We begin the week with “Vaccines, Social Media and the Public Health” by Kim R. Finer, Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University at Stark, OH.
While the “vaccine controversy” has made headlines since the late 1990s, the emergence and popularity of social media has created a public opinion space bursting with pseudoscience, debatable claims and anecdotes regarding the value and importance of childhood vaccines. Because college students get a good deal of news and information from these resources, it is imperative that they distinguish science from pseudoscience and do not perpetuate rumor and falsehoods. In this case study, written for lower division non-science majors, students will view videos on the scientific method and a mock talk show, analyze data, and scrutinize social media posts. One of the takeaway points is that if a post/blog/interview identifies a victim, villain, and hero then the student should suspect a story grounded in belief involving pseudoscience. Following completion of the case, students will hopefully come to conclusions about vaccines based more in the realm of science rather than pseudoscience and continue to apply the scientific method when evaluating social media posts on other scientific topics.
To access the case study, teaching notes, and key, go to the record at:
http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/collection/detail.asp?case_id=940&id=940