Teaching and Learning About Respiratory Infectious Diseases: A Scoping Review of Interventions in K-12 Education
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of Research in Science Teaching
Volume
59
Issue
7
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Publication Date
7-21-2022
First Page
1274
Last Page
1300
Abstract
The pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 has highlighted an urgent need for infectious disease education for K-12 students. To gather a better understanding of what educational interventions have been conducted and to what effect, we performed a scoping review. We identified and examined 23 empirical researcher- and teacher-designed studies conducted in the last 20 years that have reported on efforts to help K-12 students learn about infectious diseases, with a focus on respiratory transmission. Our review shows studies of educational interventions on this topic are rare, especially with regard to the more population-scale (vs. cellular level) concepts of epidemiology. Furthermore, efforts to educate youth about infectious disease primarily focused on secondary school students, with an emphasis on interactive learning environments to model or simulate both cellular-level and population-level attributes of infectious disease. Studies were only mildly successful in raising science interest, with somewhat stronger findings on helping students engage in scientific inquiry on the biology of infectious diseases and/or community spread. Most importantly, efforts left out critical dimensions of transmission dynamics key to understanding implications for public health. Based on our review, we articulate implications for further research and development in this important domain.
Recommended Citation
Kafai, Y., Xin, Y., Fields, D., & Tofel-Grehl, C. (2022). Teaching and learning about infectious disease: A scoping review of interventions in K-12 education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 59, 1274-1300.
