Increasing Awareness about Antibiotic Use and Resistance: A Hands-On Project for High School Students

Background Health-promoting education is essential to foster an informed society able to make decisions about socio-scientific issues based on scientifically sustained criteria. Antibiotic resistance is currently a major public health issue. Considering that irrational antibiotic use has been associated with the development and widespread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, educational interventions to promote prudent antibiotic consumption are required. Methodology/Principal Findings This study focuses on the outcomes of an interventional program implemented at the University of Porto, Portugal, to promote awareness about antibiotic resistance at high school levels (15–17 year old). The project Microbiology recipes: antibiotics a la carte articulates a set of wet and dry lab activities designed to promote the participants’ understanding of concepts and processes underlying antibiotics’ production and activity, such as the notion of mechanisms of action of antibiotics. Following a mix-method approach based on a pre−/post design, the effectiveness of this project was assessed by gathering data from surveys, direct observation and analysis of artifacts of 42 high school students (aged 15 and 16 years). The results indicate that the participants developed a more comprehensive picture of antibiotic resistance. The project was shown to promote more sophisticated conceptualizations of bacteria and antibiotics, increased awareness about the perils of antibiotic resistance, and enhanced consciousness towards measures that can be undertaken to mitigate the problem. The participants regarded their experiences as enjoyable and useful, and believed that the project contributed to improve their understanding and raise their interest about the issues discussed. Furthermore, there were also improvements in their procedural skills concerning the laboratory techniques performed. Conclusions/Significance This study evidences the possibility of increasing high school students’ awareness about the consequences of antibiotic resistance and the importance of judicious antibiotic use. The findings inform about the educational benefits of incorporating hands-on activities in science education programs.

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PID https://www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044699
PID pmc:PMC3440366
PID pmid:22984544
URL https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044699&type=printable
URL http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3440366/
URL https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/64936
URL https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044699
URL https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3440366
URL https://core.ac.uk/display/105151063
URL https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012PLoSO...744699F/abstract
URL https://drqumber.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/increasing-awareness-about-antibiotic-use-and-resistance-a-hands-on-project-for-high-school-students.pdf
URL https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/64936/2/86794.pdf
URL http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3440366
URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044699
URL http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044699
URL https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203
URL https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2015802479
URL https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fernando_Tavares/publication/230865166_Increasing_Awareness_about_Antibiotic_Use_and_Resistance_A_Hands-On_Project_for_High_School_Students/links/0fcfd50ae041240685000000.pdf
URL http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3440366?pdf=render
URL https://paperity.org/p/60972449/increasing-awareness-about-antibiotic-use-and-resistance-a-hands-on-project-for-high
URL https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044699
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Access Right Open Access
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Author Catarina L Santos, 0000-0002-4273-1077
Author Patrício Costa, 0000-0002-1201-9177
Author Lencastre, Leonor, 0000-0002-8648-3191
Author Fernando Tavares, 0000-0001-9913-1155
Contributor Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação
Contributor Faculdade de Ciências
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Collected From Europe PubMed Central; PubMed Central; ORCID; UnpayWall; DOAJ-Articles; Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto; Crossref; Microsoft Academic Graph
Hosted By Europe PubMed Central; PLoS ONE; Repositório Aberto da Universidade do Porto
Journal PLoS ONE, 7, null
Publication Date 2012-01-01
Publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
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Country Portugal
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Resource Type Article; UNKNOWN
keyword Q
keyword R
keyword keywords.General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
system:type publication
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Source https://science-innovation-policy.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=dedup_wf_001::e22ed09a649ff1965108724f178157d6
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Last Updated 27 December 2020, 00:04 (CET)
Created 27 December 2020, 00:04 (CET)