Effect of the Menu Planning Lesson Using the Computer Software on the Menu Planning Ability

Abstract

This research was conducted to find out the effect of the menu planning lesson using computer software developed for planning the menu on the menu planning ability of senior high school students. Students were divided into three groups, a computer group, a handout group and a control group. Students of the computer group studied menu planning operating the computer, students of the handout group were studied it using the figures showing nutrition contents in food or on the menu, which were printed out by the computer. Students of the control group were guided by using a textbook and standard tables of food composition. Pre-test and post-test were given to examine the menu planning ability for each group. In the test, students planed the menu, which was checked as to 7 conditions such as nutrition balance, the sense of season, variety of taste, cooking method, color of food, suitable table setting and combination of dishes. The results were as follows: (1) The points of post-test marked as to the nutrition balance were significantly increased in the computer group and the handout group, especially in the computer group, greater numbers of the students improved their score in the post-test compared with other groups. (2) No significant difference was seen in the points of post-test marked as to other conditions except for nutrition balance among three groups. From these results, the menu planning lesson using computer software was effective for improving the ability of planning a nutritionally balanced menu; however no significant effect was seen in improving the ability of planning the menu which satisfied other conditions except for nutrition balance. It was suggested that the introduction of the use of visual materials are useful in enhancing the ability to plan following the conditions mentioned above in the menu planning lesson using computer software.