High School Intervention for Influenza Biology and Epidemics/Pandemics: Impact on Conceptual Understanding among Adolescents

Abstract

Understanding real-life issues such as influenza epidemiology may be of particular interest to the development of scientific knowledge and initiation of conceptual changes about viruses and their life cycles for high school students. The goal of this research project was to foster the development of adolescents' conceptual understanding of viruses and influenza biology. Thus, the project included two components: 1) pre- and posttests to determine students' conceptions about influenza biology, epidemics/pandemics, and vaccination; and 2) design an intervention that supports conceptual change to promote improvements in influenza knowledge based on these primary conceptions. Thirty-five female students from a high school biology class participated in a series of instructional activities and pre- and posttest assessments. Results from the pretest indicated that high school students exhibit a limited understanding of concepts related to viruses. Six weeks after an intervention that promoted active learning, results from a posttest showed that conceptions about influenza are more accurately related to the provided scientific knowledge. Although adolescents have nonscientific models to explain influenza biology, we showed that a carefully designed intervention can affect students' knowledge as well as influence the implementation of health education programs in secondary schools.

"The evil virus cell": Students‘ knowledge and beliefs about viruses

“…For example, misconceptions with respect to transmission and prevention of HIV have been found for a substantial proportion of high school students in Ethiopia [14], India [15], Turkey [16], Iraq [2], Nigeria [3], South Africa [17], the US [5], for African American college students [18], and German, British and Russian nursing students [1,19,20]. Similar results were found for nursing or medical students concerning HPV in Scotland [21], Nigeria [22] and Switzerland [23], and for high school students with respect to influenza in France [4] and the US [12]. …”

“…virus structure as distinct from pro-/eukaryotes, the cellular infection process, details about the immune system response), and, if so, usually focused on single or few aspects only [1–3]. As far as we know, very few studies have analyzed the relevant knowledge in depth and tried to improve understanding concerning virus biology, with, however, a very limited number of participants (N = 10–54) [4–6]. Here, we attempted to make visible such knowledge in a much broader way, both within and between three age groups of students (high school grade 7, high school grade 10, biology and non-biology first-year university students).…”

The Effectiveness of Disaster Risk Communication: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies

“…Following the information intervention, they were even more likely to report their willingness to self-isolate (94.1% before to 97.5% after), avoid public events (94.2% to 98.3%) and postpone gatherings (90.7% to 97.2%) 6. Participants in the Canadian study of influenza increased their knowledge scores between a pre- and post-intervention test (with a significant change in mean score from 0.2 to 1.3, where 2.0 was the maximum possible score) 7. Roess et al analysed their before and after study using paired analyses 28.…”

“…Summary characteristics of the studies are shown (Figure 2). One study took place in Australia, 6 one in Canada, 7 two in the United Kingdom 8 , 9 and ten in the United States of America. 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 One was conducted in Hong Kong, 20 one in Thailand, 21 one in Taiwan, 22 one in Singapore, 23 one in Japan, 24 and one in China.…”

“…Due to the already high compliance (over 90% for each measure), future studies in such contexts would therefore need to be very large to detect significant improvements. Dumais et al reported significant improvements in knowledge for schoolchildren about influenza, which was intended only to facilitate further health education 7. The Roess et al study of a monkeypox intervention found modest improvement in knowledge outcomes and some behaviours, but did not successfully affect some high risk behaviours 28.…”