Data_Sheet_3_Championing awareness of the opioid epidemic through a service-learning module for non-STEM biology majors.docx

Over 50,000 people die annually from opioid overdoses in the United States leading to what has become known as the “opioid epidemic.” This is of heightened concern in states like Alabama that experience higher rates of overall drug use and overdose deaths. Thus, it is increasingly important for college students in Alabama to learn about how the opioid epidemic is affecting their communities. Previous studies have demonstrated that engaging non-majors in innovative active-learning oriented pedagogies like service-learning can enhance their understanding and awareness about contemporary societal issues. Despite its pedagogical potential, the impact of opioid-related service-learning, particularly for non-majors, continues to remain unexplored. In this study, we describe the implementation of a service-learning module centered on opioid addiction. Students in a non-major biology course learned the science behind opioids, had Naloxone training, and engaged in active discussions with an opioid researcher, physician, and former illicit opioid user. Our assessment of the thematic analysis of pre- and post-reflection free-write data from 87 consenting students revealed 10 categories that students reported in the post- but not pre-reflections (essay gain), pre- and post-reflections (neutral), and pre- but not post-reflections (essay loss). We found essay gains in students humanizing addiction and awareness of the cultural context of opioid addiction and essay losses from students indicating that non-major students had a low level of awareness related to these issues. Eight one-on-one, semi-structured interviews revealed that students were personally impacted by the epidemic and valued its curricular inclusion. Our data supports that service-learning can increase non-major biology student’s awareness and contextual understanding about the opioid epidemic, enabling much-needed advocacy to further enhance its awareness among the public.

每年在美国，超过五万人因阿片类药物过量而死亡，这一现象已演变成广为人知的“阿片类药物危机”。在阿拉巴马等整体药物使用和过量死亡比率较高的州，这一问题尤为令人担忧。因此，对于阿拉巴马的大学生而言，了解阿片类药物危机如何影响其社区变得越来越重要。先前的研究表明，将非主修专业的学生纳入创新性的以服务学习为导向的主动学习教学法中，可以提升他们对当代社会问题的理解和认识。尽管服务学习在教育教学领域具有巨大的潜力，但关于阿片类药物相关服务学习对非主修专业学生的影响仍鲜有研究。在本研究中，我们描述了一项以阿片类药物成瘾为中心的服务学习模块的实施。在非主修生物学课程中的学生学习了阿片类药物的科学原理，接受了纳洛酮的培训，并与阿片类药物研究者、医生以及前非法阿片类药物使用者进行了积极的讨论。我们对87名同意参与的学生在课前和课后自由写作反思数据的主题分析发现，学生在课后反思中报告了10个类别，这些类别在课前反思中并未出现（文章收益），在课前和课后反思中均有出现（中性），以及仅在课前反思中出现而在课后反思中未出现的（文章损失）。我们发现，学生在人性化成瘾和认识阿片类药物成瘾的文化背景方面取得了文章收益，而学生在表示非主修专业的学生对这些问题认识不足方面出现了文章损失。八次一对一的半结构化访谈揭示了学生个人受到了危机的影响，并重视其在课程中的融入。我们的数据支持了服务学习能够提高非主修生物学学生对阿片类药物危机的认识和情境理解，从而为在公众中进一步增加其认知度提供了必要的倡导。