Master of Arts: Digital Teaching and Learning

Action Research Proposal: Eat More Fruit and Vegetables

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

April Borcherding Azusa Campus EDUC 526: The Capstone Experience Dr. Jennifer Courduff January 13, 2014

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!&! January, 2014

Abstract This research project is focused on a topic that is a personal concern in my life. My eight-year-old son, Javon, is not interested in eating any fruits or vegetables. I want him to consume nutritious snacks, therefore I selected this idea to do my Action Research Project. The research took place over a three-week period. There were five days in each week totaling fifteen days. I utilized some key strategies that I discovered in order to encourage this new healthy habit in my sons life. I found that he responded very well to trying fruits and vegetables when a positive reward system was in place. He also seemed to desire tasting valuable produce when he got to physically go to the grocery store to make his choices. Finally, he had a positive response when some healthy, tasty dips were offered to encourage him. I found that my Action Research strategies did have a positive outcome over the course of the three weeks. I have detailed the findings in the report to follow. Key Words: nutritious, implementation, produce

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!'! January, 2014

Section One: Introduction The Problem: I am not currently teaching in a classroom; therefore I needed to select a meaningful problem for my Action Research Project from my everyday personal life. I am a single mom of a wonderful eight-year old boy, Javon, who does not enjoy eating fruits and particularly vegetables. This has been an ongoing issue for him ever since he began eating table food over seven years ago. He enjoyed every variety of pureed baby food and I never had any problems during that stage of his life getting him to eat a nutritious variety of food. Then, once he was able to eat regular table food, he became increasingly picky. Ive had trouble ever since then getting him to try any food that he is not familiar with. He has issues with enjoying a variation of most food groups, however my concern is that he doesnt even attempt to consume most fruits and vegetables. He has never even tasted a banana, which seems to be a common fruit that most children readily eat. He is now an eight-year old boy who has an extremely limited diet. My concern is that he is not getting balanced nutrition especially in the area of consuming an appropriate amount of fruits and vegetables. I am proposing doing my Action Research Project on ways to help my son discover, as well as, enjoy eating a variety of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. At the conclusion of my Action Research Project, I am hoping through proper implementation of the interventions, my son will readily consume two portions of fruit and two portions of vegetables without prompting at least five days in a one-week period.

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!(! January, 2014

Section Two: Implementation Baseline Data: The baseline data for my action resource project comes from the amount of fruits and vegetables in my sons daily diet. Currently he only will try apples and green beans. He will only eat this limited amount of produce less than once a week with prompting. This is a very small amount of daily fruit and vegetable intake. I am hoping that by the end of this project, he will learn to independently enjoy a good variety of produce without prompting. Fruit and vegetables that Javon has tried prior to the beginning of the project: BASELINE DATA Fruit Vegetable 1 1 Banana Green beans With prompt With prompt > Once a week > Once a week

Possible Resources: I am considering a variety of possible resources for my research. First, I will look at websites and online literature that could give me a foundation for ideas how to encourage my son to enjoy a variety of produce. I will also look at parenting, cooking, and health magazines for guidance. My son enjoys videos, so I will find various clips on YouTube describing the importance of balanced diet and nutrition. I am also planning on physically taking him to the produce section on a grocery store and having him touch, smell and feel the fruits and vegetables. In one of my Digital Teaching and Learning classes I did a Web Quest on nutrition, so I am planning on looking at that together with April Borcherding Azusa Campus ! EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II "#$%!)! January, 2014

my son to help encourage and educate him on the importance of fruit and vegetables in his diet (Borcherding, 2010). Finally, I believe that cookbooks and recipes will provide a good resource for ways to introduce fruits and vegetables into my sons daily eating habits. I have listed the resources below in order to make a plan, but they will also be documented on my reference page at the conclusion of the project. Initial Resources: You Tube: &!+%,,-.$!/-01!,2!%#,!345-,1!#.0!6%$%,#78%1! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAZBoK5PcBI 2. Teaching Kids to Eat Their fruits and vegetables Info4Life http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9R3Vcdgz4s (9!+%,,-.$!:-01!,2!;#,!#.0!<-/%!=%$%,#78%1! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMW-_mt9uM 4. Why fruits and vegetables are nutritious http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWkSCqIf1I Journal Sources: *9!+%,!>254!?@-804%.!,2!;#,!A@%-4!=%$%,#78%1!#.0!B45-,1! http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Your-Children-to-Eat-their-Vegetables- andFruits 6. Rewards for eating vegetables and fruits http://smartparentprogram.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-reward-kids-for-eatingtheir.html

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!*! January, 2014

How to Implement the Research: I am planning to implement the research by starting with the baseline data (noted above), then finding resources to help encourage my son to expand his fruit and vegetable pallet. After that, I will strategically introduce strategies based on my findings. I will implement some strategies the first week and document the results. Then, I will introduce a couple different strategies the second week and record my findings. I will do the same during the third week. Each week will introduce different strategies than the one prior. Finally, I will be recording the daily progress of my research in the form of a detailed journal. The first week, I am planning to implement the research by introducing 1 fruit and one vegetable each day to my son. The second week, he will enjoy two new fruits and two new vegetables five days in a week with prompting. By the third week, my desired outcome is that through these strategic interventions, he will consume two portions fruit and two portions of vegetables five days out of a week without prompting.

