Discover education最新文献

A long history of misinformation has led to anti-vaccine sentiment, risking everyone's health. Despite public health campaigns, vaccine hesitancy rates have not declined. In response, we created an educational board game to address the fundamental science of vaccine development. The cooperative game guides players through identifying a novel pathogen, developing a vaccine, conducting animal testing, running clinical trials, and distributing doses to the public before the virulence takes over. Players need to work cooperatively, sharing resources in order to win the game; everyone wins or loses together. Developed in consultation with vaccine development researchers, the game retains many of the real world scientific and clinical challenges that face vaccine developers. Assessing students in six different communities in four different mid-west and eastern states in the United States provided access to a diverse demographic. We find that through a pre- post-assessment, students (grades 7-11, n = 304) show significant gains in vaccine knowledge and confidence, demonstrating that fun, gamified learning can improve health literacy. After gameplay, students recognize that the soft skills of being a good communicator, being creative, and sharing resources are important for being a scientist.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44217-025-00683-4.

Games are a powerful tool for learning, offering unique benefits for student engagement, particularly when addressing complex or challenging topics. The general public's understanding of how vaccines are made is limited and the general public is unaware of the comprehensive research, development, and safety measures that are inherent in vaccine development. As such, we created a new educational game to address this knowledge gap. This case study examines the development process of an educational board game designed to enhance public understanding of vaccine development. The game, titled N.O.V.E.L.-Newly Observed Variant of Extreme Lethality, was created using a modified Backward Design methodology to align gameplay with specific educational standards and learning objectives. Designed for 2-4 players aged 10 and up, the cooperative game challenges participants to conceptually research a novel pathogen, develop an effective vaccine prototype, conduct animal testing and clinical trials, and distribute the vaccine-all while managing the spread of the disease. This case study details the iterative design process, including research and consultation with vaccine development experts, game prototyping, playtesting, refinement, and production. A key focus was balancing educational content with engaging gameplay mechanics to ensure both learning effectiveness and player enjoyment. Additional considerations such as original art, graphic design, teacher resources, alignment to educational standards, and animated videos were integrated to support accessibility and engagement in a classroom setting. The findings from this development process highlight best practices for designing educational board games and offer insights into how game-based learning can be used to communicate complex scientific concepts.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44217-025-00472-z.

We report the prevalence and associated factors of self-reported research misconduct (RM) among 70 faculty members across two recently established public universities in Eastern Uganda. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using a structured, anonymized self-administered questionnaire adapted from the Scientific Misconduct Questionnaire-Revised (SMQ-R). Data were analyzed using STATA version 16.0. Descriptive statistics summarized participant characteristics; bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify predictors of RM. The overall prevalence of self-reported RM, defined as engagement in any one of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism (FFP), was 31.4% (22/70). Plagiarism and falsification were each reported by 20.0% of participants, while fabrication was reported by 1.4%. Most respondents were male (72.9%), held master's-level qualifications (70.0%), and had received prior ethics training (81.4%). In multivariable analysis, prior ethics training (aOR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.07-0.98; p = 0.046) and the perception that RM is unacceptable (aOR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.07-0.98; p = 0.046) were independently associated with lower odds of self-reported RM. These findings indicate that RM is relatively common among faculty in Eastern Uganda. Although prior ethics training was associated with lower odds of self -reported RM, the persistence of misconduct suggests that existing ethics training programs need strengthening in both quality and institutional integration. Also, A multifaceted approach is needed to foster research integrity within academic institutions.

In this paper, we aim to understand maternal perspectives on: (1) COVID-19 pandemic learning impacts for kindergartners from low-income households; and (2) Factors that mitigated or exacerbated impacts on learning. We conducted a qualitative study with 22 mothers of low-income households in the United States who had kindergarten-age children. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, mothers reflected on their experiences during the 2020-21 school year. We used an iterative approach for developing and revising codes and themes emerging from the transcribed interview data until we reached thematic saturation. Many mothers noted negative learning impacts, but some noted positive impacts that they attributed to active parental engagement in their child's learning. Mothers described several family-level and school-level supports and barriers to their child's learning. Fewer mothers described supports and barriers pertaining to their social circle or their larger community. The most commonly reported supports included: economic and social supports that allowed the time and financial means to engage actively in their child's learning, mental health supports to strengthen family functioning, and regular, timely, and open home-school communication.

Cancer treatment has improved dramatically over the last thirty years, with mortality rates dropping by 34% from 1991 to 2022. Continued innovations in cancer treatment require an energized workforce. To support workforce development in cancer research, the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center initiated its first summer research program in 2002. Over the first 22 years of the program, more than 300 participants participated, averaging 14 per summer. The intent of our program participants is to continue careers in health-related fields, thus contributing positively to the program goals. This small, yet sustained program, initially funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) training program, transformed into three nationally-funded programs: the NCI R25-funded Educational Pathways in Cancer Research (EPCR) and Summer Program for Academic Research in Cancer (SPARC) programs and an American Cancer Society (ACS) sponsored Center for Innovation in Cancer Research Training program. The programs aim to increase the number of biomedical science researchers with an emphasis on cancer research, with each program targeting subtly different learners. Here, we report the outcomes of the previous summer interns, the organizational structure of the new programs, and the early data on the latest expansion of the programs. While early programs focused on high school and early undergraduate students, these new programs add innovative opportunities to middle school students, high school science teachers, and medical students. These programs offer innovative educational opportunities for young learners to build skills and gain experience, offering interns the potential to excel, grow, and develop into impactful members of the biomedical workforce.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44217-025-00982-w.