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Just Say Know to Drugs!: A Pilot Study for High School Student Science Enrichment
Author(s) -
Akers James,
Thompson Katie,
Carrier Raeann
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.928.9
Subject(s) - test (biology) , medical education , clinical pharmacology , mathematics education , modalities , psychology , medicine , pharmacology , sociology , biology , paleontology , social science
The purpose of the Just Say Know to Drugs! camp was twofold: our primary goal was to increase student understanding of basic science and pharmacology concepts and our secondary goal was to develop student self‐assurance in the sciences. The program introduced the fundamentals of pharmacology through the study of basic science. Different teaching modalities were utilized to keep learning fun and engaging. The camp included a pre‐test given on the first day and an identical post‐test administered on the last day. An interest survey was included in the post‐test. Students were given one hour to complete the tests which contained a series of basic science and pharmacology questions. The results of the tests and survey were analyzed using paired t‐tests to determine the impact of the camp on participant knowledge and performance. The post‐test revealed significantly higher scores in biology, chemistry, and pharmacology and the test overall (p < 0.05). Furthermore, survey data revealed that the camp increased student knowledge regarding pharmacology and drugs of abuse. Survey questions also highlighted student confidence in their current understanding of and progress through their high school science courses. The data collected are indicative of the success of this pilot program. Given these findings, we intend to continue educating students about pharmacology using this model. Additional studies will evaluate whether students take this educational success and interest further, choosing to direct their focus on pharmacology or other related fields. This project was funded by the WVSOM RHI and South East AHEC.