Section Three: Results Week One: I will first show Javon a couple YouTube videos emphasizing the importance of a proper diet that includes consuming fruits and vegetables. He desires to be a healthy, strong eight-year-old boy, so Im hopeful that direct education will prompt him to want to try to eat a variety of produce (Headley, 2011). I am also planning on bringing him to a produce department of a grocery store (Collins, 2013). I used to do this all of the time when he was very little and he loved touching and smelling all of the different fruits and April Borcherding Azusa Campus ! EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II "#$%!C! January, 2014

vegetables. This time, I think I will take it a step further and encourage him to select a couple of each to try. My goal for this week is that with prompting, Javon will indeed try five different fruits and five different vegetables in one weeks time. To my delight, Javon did well attempting to eat some new fruits and vegetables during this week. He thoroughly enjoyed going to the store and selecting his choices directly from the grocery department. I also implemented a reward system for his efforts. This seemed to increase his desire to progress toward the goal. He earned a trip to Sky Highhis favorite trampoline play place (Moravcsik, 2012). At the conclusion of the week he tried five different fruits and enjoyed two of the five. He also attempted five vegetables and liked two of them as well. His results for this week are documented in the table below. WEEK ONE RESULTS Fruit Tried Liked Day 1 Clementine Yes Day 2 Grapes Yes Day 3 Pear No Day 4 Banana No Day 5 Blueberries No

Vegetables Tried Liked

Day 1 Corn Yes

Day 2 Lettuce No

Day 3 Peas No

Day 4 Broccoli No

Day 5 Green Onion Yes

Week Two:

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!D! January, 2014

This week will be a similar goal as last week. In my proposal, I stated that I am hoping that my son will try two different portions of fruit and two different portions of vegetables, with prompting, on five days out of the week. My research that I am planning to implement includes reading together a journal article and also watching another video together. I watched a video that encouraged the use of dips to help children enjoy fruits and vegetables (Hart, 2010). I am planning on going on one shopping trip at the beginning of the week to have Javon select his choices rather than going various times like I did last week (Collins, 2013). This week was planned to be a jump in Javons interest of trying both fruits and vegetables. Since he did fairly well last week, I continued with what I had hoped for in my initial proposal and made the goal for him to taste two of each on a daily basis. This week I had intended for him to consume these still with my prompting rather than his own interest alone. He was successful once again this week. I was pleased that in a fiveday period he tried ten new fruits and vegetables. These were different than week one. He liked some and others he didnt care too much for. However, I am so proud of the ground he has made in two short weeks. I have documented the results for week two in the table below. WEEK TWO RESULTS Fruit Tried 1 Tried 2 Liked Day 1 Watermelon Peach Yes/Yes Day 2 Orange Cantaloupe Yes/Yes Day 3 Grape Toms Plum No/No Day 4 Raspberry Kiwi No/No Day 5 Pineapple Pomegranate Yes/Yes "#$%!E! January, 2014

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

Vegetable Tried 1 Tried 2 Liked

Day 1 Cucumber Carrot No/Yes

Day 2 Red Bell Pep Celery Yes/Yes

Day 3 Sweet Pot Spinach No/Yes

Day 4 Cauliflower Zucchini No/No

Day 5 Artichoke Spaghetti Squash Yes/Yes

Week Three: The goal for this week will be for Javon to eat two portions of both fruits and vegetables ultimately without prompting (Info4Life, 2009). He will choose either items he has already tasted or new ones that he hasnt tried yet. I expect him to revert back to the ones he already tried and liked, but maybe I will be surprised. I will implement some of the strategies that seems to have already worked best in the beginning of the week to help aid his progress toward eating more nutrients. This week was very interesting for me because I had to exercise restraint from prompting Javon to eat his nutritious snacks. I had learned that an example of good eating habits is just as powerful as using your voice, so I focused on being an example this week. I made sure he saw me eating a good variety of fruits and vegetables. I was delighted that each day he did make good choices with his snacks. My goal was that he would select two fruits and two vegetables each day. He didnt meet that goal each day, but he did consume at least one of each. Most of them this week he already liked because he was able to revisit the same selections from the previous weeks if he chose to. I was proud of him and I was also proud of myself for being an example as well April Borcherding Azusa Campus ! EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II "#$%!F! January, 2014

as restraining my words. He earned a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain as a positive reward for his efforts (Moravcsik, 2012). I have documented the results for week three in the table below.

