MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF AN AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY’S PhUn WEEK ACTIVITY ON 2ND GRADE STUDENTS

Abstract

In the last few years the United States has been on the decline in the fields of science and technology. The American Physiological Society (APS) has developed a program to engage young minds with scientists. Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn) is the APS initiative to use interactive experiments to engage school-age children with science and physiology. Even though PhUn Week has been going on since 2005, systematic assessment of the activities effects is rare. Here, we sought to assess if an APS PhUn Week activity enhances physiology understanding and interest in science in second grade children form a rural area. The assessment design was a pre/post PhUn Week activity survey. The PhUn Week event included two parts: 1) on stage ‘magic’ show, performing live experiments about the neurological, cardiovascular, and renal systems, and 2) small-group hands-on activities featuring the respiratory, renal, cardiovascular, and neurological systems. Two days before and within a week and 12 weeks after the event the children answered a brief 19-question survey including 3 general questions about their interest in science, 1 about their future profession, and 15 specific questions about the topics covered during the event. (3 cardiovascular, 4 respiratory, 4 renal, 4 neurological). The third graders acted as a control group as they did not see the PhUn Week event until after the completion of the first two assessment attempts. Two-hundred children attended the PhUn week event. One-hundred sixty five took all three attempts.The average pre-event survey score was 45.8% (±13.1%) and two thirds of the children liked science. After the event, the average survey score was 65.3% (±14.5%)(significantly higher when compared to pre-event, p<0.001) and 83% of the children liked science. This APS PhUn week assessment showed an improvement in knowledge and appreciation for science in second grade children from a rural area.