Planning Case Activities – Estimating Time Per Activity

Planning – An Estimate of Time per Activity

It is challenging to implement new case studies in N&D education. For planning purposes lecturers benefit from knowing how long activities will take students to complete. Our feedback indicates that when students are first exposed to the NCPro case studies, it takes them a long time to complete the activities and to effectively apply the NCPT in patient care.   
One instructor asked her senior dietetic students (who had already completed the first TWO NCPro cases) to self report how long it took to complete the NCPro activities. The results are tabulated below.

As you may recall Mr. Robertson is introduced in the first case shortly after retirement as an overweight adult. The second case reflects a change in his healthcare status when he is referred for hypertension. The third case is after he has developed Type 2 Diabetes.  And finally the fourth case occurs 7 years later when the dietitian sees him again, this time after his cancer diagnosis.  
The tabulated times involve the students' prior knowledge of Mr. Robertson’s situation. 

This information assists instructors in determining a reasonable student workload and how best to allocate class time.  In addition, when the activities are used to meet practice hours as simulation, the anticipated times are important for documenting expected practice hours.  

Acknowledgement: Information provided by Jaimette McCulley, Fontbonne University, St Louis, MO