RAPID: Supporting Responsible Action through COVID-19 Education

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. citizens are balancing information from many sources to make crucial decisions such as whether to wear a mask or whether to practice social distancing. In making their decisions, people need to distinguish legitimate scientific information from pervasive misinformation and pseudoscience. Such misinformation promotes public distrust in science and affects decisions of individuals and groups, potentially placing everyone at greater risk. This project seeks to determine how people think about and respond to COVID-19 information and to develop educational materials that will prepare people to respond effectively to an anticipated second wave of COVID-19.Focusing specifically on undergraduate students enrolled in large introductory biology courses at Texas A&M University, this project intends to: (1) determine how undergraduate students’ risk perceptions and decision-making regarding COVID-19 relate to their perceptions and understanding of science and sociocultural characteristics; (2) create data-driven instructional materials that promote understanding of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), COVID-19 disease, and how science works, and that can also support personal and public health decision-making regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected second wave; and (3) generate knowledge regarding the impacts of the instructional materials on undergraduate students’ conceptions regarding science content, the nature of science, confidence in science, and personal decision-making and behaviors regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowledge generation will entail a sequential mixed methods quasi-experimental approach with emergent design flexibility to investigate the thinking and decision-making of post-secondary students regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implications for development of effective instructional materials. Determining the efficacy of the instructional materials will entail dividing introductory biology students across three groups. The first group will experience instruction about viruses through typical biology undergraduate curricular experiences. The second group will receive the same in-class instruction as the first group, but their out-of-class work will be replaced with the COVID-19 on-line instructional materials developed in this project. The third group will experience an in-class case study regarding the anticipated COVID-19 second wave along with the out-of-class COVID-19 on-line project materials. Project materials and research will be widely distributed, ensuring that the impact of the project products and outcomes will broadly promote STEM knowledge, how it is developed, acceptance of STEM results, and more informed and appropriate personal and public policy decision-making. This RAPID award is made by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program in the Division of Undergraduate Education: Education and Human Resources Directorate.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.