Do Linked International Curricula in Biology Enhance Science Literacy and Engagement in Non-Science and Pre-major Students?

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Biological Sciences (61) Nonscience majors and early premajors studying the biology of HIV/AIDS in the United States are electronically linked to students at Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya to form international, collaborative working groups. Using activities jointly designed by American and Kenyan faculty members, these two groups of students work together on issues relating to the scientific and social consequences of HIV/AIDS. Together they are generating educational materials on HIV/AIDS that Egerton students will use to expedite change in their communities. The intellectual merit of this project is its novel approach to engaging nonscience students, both intellectually and emotionally, in an important issue that is informed by science, the African AIDS epidemic. Students are learning to evaluate the quality of scientific data by analyzing the controversies surrounding HIV/AIDS. At the same time, they are forging a multidisciplinary understanding of the interconnectedness of science and global development issues, while grappling with the ethical complexities surrounding the disparate benefits of science and technology in developed and developing countries. Students who participate in this project are being evaluated to determine how an international component, emotional connectivity, and work of humanitarian utility influence cognitive and affective responses to learning science. This contribution to research in biology education, as well as the global connectedness of students who participate, form the broader impacts of the project. This award was cofunded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.