Efficacy, Intent to Teach, and Implementation of Nutrition Education Increases After Training for Health Educators

Abstract

Background: Self-efficacy, outcome expectations, outcome value and strong intentions to teach are linked to teaching competence, curricular implementation and student outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of nutrition in-service professional development to increase self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, outcome values and intentions to teach nutrition education as part of a broader health education curriculum. Methods: A quasi-experimental design examined teachers' self-efficacy, outcome expectations, outcome value and intentions to teach in teachers who participated in an in-service intervention (N = 30) and controls who did not (N = 29). Results: A significant interaction between groups over time was found for self-efficacy and outcome expectations. For outcome value and intention to teach, a significant main effect for time was observed. The intervention group scored significantly higher than the control group in both self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Furthermore, scores for intention to teach and outcome values were higher post-intervention. Discussion: Results of this study indicate that in-service training combined with adequate instructional resources increased both teacher self-efficacy and the number of lessons the intervention teachers intended to teach. Translation to Health Education Practice: Because self-efficacy has been strongly linked to teacher effectiveness, efforts should be directed at providing continual training for teachers based on risk behaviors outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.