Theses and Dissertations Collection

Foodservice equipment training is important for dietetic students and foodservice employees; however, no validated training programs exist.  This study compared changes in students’ knowledge, competence, and comfort in using foodservice equipment, as well as confidence in training others after completing one of the following interventions: 1) one quantity food equipment course and one management course, and foodservice supervised practice rotations, 2) equipment introduction, and an equipment competency exam, and 3) equipment training, practice lab, and an equipment competency exam. Students (N = 65) completed a retrospective pre- and post-intervention survey. Actual skill was verified via instructor observation for Intervention 3. Intervention 3 should be considered for implementation because it yielded the highest post-intervention scores (≥ 3.57 out of 4) compared to Interventions 1 and 2 (≤3.14 and ≤2.79, respectively), p <0.05, and because most (88%) students in Intervention 3 received 86% or better for their actual skill.