecture recitation approach followed an historically
traditional format in which faculty were the primary disseminators of information,
experiential learning activities were minimal, and faculty made all classroom decisions.
Problem-based learning, a modification of the use of case study, required students to
take a much greater role in their learning. Through student initiated, faculty facilitated
exploration of age and gender relevant, open -ended “health situations, ” participants were
positioned, not only to expand their topical knowledge, but to refine higher order learning
skills such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, quantitative analysis and
database access and retrieval to the point where they could easily acquire relevant information
and make knowledgeable informed decisions about their lifestyle habits and
strategies for positive change. Interactive distance learning was a Web - based seminar
course that required students to complete extensive readings, to participate in collective
discussions, and to maintain a personal portfolio which provided an opportunity for
on - going self - assessment, reflection, and analysis of lifestyle and change strategies.
Though approaches to instruction differed, all courses covered similar curricular content,
allocated similar time to varying instructional topics and provided students with
both a rationale for lifestyle alterations and varied processes and strategies that can
contribute to positive behavioral change.
The efficacy of these multiple instructional strategies in promoting lifestyle modification
was assessed, over the course of a fifteen - week academic semester, through
the evaluation of student position within Prochaska, DiClemente, and Norcross ’s