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Community Partnership Designed to Promote Lyme Disease Prevention and Engagement in Citizen Science

    Authors: Veronica A. Seifert1, Shane Wilson1, Samantha Toivonen1, Benjamin Clarke1, Amy Prunuske1,*
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    Affiliations: 1: Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN 55812
    AUTHOR AND ARTICLE INFORMATION 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].
    Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 63-69. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
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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 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

1. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2011 Vision and change in undergraduate biology education: a call to action Washington, DC
2. Bandura A 1977 Social learning theory General Learning Press New York, NY
3. Bransford J, Brown AL, Cocking RR 1999 How people learn: brain, mind, experience, and school The National Academies Press Washington, DC
4. Brown JS, Collins A, Duguid S 1989 Situated cognition and the culture of learning Educ Res 18 1 32 42 10.3102/0013189X018001032 http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189X018001032
5. Bruner J 1996 The culture of education Harvard University Press Cambridge, MA
6. Centers for Disease control and Prevention Reported cases of lyme disease [Online.] www.cdc.gov/lyme/stats/index.html
7. Dickinson JL, et al 2012 The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement Frontiers Ecol Environ 10 291 297 10.1890/110236 http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/110236
8. Falco RC, Fish D 1992 A comparison of methods for sampling the deer tick, Ixodes dammini, in a Lyme disease endemic area Exp Appl Acarol 14 2 165 173 10.1007/BF01219108 1638929 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01219108
9. Fitzakerley JL, Michlin ML, Paton J, Dubinsky JM 2013 Neuroscientists’ classroom visits positively impact student attitudes PLOS One 8 12 e84035 10.1371/journal.pone.0084035 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084035
10. Gogolin L, Swartz F 1992 A quantitative and qualitative inquiry into the attitudes toward science of nonscience college students J Res Sci Teach 29 5 487 504 10.1002/tea.3660290505 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660290505
11. Kelly D, Xie H, Nord CW, Jenkins F, Chan JY, Kastberg D 2013 Performance of US 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, and reading literacy in an international context—first look at PISA 2012 National Center for Education Statistics [Online.] http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2014024
12. Komoroske LM, Hameed SO, Szoboszlai AI, Newsom AJ, Williams SL 2015 A scientist’s guide to achieving broader impacts through K–12 STEM collaboration BioScience 65 3 313 322 10.1093/biosci/biu222 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu222
13. Laursen S, Liston C, Thiry H, Graf J 2007 What good is a scientist in the classroom? Participant outcomes and program design features for a short-duration science outreach intervention in K–12 classrooms CBE Life Sci Educ 6 49 64 10.1187/cbe.06-05-0165 17339394 1810206 http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.06-05-0165
14. Miller NJ, Rainone EE, Dyer MC, Gonzalez ML, Mather TN 2011 Tick bite protection with permethrin-treated summer-weight clothing J Med Entomol 48 2 327 333 10.1603/ME10158 21485369 http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/ME10158
15. National Academies of Sciences 2012 Monitoring progress toward successful K–12 STEM education: a nation advancing? The National Academies Press Washington, DC
16. National Research Council 2012 A framework for K–12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas [Online.] www.nap.edu/catalog/13165/a-framework-for-k-12-science-education-practices-crosscutting-concepts
17. National Science Board 2014 Revisiting the STEM workforce, a companion to science and engineering indicators National Science Foundation [Online.] www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2015/nsb201510.pdf
18. PCAST 2010 Prepare and inspire: K–12 education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for America’s future President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Washington, DC [Online.] www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-stem-ed-final.pdf
19. Scott HC 2013 Inquiry, efficacy, and science education PhD dissertation Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA

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2016-03-01
2020-08-05

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 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

Community Partnership Designed to Promote Lyme Disease Prevention and Engagement in Citizen Science
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Citation: Seifert V, Wilson S, Toivonen S, Clarke B, Prunuske A. 2016. Community partnership designed to promote lyme disease prevention and engagement in citizen science . J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. 17(1):63-69 doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014.f1-jmbe-17-63
FIGURE 1

Examples of students conducting the fieldwork in woods near their high school. Drag cloth on the ground (A) and in use (B).

jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f1_thmb.gif
jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f1.gif
Image of FIGURE 1

Click to view

FIGURE 1

Examples of students conducting the fieldwork in woods near their high school. Drag cloth on the ground (A) and in use (B).

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 63-69. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
Download as Powerpoint
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014.f2-jmbe-17-63
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 value < 0.05.

jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f2_thmb.gif
jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f2.gif
Image of FIGURE 2

Click to view

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 value < 0.05.

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 63-69. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
Download as Powerpoint
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014.f3-jmbe-17-63
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 ( = 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.

jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f3_thmb.gif
jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f3.gif
Image of FIGURE 3

Click to view

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 ( = 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.

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 63-69. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
Download as Powerpoint
/content/jmbe/10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014.f4-jmbe-17-63
FIGURE 4

Model of constituents benefitting from lyme outreach partnership.

jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f4_thmb.gif
jmbe/17/1/jmbe-17-63f4.gif
Image of FIGURE 4

Click to view

FIGURE 4

Model of constituents benefitting from lyme outreach partnership.

Source: J. Microbiol. Biol. Educ. March 2016 vol. 17 no. 1 63-69. doi:10.1128/jmbe.v17i1.1014
Download as Powerpoint

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