STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON SOME IMMUNOLOGICAL CONCEPTS (original) (raw)

A Study of Science Teacher Trainees' Conceptualization of Immunological Processes

2009

This study reports teacher trainees’ conceptualization of immunological processes. Data for the study comes from 11 fourth year student teachers who enrolled in science education. The participants answered free response items on immunological processes. Data was analyzed using a qualitative approach. Implications for teacher education programmes are discussed in the light of the findings.

Models of immunity among college students : their evolution as a result of instruction 1

2018

The study of the evolution of the conceptual models of students is a topic of current importance in the didactics of science. Initial studies in the field of modeling were oriented toward describing the models of students and teachers and professors in different fields of knowledge with important results in didactics. Today, and particularly in this investigation, we assume the models as powerful representations to represent and build knowledge in the classroom. First we identified the college students’ initial conceptual models of the concept of immunity. Then we applied a didactic unit aimed at the evolution of the initial models to immunology models determined by the curricular program in which the investigation was conducted. This qualitative research was conducted with twenty second-semester students of a university program in health sciences. Content analysis of the texts written by the students was carried out during an academic semester. The initial and final models of the s...

Teaching vaccine development in schools: Learnings from a survey and curriculum design for a course

Frontiers in Education, 2023

Although vaccines are being developed and administered to people for more than a century, the understanding of the steps involved in vaccine development is a relatively new subject to the general public. During the current pandemic, there has been an explosion of non-validated news about COVID-and vaccines. To enhance the understanding of this critical societal science, there is an urgent need to teach these topics in the early education systems. Defining the essential subjects and courses for high school and developing syllabi for undergraduate courses in immunology and vaccinology can be di cult, as students choose diverse career options after their studies. To define these curricula, understanding the current level of awareness regarding vaccinology and immunology among students becomes essential. Thus, we have undertaken an exploratory survey of high school and undergraduate college students in India on their awareness of the processes of vaccine development. Our results confirmed our hypothesis that there is a very limited understanding of this topic among school-going students. In this article, we propose an outline for a course for teaching in high schools. We recommend that this course should be interdisciplinary and a mix and match of majors and minors. It should train students with soft skills and prepare them for their careers in biomedical research.

Vaccination Perception and Attitude among Undergraduate Medical and Teacher Education Students at Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Vaccines, 2020

This cross-sectional comparative study was designed to evaluate different opinions and their impact on vaccine confidence, as perceived by students of two different university programs (medicine and teacher education), as both of them play important roles in patient education, with the latter major shaping the skills of critical thinking. Multi-item, opinion-based, paper-and-pencil anonymous questionnaires were distributed among students of medicine and teacher education. Data were sorted and divided into two sets to be analyzed using logistic regression. Out of a total of 722 respondents, 386 were medical students and 336 were teacher education students. While most respondents said they were not in favor of alternative medicine, a significantly higher number of alternative medicine followers were teacher education students. The positive vaccination perception rate (PVPR) is not dependent on the behavioral factors of student respondents (irrespective of their major) but is largely a...

Acquisition of Medical Immunology Knowledge: A Preliminary Study of the Knowledge Structures of Medical Students

2014

The multi-store model developed in the 1970s suggests that information gained by a learner flows in through a defined set of states (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). First, sensory stores capture visual and auditory information. A small amount of that information is then transferred to the short-term memory compartment. Here, a great deal of work has been performed to suggest we can retain anywhere between five to seven discrete chunks of information at any given time (Simon, 1979). The information that is transferred from the sensory stores to short-term memory stores is often dependent on repetition. However, a fraction of that information can then be transferred to long-term memory stores and is dependent on encoding, visualising and experiencing that occur during the learning process. Finally, working memory is the result of accessing information from the short-term and long-term memory stores and is thought to rely heavily on visual-spatial patterning, etc. This is controlled by the...

