This IRB-exempt, exploratory, mixed-methods study aims to show how integrating social representations of people, places, and things known as imaginaries can enhance a nutrition course for non-traditional adult learners early in academic programs to support their success. Using an Elicit, Design, Create, Deploy, and Research (EDCDR) process, the accommodations-eligible health imaginaries were embedded into resources and activities in the nutrition course to achieve universal design goals. Through an exploratory mixed methods approach, we evaluated the impact of these health and wellness-focused imaginaries on improving learners’ self-awareness and advocacy following curriculum adjustments. Pre-test and post-test course surveys of the intervention led to a small positive shift in scores, indicating increased student awareness and confidence regarding accommodation eligibility, timing, success, and faculty fairness. The Mann–Whitney U test revealed significant difference in students’ awareness and knowledge of accommodations and ADA resources following the intervention. Key areas of improvement included understanding accommodation eligibility (z = −11.51, p < .001, r = 0.10), the request process (z = −17.83, p < .001, r = 0.15), timing of requests (z = −16.39, p < .001, r = 0.14), perceptions of accommodation success (z = −15.02, p < .001, r = 0.13), and faculty fairness (z = −10.92, p < .001, r = 0.09), with small but meaningful effect sizes. Qualitative results showed participants found the health and wellness course engaging and relatable, especially due to the realistic, diverse characters and their connection to real-life challenges in nutrition and health, though some noted issues with course-material alignment and imaginary character development. The intervention led to small but significant improvements in students’ knowledge and perceptions of accommodations, demonstrating its effectiveness as a low cost, scalable solution for supporting students in higher education.
AdamsS.BlokkerP.DoyleN. J.KrummelJ. W. M.SmithJ. C. A., & Zeta Books. (2015). Social imaginaries in debate. Social Imaginaries, 1(1), 15–52. https://doi.org/10.5840/si2015112
3.
AlsopE. (2018). Who’s teaching the teachers?The Chronicle of Higher Education, 64(23), Article 23.
ArrudaA. (2015). Image, social imaginary, and social representations. In SammutG.AndreouliE.GaskellG.ValsinerJ. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of social representations (pp. 128–142). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107323650.012
6.
BarrosC.Sacau-FontenlaA. (2021). New insights on the mediating role of emotional intelligence and social support on university students’ mental health during COVID-19 pandemic: Gender matters. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), 12935. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182412935
7.
BurgstahlerS. E. (2015). Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice. Harvard Education Press.
8.
Carey-PaceJ. (2021). A study of educators’ experiences implementing academic accommodations for students with invisible disabilities in higher education: A hermeneutic phenomenology [Doctoral dissertation, Wilkes University].
9.
CaseyG.EvansT. (2011). Designing for learning: Online social networks as a classroom environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 12(7), 1. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v12i7.1011
10.
CawthonS. W.ColeE. V. (2010). Postsecondary students who have a learning disability: Student perspectives on accommodations access and obstacles. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 23(2), 112–128.
11.
ChabrolF.DavidP.-M. (2023). How resilience affected public health research during COVID-19 and why we should abandon it. Global Public Health, 18(1), 2212750. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2212750
12.
FaulF.ErdfelderE.BuchnerA.LangA.-G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 1149–1160. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.41.4.1149
Garzón DíazK. D. R.GoodleyD. (2021). Teaching disability: Strategies for the reconstitution of disability knowledge. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 25(14), 1577–1596. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1640292
GirouxH. A.PennaA. N. (1979). Social education in the classroom: The dynamics of the hidden curriculum. Theory & Research in Social Education, 7(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.1979.10506048
17.
GoodfellowA. (2012). Looking through the learning disability lens: Inclusive education and the learning disability embodiment. Children’s Geographies, 10(1), 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2011.638179
18.
GopalanM.Linden-CarmichaelA.LanzaS. (2022). College students’ sense of belonging and mental health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70(2), 228–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.10.010
19.
GormleyM. J.PinhoT.PollackB.PuzinoK.FranklinM. K.BuschC.DuPaulG. J.WeyandtL. L.AnastopoulosA. D. (2018). Impact of study skills and parent education on first-year GPA among college students with and without ADHD: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Attention Disorders, 22(4), 334–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054715594422
20.
GrabowskiD.K. RasmussenK. (2014). Authenticity in health education for adolescents: A qualitative study of four health courses. Health Education, 114(2), 86–100. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-06-2013-0020
HarringtonI.MellorsM. J. (2021). Utilising online gamification to promote student success and retention in tertiary settings. International Journal of Higher Education, 10(7), 45. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v10n7p45
24.
HoffJ.-L. (2023). Unavoidable futures? How governments articulate sociotechnical imaginaries of AI and healthcare services. Futures, 148, 103131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2023.103131
25.
Jackson-BanksL. D. J. (2022). The underutilization of disability resources in higher education: A qualitative descriptive study [Doctoral dissertation, North Central University School of Education].
26.
