Community Partnership Designed to Promote Lyme Disease Prevention and Engagement in Citizen Science †
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Authors:
Veronica A. Seifert1,
Shane Wilson1,
Samantha Toivonen1,
Benjamin Clarke1,
Amy Prunuske1,*
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Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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†Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: 321 Medical School Duluth, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812. Phone: 218-726-6748. Fax: 218-726-7906. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
The goal of this project is to promote Lyme disease prevention and to cultivate an interest in science through a citizen-science project coordinated by researchers at a public university and teachers at rural high schools. The lesson plan is designed to increase student interest in pursuing a science career through participation in an authentic research experience, utilizing a topic that has implications on the health of the surrounding community. Students are introduced in the classroom to zoonotic diseases transmitted by the Ixodes tick, the health risks of Lyme disease, and disease prevention strategies. Students then participate in a research experience collecting field data and ticks from their community, which are used in university research. To measure changes in student knowledge and attitudes toward Lyme disease and science careers, students completed surveys related to the learning objectives associated with the experience. We found participation in the activity increased student confidence and ability to correctly differentiate a deer tick from a wood tick and to recognize the symptoms of Lyme disease. In addition, students reported increased interest in pursuing a science degree in college or graduate school. Authentic research experience related to a disease relevant to the local community is effective at enhancing high school student engagement in science.
References & Citations
Supplemental Material
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Appendix 1: Lesson plan
Appendix 2: PowerPoint presentation
Appendix 3: Data collection sheet
Appendix 4: Surveys
Appendix 5: Consent form for parents
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Abstract:
The goal of this project is to promote Lyme disease prevention and to cultivate an interest in science through a citizen-science project coordinated by researchers at a public university and teachers at rural high schools. The lesson plan is designed to increase student interest in pursuing a science career through participation in an authentic research experience, utilizing a topic that has implications on the health of the surrounding community. Students are introduced in the classroom to zoonotic diseases transmitted by the Ixodes tick, the health risks of Lyme disease, and disease prevention strategies. Students then participate in a research experience collecting field data and ticks from their community, which are used in university research. To measure changes in student knowledge and attitudes toward Lyme disease and science careers, students completed surveys related to the learning objectives associated with the experience. We found participation in the activity increased student confidence and ability to correctly differentiate a deer tick from a wood tick and to recognize the symptoms of Lyme disease. In addition, students reported increased interest in pursuing a science degree in college or graduate school. Authentic research experience related to a disease relevant to the local community is effective at enhancing high school student engagement in science.

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Author and Article Information
-
Published 01 March 2016
- ©2016 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
-
†Supplemental materials available at http://jmbe.asm.org
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: 321 Medical School Duluth, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812. Phone: 218-726-6748. Fax: 218-726-7906. E-mail: [email protected].
Figures
Examples of students conducting the fieldwork in woods near their high school. Drag cloth on the ground (A) and in use (B).

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FIGURE 1
Examples of students conducting the fieldwork in woods near their high school. Drag cloth on the ground (A) and in use (B).
Student-reported ability to achieve the learning objectives before and after participation in the activity. Students were asked to rate their agreement with several statements (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). The students’ answers were averaged. *Indicates a statistically significant difference with a p value < 0.05.

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FIGURE 2
Student-reported ability to achieve the learning objectives before and after participation in the activity. Students were asked to rate their agreement with several statements (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). The students’ answers were averaged. *Indicates a statistically significant difference with a p value < 0.05.
Science attitudes were collected from students participating in the Lesson on Lyme using the Modified Attitudes Toward Science Inventory. Students from three different high schools (n = 219) used a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree) to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each of the statements. The graph shows the percentage of students selecting each of the categories.

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FIGURE 3
Science attitudes were collected from students participating in the Lesson on Lyme using the Modified Attitudes Toward Science Inventory. Students from three different high schools (n = 219) used a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree) to indicate their agreement or disagreement with each of the statements. The graph shows the percentage of students selecting each of the categories.
Model of constituents benefitting from lyme outreach partnership.

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FIGURE 4
Model of constituents benefitting from lyme outreach partnership.