Developing effective means of educating children about disease transmission is a matter of vital concern, not only for scientific literacy, but also for public health. This project, conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan, will map out what children at different ages and their guardians understand about viral contagion, such as the transmission of COVID-19, and, based on the findings, will develop and test the effectiveness of a home-based educational intervention delivered by means of a picture book. Building on pilot research, three studies will provide a rigorous, cross-age assessment with US children in grades K-5 in three distinct community contexts. Research questions include: At what ages do children understand aspects of viral transmission that are non-obvious or invisible, such as asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic carriers, or the potential for objects and surfaces to carry infection? At what ages can children go beyond isolated facts they have learned and figure out what to do in new situations? How is children's biological reasoning influenced by non-biological factors, such whether a potential carrier is a friend or a stranger? How does children's reasoning about a global pandemic that has already massively disrupted their daily lives (COVID-19) compare with more ordinary and innocuous illness (the common cold)? Can young children successfully learn about core aspects of disease transmission by means of an illustrated storybook? Targeting children's beliefs and misconceptions of COVID-19 provides an unprecedented opportunity to determine effective ways of teaching core biological concepts in the elementary-school years. Findings from the project will inform parents, educators, and public health professionals regarding gaps and misconceptions in children's understanding of the transmission of viral disease in general, and COVID-19 in particular, as well as evidence-based scientific data on how most effectively to target educational efforts with children to improve both scientific literacy and adherence to public health guidelines. It will also be a source of theoretically significant data of central interest to STEM education, regarding how to teach children about vital scientific processes that they cannot see, how non-biological concepts influence children’s biological reasoning, and the role of community context in biological understandings. This award is made by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program, which supports work that advances the fundamental research literature on STEM learning.
The team of researchers will individually interview 1,440 children ages 5-12 years and their parents to assess children's understanding of the biological processes of viral transmission, comparing COVID-19 with the common cold. Building on preliminary work by the investigators, the project will advance foundational knowledge on children’s intuitive understanding of biological mechanisms and on the use of picture books in educational interventions. Study 1 will address children's understanding of how and why viruses work and spread, with a battery of child-friendly tasks that assess: incubation periods (lag between infection and disease onset), asymptomatic hosts, that viruses can survive on a surface or object (such as a doorknob), and that viruses can gain access to the body through the eyes, nose, and mouth. Study 2 will focus on who may contract, transmit, or suffer the consequences of viral disease, and the role of both biological and non-biological factors (such as a person's nationality, language, or familiarity) in these judgments. Study 3 will assess a home-based educational intervention that targets key misconceptions regarding viral transmission, with the core notion of making invisible concepts visible. This intervention will systematically manipulate the role of anthropomorphic language and imagery (treating the virus as if it were a tiny creature) to determine the effects of these commonly employed choices on children's learning. Finally, the project team will partner with a natural history museum to design, mount, and test the effectiveness of an exhibit regarding viral transmission, including a media component (an interactive game) that will be portable to other users beyond the museum itself. This exhibit will be directly informed by the proposed research, with the aim of improving the public's knowledge of COVID transmission, and viral disease transmission more generally.
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.