JamesT.BondK.KumarB.TomlinM.TothG. (2022). We were all learning and doing our best: Investigating how enabling educators promoted student belonging in a time of significant complexity and unpredictability. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 19(4), 1–18.
27.
JasanoffF.NissenJ. (2015). Dreamscapes of modernity: Sociotechnical imaginaries and the fabrication of power (2015th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
28.
JohnsonC.GitayR.Abdel-SalamA.-S. G.BenSaidA.IsmailR.Naji Al-TameemiR. A.RomanowskiM. H.KazemAlFakihB. M.Al HazaaK. (2022). Student support in higher education: Campus service utilization, impact, and challenges. Heliyon, 8(12), e12559. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12559
29.
KellyJ.BrunoJ. (2022). Destigmatizing the receipt of accommodations by using character personas in a general education nutrition course. Phoenix Scholar, 5(3), 26–28.
30.
KishD. R. (2023). Understanding online retention in nontraditional higher education students: A Delphi study [Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix].
KratzkeC.CoxC. (2021). Pedagogical practices shaping professional identity in public health programs. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 7(3), 169–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/2373379920977539
33.
KrugerJ. S.HollisterC. (2021). Engaging undergraduate public health students through a textbook creation project. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 7(3), 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1177/2373379920962416
34.
ManaA.SakaN.DahanO.Ben-SimonA.MargalitM. (2022). Implicit theories, social support, and hope as serial mediators for predicting academic self-efficacy among higher education students. Learning Disability Quarterly, 45(2), 85–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948720918821
35.
McCoyL. G.NagarajS.MorgadoF.HarishV.DasS.CeliL. A. (2020). What do medical students actually need to know about artificial intelligence?Npj Digital Medicine, 3(1), 86. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-020-0294-7
36.
MerzelC. R. (2021). Forming the future: Undergraduate pedagogy in health promotion and public health. Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 7(3), 167–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/23733799211033326
37.
MoriñaA.CarballoR. (2017). The impact of a faculty training program on inclusive education and disability. Evaluation and Program Planning, 65, 77–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2017.06.004
38.
MottaS. C.BennettA. (2018). Pedagogies of care, care-full epistemological practice and ‘other’ caring subjectivities in enabling education. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), 631–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1465911
39.
NahardaniS. Z.Rastgou SalamiM.MirmoghtadaieZ.KeshavarziM. H. (2021). The hidden curriculum in online education based on systematized review. Shiraz E-Medical Journal, 23(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.5812/semj.105445
40.
NewmanL. A.MadausJ. W.LalorA. R.JavitzH. S. (2019). Support receipt: Effect on postsecondary success of students with learning disabilities. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165143418811288
41.
NewmanL.WagnerM.KnokeyA.MarderC.NagleK.ShaverD.WeiX. (2011). The post-high school outcomes of young adults with disabilities up to 8 years after high school: A report from NLTS2 (No. NCSER 2011-3005). National Center for Special Education Research.
42.
OkpychN. J.ParkS. (Ethan)SayedS.CourtneyM. E. (2020). The roles of Campus-Support Programs (CSPs) and Education and Training Vouchers (ETVs) on college persistence for youth with foster care histories. Children and Youth Services Review, 111, 104891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104891
43.
O’NeillJ. (2016). Social imaginaries: An overview. In Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer.
44.
PreeceC.WhittakerL.JanesS. (2022). Choose your own future: The sociotechnical imaginaries of virtual reality. Journal of Marketing Management, 38(15–16), 1777–1795. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2022.2112610
RahmL.Rahm-SkågebyJ. (2023). Imaginaries and problematisations: A heuristic lens in the age of artificial intelligence in education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 54(5), 1147–1159. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13319
47.
RowlandP.BrydgesM.KulasegaramK. (2024). Sociotechnical imaginaries in academic medicine strategic planning: A document analysis. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 29(4), 1435–1451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-024-10339-x
48.
ShigakiC. L.AndersonK. M.HowaldC. L.HensonL.GreggB. E. (2012). Disability on campus: A perspective from faculty and staff. Work, 42(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-2012-1409
49.
StevensC. M.SchneiderE.Bederman-MillerP. (2018). Identifying faculty perceptions of awareness and preparedness relating to ADA compliance at a small, private college in NE PA. American Journal of Business Education, 11(2), Article 2.
50.
TaylorC. (2004). Modern social imaginaries. Duke University Press.
VaizerR.AslamS.Pearson JrW. G.Rockich-WinstonN. (2020). What does it mean to be a physician? Exploring social imaginaries of first-year medical students. International Journal of Medical Education, 11, 76–80. https://doi.org/10.5116/ijme.5e30.8f73
53.
VygotskyL. (1986). Thought and language. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
54.
WalkerC.GreavesA. (2016). Constructing the caring higher education teacher: A theoretical framework. Teaching and Teacher Education, 54, 65–76.
55.
WilsonC. (2017). Teacher experiences in using digital technology in the early grades to support teaching and learning [Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria].
