RAPID: Using Popular Media to Educate Youth About the Biology of Viruses and the Current COVID-19 Pandemic

作为在非正式环境中加强学习的总体战略的一部分，推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划为各种环境中使用的创新研究、方法和资源提供资金。这份快速报告是对美国国家科学基金会关于新冠肺炎大流行的亲爱同事的信的回应。该奖项是由学习研究部的AISL项目利用冠状病毒援助、救济和经济安全(CARE)法案提供的资金颁发的。该项目将开发和研究一套高质量、可广泛获取的媒体和其他外联材料，旨在让中学生、教育工作者和图书馆了解与新冠肺炎有关的病毒。当务之急是向年轻人提供准确、吸引人和可获得的材料，帮助他们了解新冠肺炎大流行背后的基本生物学，包括新冠肺炎的传播途径和防止其传播的机制。这对于那些没有科学背景或兴趣的人来说尤其重要，这样年轻人中流传的谣言、传闻和八卦就可以被基于研究的信息所取代。自2007年以来，项目团队和合作伙伴一直专注于开发和研究对青年和公众进行生物学、病毒学和传染病教育的新方法。该项目将开发一个可在网上访问的可定制图形、插图故事和论文的包-所有这些都可以很容易地纳入自由选择和指导在线学习以及基于标准的6-8年级课程计划。这些资源将免费广泛传播给青年和各类教育工作者，包括学校、图书馆、博物馆和其他已建立的正规和非正规科学教育网络。该项目网络包将链接到多个网站，作为青年、公众和教育工作者重要的科学和病毒学教育资源。一家著名的大学出版社将出版和宣传插图故事，并支持免费分发7000本。该项目将进行研究，考察插图丰富的科学叙事如何影响年轻人对科学的理解和好奇心。这项研究将有助于为更好地了解如何对青年进行有关新冠肺炎(和未来的流行病)的教育奠定基础，同时产生关于在重大意外自然事件期间进行公共科学宣传的有效方法的新知识。对于形成性评估，该项目将使用创新的快速反应反馈方法。将邀请青年通过一个精心策划的门户网站对连载故事提供及时、具体的评论。由于新的摘录与在线相关，将向因特定特征(例如，最初的科学兴趣较低或较高)而被选中的青年提出不同的问题。这些数据将实时指导故事的发展，并提供一种机制来衡量故事的吸引力、可理解性和最初的影响。该项目将解决两个研究问题：“图文并茂的故事在让参与者对新冠肺炎的知识、科学认同、态度和对科学事业的兴趣产生积极影响方面有多大效果？”以及“故事情节和人物如何对病毒知识、流行病学以及年轻人对科学和科学事业的态度产生不同的影响？”为了进行这项研究，该项目将使用项目组进行的先前研究的改编项目进行在线调查。其他项目将评估新冠肺炎对该病毒的知识、态度、个人经历、幸福感以及接触到有关该病毒的公共卫生信息。研究成果将被广泛分享，以向该领域提供有关在快速发展的全球和教育挑战的到来期间提供科学教育内容的新方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches, and resources for use in a variety of settings. This RAPID was submitted in response to the NSF Dear Colleague letter related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This award is made by the AISL program in the Division of Research on Learning, using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The project will develop and research an integrated package of high-quality, widely accessible media and other outreach materials designed to engage middle school youth, educators, and libraries in learning about viruses in relation to COVID-19. There is an immediate need to provide youth with accurate, engaging, and accessible materials to help them understand the basic biology underlying the COVID-19 pandemic, including the routes of COVID-19 transmission and mechanisms to prevent its spread. This is particularly important for those without science backgrounds or interests so that the rumors, hearsay, and gossip circulating among youth can be replaced with research-based information. Since 2007, the project team and partners have focused on developing and studying new ways of educating youth and the public about biology, virology, and infectious disease. The project will develop a web-accessible package of customizable graphics, illustrated stories, and essays—all of which can be easily incorporated into free-choice and directed on-line learning as well standards-based lesson plans for Grades 6-8. These resources will be disseminated broadly and at no cost to youth and educators of all kinds, including schools, libraries, museums, and other established networks for formal and informal science education. The project web package will be linked to multiple websites that serve as important educational resources on science and virology for youth, the general public, and educators. A prominent university press will publish and promote the illustrated stories and support distribution of 7,000 free copies. The project will conduct research examining how richly-illustrated science narratives impact youth understanding of and curiosity about science. The research will help develop the foundation for better understanding how to educate youth about COVID-19 (and future pandemics) while generating new knowledge about effective methods for public science outreach during a major unanticipated natural event. For formative evaluation, the project will use an innovative rapid response feedback method. Youth will be invited to provide timely, specific comments on the serialized stories through a curated portal. As new excerpts are related online, different questions will be posed to youth who are selected because of specific characteristics (e.g., low or high initial science interest). These data will guide story development in real time and provide a mechanism to gauge the story appeal, comprehensibility, and initial impacts. The project will address two research questions: “How effective are illustrated stories in having positive impacts among participants on COVID-19 knowledge, science identity, attitudes, and interest in science careers?” and “How do story lines and characters have differential impacts on virus knowledge, epidemiology, and youth attitudes towards science and science careers?” To conduct this research, the project will conduct online surveys using adapted items from prior research conducted by the project team. Additional items will assess COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, personal experiences with the virus, well-being, and exposure to public health messaging about the virus. Research findings will be shared widely to inform the field about new ways delivering science education content during the advent of rapidly evolving global and educational challenges.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.