Out of the Curricular Shadows: Revolutionizing Undergraduate Immunology Education

Frontiers in Immunology, 2019

Immunology has its developmental roots in understanding protection of the host from pathogens, leading to the development of vaccines and subsequently identification of soluble and cellular components of the immune system. Thus, immunology education has historically been tightly linked to infectious disease. Decades of research have demonstrated that the complexity and intricacies of the immune system are far greater than perhaps was once imagined. As a system that interfaces with all other organ systems in the body, it plays a key role in both maintaining health and causing lifethreatening disease, thereby solidifying its importance in several clinical specialties beyond protective immunity. In the past decade, tremendous advances have taken place in which scientists and physicians have begun to harness the power of the immune system to create immunotherapies to fight cancer, inflammatory syndromes and autoimmune diseases. Thus, the argument can be made that training individuals in the field of immunology is becoming increasingly important. However, immunology is a highly conceptual discipline and understanding how the multiple cellular and soluble components of the immune system work in concert requires knowledge in a number of disciplines, including molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry. Time is needed for students to process, evaluate, and apply this information in meaningful ways. Concomitantly, knowledge in the field of immunology is expanding rapidly, bolstering the need for increased time in the curriculum to facilitate the ability of educators to convey information so that it can be effectively understood and applied. We propose that it is time for a renaissance in immunology education at the undergraduate level to better prepare individuals who will subsequently pursue careers in medicine, related health professions, and research. The purpose of this article is to discuss the current state of undergraduate immunology education with respect to its prevalence and how this compares to other biological disciplines, the need to develop robust immunology curricula at the undergraduate level and the importance of such programs in preparing students for pursuing postgraduate training in the health professions, and researchintensive careers.

Students Need More than Content Knowledge To Counter Vaccine Hesitancy

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

To better prepare undergraduate students as informed citizens, they need skills to evaluate and interpret scientific data that are relevant to real world scenarios. Socioscientific issues are typically complicated or debatable issues that require individuals to evaluate their background knowledge and make decisions with respect to social and cultural contexts.

Using scientific inquiry to increase knowledge of vaccine theory and infectious diseases

Education for Health, 2016

Background: The aim of this study was to design and evaluate a laboratory activity based on scientific inquiry to educate first-year pharmacy students in the U.S. about vaccination theory and the attributes of common pathogens. Methods: The laboratory activity had two principal sections. The first consisted of an interactive game during which students rolled a die to determine outcomes based on a set of predetermined criteria. In the second section, students generated and tested hypotheses about vaccine theory using a computer simulation that modeled disease transmission within a large population. In each section students were asked to evaluate epidemiological data and make inferences pertinent to vaccination effectiveness. Results: Mean scores on a knowledge-based assessment given immediately before and immediately after the activity increased from 46% to 71%. Discussion: A laboratory activity designed to stimulate scientific inquiry within pharmacy students enabled them to increase their knowledge of common vaccines and infectious diseases.

Facilitating Middle School Students’ Reasoning About Vaccines

Science & Education, 2022

In a pandemic era, it is necessary to equip individuals with the ability to make informed decisions about health issues, especially in relation to viruses and vaccines. In order to achieve this goal, science educators need to explore students' decisions and reasoning about vaccination. The aim of the study reported in the paper, therefore, is to explore eighth graders' reasoning about vaccination throughout a 4-week implementation of small group and plenary discussion of false claims about vaccinations. The implementation consisted of a five-phase procedure including teacher presentation of false claims and related evidence texts about vaccination, small group discussions, a plenary discussion, and finally, an introduction to valid scientific content about vaccination. The explanations of the representatives from each group during the plenary discussion were video-taped and analyzed by the researchers independently to examine student decisions on each claim. Another data source of this study included student interviews in which the researchers videotaped and analyzed eight interviewees' responses. The findings revealed that including well-informed students in small group and plenary discussions may have a positive impact on other students' reasoning. This result indicated the benefit of encouraging students to provide evidence about vaccines during small group and plenary discussions in terms of their reasoning. The implications of this study suggest the necessity of emphasizing on scientific knowledge as well as argumentation for further investigations of students' reasoning on vaccination.