WEEK THREE RESULTS Fruit Tried 1 Tried 2 Liked Day 1 Watermelon Orange Yes/Yes Day 2 Grapes Clementine Yes/Yes Day 3 Grape X Yes/X Day 4 Watermelon Banana Yes/No Day 5 Orange X Yes/X

Vegetable Tried 1 Tried 2 Liked

Day 1 Carrot Green Onion Yes/Yes

Day 2 Broccoli X Yes/ X

Day 3 Lettuce Carrot Yes/Yes

Day 4 Red Bell Pep X Yes/X

Day 5 Corn Green Onion Yes/Yes

Section Four: Conclusions I collected data and took meticulous field notes for three weeks recording the progress of my sons interest in eating fruits and vegetables. I utilized resources which directed my to help my son to understand the importance of the nutrients in this produce. I also found that if I give him incentives using positive rewards for his food choices he might become more willing to try these items. April Borcherding Azusa Campus ! EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II "#$%!&G! January, 2014

I came to understand that if I am a good example to Javon and model good eating habits he will also be more likely to enjoy eating a variety of fruits and vegetables (Maluniu). I was more than pleased with his efforts and the results surprised me because he ate far more than I expected. Not only did he taste them, he enjoyed far more than I expected him to. I was also surprised that the data demonstrates that he enjoys vegetables slightly more than fruit. I would have predicted the opposite because fruit is sweeter and my son loves sugar. A few weeks ago, my son only would taste one fruit and one vegetable. By the conclusion of this study he tasted fifteen of each. He didnt like all of them, but I found successful ways to help him enjoy the process. I have documented the overall results in the graph below. I believe the data truly speaks for itself and this Action Research Project had positive results.

23*.#,,(4/$5,"1&/$1(
&G! E! !"#$%&%'( C! )! '! G! H%%/!&! H%%/!'! )**+,'(-./0.*11( H%%/!(! '! '! D! C! C! B45-,! =%$%,#78%1! F!

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!&&! January, 2014

Section Five: General Comments I have enjoyed doing this Action Research and its been a rewarding experience in a few ways. I not only learned about ways to encourage my son to eat more nutritiously, but I discovered some areas in my parenting strategies that need improvement. I need to be a better example to my son. I realized that I do not provide enough resources for him to choose fruits and vegetables for a snack. I also do not eat these consistently enough as a model to him. Finally, I learned that I need to follow through on my word more consistently. Sometimes I will tell Javon something and not follow through. I need to make sure that I let my yes be yes and my no be no. These last few weeks has revealed that I have some work to do myself in my personal life. It was an unexpected and beneficial outcome to this time of research. In addition to learning more about myself during this process, I also believe I could have improved slightly in the overall process. I didnt intentionally let my son know directly that I was doing this research. However, he overheard my conversation that I was conducting the project on his diet. Since he knew that I was officially documenting his process, it seemed that he was more likely to willingly go along with the process. Considering the fact that he was aware that I was documenting everything, he wanted his participation to be noted in a positive way. Therefore, I dont know if he would have tasted as many different fruits and vegetables if it wasnt formal research. Next time I do an Action Research Project, I will make sure that my subject is unaware of it. I believe that will give an outcome that is not swayed by desire to perform in a positive way.

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!&'! January, 2014

References Borcherding, A. (2010). Fast and healthy. Retrieved from http://questgarden.com/98/05/2/100309134029/ Collins, N. (2013, August). Getting kids to eat and like vegetables. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcMW-_mt9uM Hart, A. (June, 2010 25). Getting kids to eat fruit and vegetables. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAZBoK5PcBI Headley, J. (2011, October). Heathy diet: fruits and vegetables. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWkSCqIf1I Info4Life. (October, 2009 01). Teaching kids to eat their fruits and vegetables. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9R3Vcdgz4s Maluniu. (n.d.). How to get your children to eat their fruits and vegetables. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Your-Children-to-Eat-their-Vegetables- andFruits Moravcsik. (2012, March 05). Teach your child to love healthy food. Retrieved from http://smartparentprogram.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-to-reward-kids-for-eatingtheir.html

April Borcherding Azusa Campus !

EDUC 526: Action Research Project Fall II

"#$%!&(! January, 2014