When students enroll at the university, most are unfamiliar with the College of Family Sciences and its curriculum. Although students are family focused, their previous experience with these study areas is minimal. Even when registered in the FS introductory course, students find some content perplexing. In the nutrition unit of the introductory course, for example, I directed students to find a recipe, analyze its nutrient components, and prepare the dish for their families. Rejecting the proposed cooking task, one student volunteered that she had lived in her house for three weeks before she found the kitchen and that her mother would not let her cook.
Servants prepare most meals here.
Perhaps the greatest evidence of our nutrition unit's limited influence, however, is the students' persistent passion for the university cafeteria's French fries. Students here do not approach consumer issues as Americans would. I introduced a decision making model and asked students to apply it to a potential purchase decision. When they used the model to consider a car purchase, the brands they most often examined were BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, and the Toyota Land Cruiser. Many students said that the vehicle's color was the most significant variable in their choice.