A multimedia toolkit for teaching environmental health literacy topics related to Superfund sites

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Abstract Human health and the environment are intimately intertwined. By building literacy around environmental health risks, individuals and communities will be better able to critically access related information and to make judgments and informed decisions to maintain or improve quality of life. However, low levels of science literacy and numeracy are common among lay individuals and can act as a barrier to understanding basic data and quantitative risk information. ArchieMD proposes to develop an education environmental health literacy (EHL) tool for secondary and post-secondary students, in the form of an interactive multimedia smart phone application that provides both a means of acquiring foundational environmental health content knowledge as well as written, numerical, and analytical skills essential to EHL. Because students are most likely to be engaged and experience better learning when they can make relevant connections between the material at hand and their own lives, the proposed application will allow students to identify a superfund site in their vicinity, and to build EHL around the site of their choosing. This will include assessing health risks associated with environmental exposures that relate to that site, as well as how to manage these risks. The app, supported by layered interactive visuals, will include case study scenarios, data sets and risk analysis tools that can be used to interpret data, generate a risk estimate, and make informed decisions. Innovative visual models (“risk severity pictographs”) will be developed to expand upon traditional pictographs to communicate environment exposure risks in accessible ways. Information will be presented in a non-linear fashion to adapt to the needs of the user. This interactive approach is designed to engage the user and improve learning comprehension. To demonstrate proof-of-concept, a prototype application will be developed in Phase I. Specifically, ArchieMD will: 1) Develop content to support acquisition of EHL, including curriculum and interactive exercises with connection to national education standards; 2) Build out an initial multimedia prototype application, including innovative visual models and age appropriate tools to view and analyze data; 3) Develop the ability to access and search a database of superfund sites from within the app; and 4) Evaluate the efficacy of the app in supporting EHL acquisition by providing equivalent information to secondary students, either in the form of standard text-based materials or ArchieMD's interactive multimedia application, and comparing student outcomes. By incorporating environmental health concepts into a hands-on active learning format that stimulates student interest and has a clear connection to national education standards, the proposed innovation will build literacy around environmental health risks. The app can also be adapted for use by the general public.