Ebola Virus Misconceptions in College Students
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DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF VIRUS AND EBOLA MISCONCEPTIONS ASSESSMENT (VirEMiA): EBOLA VIRUS MISCONCEPTIONS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science By MICHELE ELAINE MILLER B.S., University of Indianapolis, 2014 2016 Wright State University COPYRIGHT BY MICHELE ELAINE MILLER 2016 WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL March 17, 2016 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Michele Elaine Miller ENTITLED Development and Validation of Virus and Ebola Misconceptions Assessment (VirEMiA): Ebola Virus Misconceptions in College Students BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Science. ___________________________________ William Romine, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Thesis Director ___________________________________ Barbara E. Hull, Ph.D. Professor of Biological Sciences Director of Microbiology and Immunology MS Program Committee on Final Exam: ___________________________________ William Romine, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ Barbara E. Hull, Ph.D. Professor of Biological Sciences ___________________________________ Nancy Bigley, Ph.D. Professor of Microbiology and Immunology ___________________________________ Robert E. W. Fyffe, Ph.D Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School ABSTRACT Miller, Michele Elaine. M. S. Microbiology and Immunology, Wright State University, 2016. Development and Validation of Virus and Ebola Misconceptions Assessment (VirEMiA): Ebola Virus Misconceptions in College Students. In this study an assessment (VirEMiA) on college students’ knowledge and misconceptions of the Ebola virus was created and validated. VirEMiA was then used to determine what misconceptions college students have about Ebola, if there is a difference in misconceptions between students with and without a strong science background, and if Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) increases students’ knowledge of Ebola and decreases their misconceptions. VirEMiA was shown to be a valid and reliable assessment whether confidence was integrated (seprel=0.97) or not (seprel=0.98), and for measuring misconceptions (seprel=0.97). If psychology and nursing majors were considered to have a strong background in science, the difference in misconceptions between students with and without a strong background in biology was not statistically or practically significant (tdf=392=1.86, p=0.06, d=0.19). However, if psychology and nursing majors were not considered to have a strong science background, there was a statistically and practically significant difference in misconceptions between students with and without a strong science background (tdf=392=4.18, p<<0.001, d=0.64). When VirEMiA was used as pre- homework for a class utilizing JiTT, student got about 4.4 more questions on the post-test correct compared to the pre-test, and the difference in their scores is statistically and practically significant (tdf=116=9.11; p<<0.001; d=0.84). Students also had about 7 fewer iv misconceptions after learning about Ebola, and this difference was practically and statistically significant (tdf=116=-9.80; p<<0.01; d=-0.91). These results show VirEMiA to be a valid and reliable instrument for measuring students’ knowledge and misconceptions. It also showed that students’ with a strong background in science do have fewer misconceptions than students without a strong background in science, as expected. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. SCIENTIFIC INTRODUCTION . 1 History . 1 Genome . 3 Life Cycle . 4 Symptoms and Diagnosis . 5 Pathogenesis and Immune Evasion . 7 Vaccine and Therapeutic Clinical Studies . 9 Ebola as a Biological Weapon . 11 II. PAPER INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE . 13 Ebola . 13 Ebola Misconceptions . 14 Just in Time Teaching . 17 Need of the Study . 18 Purpose of the Study . 19 Research Questions . 20 Limitations of the Study . 20 III. METHODS . 21 Stage 1: Literature Review, of Personal Knowledge Statements (PKSs) . 21 Literature Review . 21 Personal Knowledge Statements . 23 Stage 2: Creation, Review, and Revision of Pilot VirEMiA . 23 Creation of Pilot VirEMiA . 23 vi Review and Revision of Pilot VirEMiA . 24 Stage 3: Initial Data Collection, Analysis, Expert Review, and Revisions . 25 Data Collection . 25 Validity of VirEMiA . 26 Revision of VirEMiA . 34 Stage 4: Second Round of Data Collection, Reliability Analysis, and Misconception Analysis . 36 Data Collection . 36 Misconception Analysis . 36 Difference in Misconceptions between Students with and without a Strong Background in Science. 38 Methods for Just-in-Time Teaching Analysis . 40 IV. RESULTS . 42 Pilot VirEMiA Analysis . 42 Summary Statistics . 42 Validity . 43 Pilot VirEMiA Initial Rasch Analysis . 43 Pilot VirEMiA Rasch Analysis Round 2 . 60 Rasch Analysis with CRI Values Integrated . 62 Rasch Analysis Final Version of VirEMiA . 68 Rasch Analysis with Coded Data Only . 68 Rasch Analysis with CRI Integrated . 69 Misconception Rasch Analysis . 70 Difference in Misconceptions between Students with and vii without a Strong Background in Science . 74 Just-in-Time Teaching Analysis . 76 V. DISCUSSION . 77 VirEMiA Reliability . 77 Ebola Virus Misconceptions . 78 Difference in Misconceptions between Students with and without a Strong Background in Science . 82 Just-in-Time Teaching . 84 Recommendations for University Health Education Programs . 84 Recommendations for Integrating Instruction on Viruses like Ebola into College Coursework . 85 Recommendations for Educating the Public . 85 Future Revisions to VirEMiA . 86 IRB Approval . 89 VII. REFERENCES . 90 VIII. APPENDICES . 98 A. Pilot VirEMiA with Answers and Categories . 98 B. Final VirEMiA . 105 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Methods Flowchart for the Development and Analysis of VirEMiA . 22 2. Item and Person Abilities on a Line . 29 3. Wright Map from Initial Pilot VirEMiA Rasch Analysis . 50 4. Person and Item Estimates Comparing Pilot VirEMiA Rasch Data With and Without CRI Integrated . 67 5. Person and Item Estimates Comparing Final VirEMiA Rasch Data With and Without CRI Integrated . 73 6. Wright Map of Rasch Misconception Scale . 75 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. PKSs Required for Understanding Ebola Virus . 24 2. Decision Matrix for Students and for a Given Question Based on Score and CRI . 39 3. Pilot VirEMiA Score and Item P-Values . 44-45 4. Cronbach’s Alpha Values per Item if Removed from Pilot VirEMiA . 46 5. Item Difficulty Parameters from Initial Pilot VirEMiA Rasch Analysis . 47 6. Residual Correlations of Rasch Residuals from Pilot VirEMiA . 53 7. Principal Component Analysis of Initial Pilot VirEMiA . 55 8. Initial Pilot VirEMiA Significant PCA Results by Component and Item Loadings . 56 9. Pilot VirEMiA Rasch Round 2 Item Measures and Mean Square Fit Indices for Coded and CRI.