"Blueprint of Life" Genomic Literacy Tool: An interactive to enhance genetic and genomic understanding with middle/high school students and their teachers through personal genetics and human disease

遗传学和基因组学信息在现代生活中的日益普及要求同样相关的和 采用解决方案来教育下一代。此外，有助于结束 STEM中代表不足的人口群体的参与和成就差距是迫切需要的。在这 NIGMS第二阶段SBIR项目，d‘Vinci Interactive，与杰克逊实验室合作，提议 开发并评估了一个全功能的“生活蓝图”在线教育解决方案的原型，旨在 在初中和高中课堂上嵌入基因组学。该解决方案将采用扩展的、 与NGSS一致的补充课程，教授关于个性化的分子遗传学的关键概念 医学、生物信息学工具的使用、病毒基因组(特别是关于新冠肺炎大流行的病毒基因组)、 从事遗传科学和遗传学研究的伦理研究。课程将通过在线 学生学习门户旨在提供引人入胜、鼓舞人心、易于访问、 兼容并包，与学生的生活相关，具有身临其境的3D/VR基因组探索模块等功能 和身临其境的虚拟实验室环境(它们共同代表了该项目的技术核心 创新)，吸引未被充分代表的人口群体的创造性内容，西班牙语 课程版，以及自适应学习技术。教育工作者将有机会实现学习型管理 系统、易于在虚拟环境和课堂上实施的在线课堂工具，以及管理 用于实时报告学校和学区级学生学习进度的仪表板。这样做的目的是 第二阶段项目旨在展示该解决方案可为学员带来以下好处：(1)有效掌握 基因组学/遗传学和个性化医学的基础知识，(2)有效理解伦理和 遗传学/基因组学的医疗保健影响，(3)通过促进学生对 基因组学/STEM教育和职业，(4)强大的学习和激励对代表不足的人的影响 人口统计群体。 WestEd，将进行 为了核实这些目标的实现情况，外部研究和评价伙伴， 一项随机对照试验(来自高年级班级的750名学生) 对充分发展的教育解决方案的关注)。如果满足以下条件，则支持目标1-3 治疗组的学生在评估前和评估后的表现有所改善(以 信息保留术语(目标1)、对科学实际应用的态度(目标2)以及对 追求额外的基因组学/STEM教育和基因组学/STEM职业(目标3)，在统计上更大 而不是对照组中观察到的改善。如果在治疗组中表现良好，则支持目标4 与人口统计因素(即男性与女性以及少数族裔学生与非少数族裔学生)无关。总的来说， 此项目中提出的引人入胜和鼓舞人心的学习解决方案将有助于更好地准备明天的 保健消费者和科学家，并促进STEM教育和实践的更大多样性。

The increasing prevalence of genetics and genomics information in modern life calls for an equally relevant and engaging solution to teach the next generation. Additionally, educational interventions that help close the participation and achievement gap of underrepresented demographic groups in STEM are sorely needed. In this NIGMS Phase II SBIR project, d’Vinci Interactive, in collaboration with The Jackson Laboratory, proposes to develop and evaluate a full-function prototype of the “Blueprint of Life” online educational solution, which is aimed at embedding genomics into middle school and high school classrooms. The solution will feature an expanded, NGSS-aligned supplemental curriculum that teaches key concepts around molecular genetics of personalized medicine, use of bioinformatics tools, the viral genome (particularly with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic), careers in genetics science, and the ethics of genetics research. The curriculum will be delivered via an online student learning portal designed to provide learning experiences that are engaging, inspirational, accessible, inclusive, and relevant to students’ lives, with features such as an immersive 3D/VR genome exploration module and an immersive Virtual Laboratory environment (which together represent the core of the project’s technical innovation), creative content that appeals to underrepresented demographic groups, a Spanish-language curriculum version, and adaptive learning technology. Educators will have access to a Learning Management System, online classroom tools that are easy to implement both virtually and in-class, and an Administrative Dashboard for real-time school and school-district level reporting on student learning progress. The aims for this Phase II project are to show that the solution delivers the following learner benefits: (1) effective mastery of the fundamentals of genomics/genetics and personalized medicine, (2) effective understanding of the ethical and healthcare implications of genetics/genomics, (3) motivational impact on students, by promoting interest in genomics/STEM education and careers, (4) strong learning and motivational impact on underrepresented demographic groups. WestEd, will conduct To verify the attainment of these aims, the external research and evaluation partner, a Randomized Controlled Trial (with 750 9th grade students from classrooms with high populations of underserved students) on the fully developed educational solution. Aims 1-3 are supported if students in the treatment group show a pre- versus post-assessment performance improvement (measured in terms of information retention (Aim 1), attitudes towards the practical use of science (Aim 2), and interest in pursuing additional genomics/STEM education and a genomics/STEM career (Aim 3)) that is statistically larger than the improvements observed in the control group. Aim 4 is supported if performance in the treatment group is uncorrelated with demographic factors (i.e. males vs. females and minority vs. non-minority students). Overall, the engaging and inspirational learning solution proposed in this project will help better prepare tomorrow’s healthcare consumers and scientists and promote greater diversity in STEM education and practice.