RAPID: Supporting Responsible Action through COVID-19 Education

为了应对COVID-19大流行，美国公民正在权衡来自许多来源的信息，以做出是否戴口罩或是否保持社交距离等关键决定。在做决定时，人们需要将合法的科学信息与无处不在的错误信息和伪科学区分开来。这种错误信息促进了公众对科学的不信任，影响了个人和群体的决策，可能使每个人都面临更大的风险。该项目旨在确定人们如何看待和应对COVID-19信息，并编写教育材料，使人们能够有效应对预期的第二波COVID-19。本项目主要针对在德州农工大学（Texas a&m University）学习大型生物学入门课程的本科生，旨在：(1)确定本科生对COVID-19的风险认知和决策与他们对科学和社会文化特征的认知和理解之间的关系；(2)创建以数据为导向的教学材料，促进对严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒2 （SARS-CoV-2）、COVID-19疾病以及科学原理的理解，并支持与COVID-19大流行和预期的第二波疫情有关的个人和公共卫生决策；(3)了解教材对大学生科学内容观念、科学本质观念、科学信心观念、个人应对新冠肺炎疫情决策和行为的影响。知识生成将需要采用顺序混合方法、准实验方法和应急设计灵活性，以调查高等教育学生对COVID-19大流行的思维和决策，以及对开发有效教学材料的影响。为了确定教学材料的有效性，需要将生物学入门学生分为三组。第一组将通过典型的生物学本科课程体验，体验有关病毒的指导。第二组将接受与第一组相同的课堂教学，但他们的课外工作将被本项目开发的COVID-19在线教学材料所取代。第三组将体验关于预期的COVID-19第二波的课堂案例研究以及课外COVID-19在线项目材料。项目材料和研究将广泛分发，确保项目产品和成果的影响将广泛促进STEM知识，如何开发，接受STEM结果，以及更明智和适当的个人和公共政策决策。这个RAPID奖是由本科教育司的改进本科STEM教育（IUSE）项目颁发的：教育和人力资源理事会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.