Abstract

The research objective was to identify the effect of various instruction media on improving students' foodservice management competencies and for increasing class satisfaction. The research involved a comparison of two student groups. One group consisted of students who attended a lecture-based food purchasing class (Group A). The other group was students who attended the same class, and who also used various media as well as receiving the lecture Group B). The results were as follows: 1) After a 16 week program, Group B perceived their procurement management competencies to be higher than those of Group A, especially in setting up purchasing goals, marketing research, and using computer systems for procurement; 2) In terms of class satisfaction, it was also observed that Group B was more satisfied with food purchasing class than was Group A. Group B gave high scores, especially in effective utilization media, increasing motivation, and understanding; 3) Group B perceived that various instruction media was helpful for developing their procurement management competencies. Respondents evaluated the usefulness of media in the following order: using Power Point, watching videos, visiting web-sites for food purchasing class, and surfing the World Wide Web. The results of the research show that using various instruction media for food purchasing classes would improve students' foodservice management competencies. Therefore, instructors who teach foodservice management related courses should consider developing teaching strategies that apply various instruction media for students to enhance their foodservice management competencies and to increase class satisfaction.

• Keywords: instruction media; procurement management competencies; class satisfaction