Immune Literacy: a Call to Action for a System-Level Change.

Immune literacy-the ability to hear, learn, read, write, explain, and discuss immunological content with varied audiences-has become critically important in recent years. Yet, with its complex terminology and discipline-specific concepts, educating individuals about the immune system and its role in health and disease may seem daunting. Here, we reflect on how to demystify the discipline and increase its accessibility for a broader audience. To address this, a working group of immunology educators from diverse institutions associated with the research coordination network, ImmunoReach, convened virtually. As a result of these discussions, we request a call to action for a system-level change and present a set of practical recommendations that novice and experienced educators from diverse institutions, professional societies, and policymakers may adopt to foster immune literacy in their classrooms and communities.

Antigen and Immunogen: An Investigation into the Heterogeneity of Immunology Terminology in Learning Resources.

The need to focus on immunology education has never been greater. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has revealed that a significant proportion of our society is vaccine hesitant. Some of this hesitancy may stem from a general lack of understanding of how the immune system and immunological interventions work. In addition, social media platforms undercut public health efforts by quickly propagating a multitude of misconceptions and erroneous information surrounding the science behind these interventions. The responsibility to be advocates for science is well recognized by immunology researchers, educators, and public health professionals, as evidenced by the rich body of resources developed to communicate science to the lay audience. Scientific jargon, however, can be a barrier to effective communication and can negatively impact learning and comprehension. The field of immunology is especially laden with discipline-specific terminology, which can hamper educators' efforts to convey key concepts to learners. Furthermore, a lack of consistency in accepted definitions can complicate students' conceptual understanding. Learning resources, including textbooks, published in print or available online, and exclusively digital resources, continue to serve as the primary sources of information for both educators and students. In this article, we describe a vast heterogeneity in learning resource glossary descriptions of two key conceptual terms: antigen and immunogen We provide a perspective on pedagogical strategies to address these critical terms. Using current knowledge, we recommend an approach to standardize the definitions of the terms antigen and immunogen within the immunology educator community.

Using real-world examples of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase student confidence in their scientific literacy skills.

Over the last few decades, there has been a shift in the classroom from lecture-based to active learning settings with the argument that students retain more information when they are involved in the learning process. This correlation is even stronger when the active learning setting incorporates a real-world or personal connection. Using active learning activities that develop students' ability to comprehend primary scientific literature is particularly important in the field of immunology, due to the rapid expansion of information in the field, which has been further accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By nature, immunology is interdisciplinary, requiring an integrated knowledge of concepts from several scientific disciplines to understand complex immune processes. Engaging undergraduate students through the use of primary literature can improve scientific literacy, develop critical thinking, and enhance understanding of complex topics. To explore this, we utilized a group learning activity in an introductory immunology course that incorporated both a coronavirus-related review and COVID-19 clinical research article. We found that this learning activity significantly enhanced student confidence in key scientific literacy skills: reading scientific literature, clearly explaining relevant points, and describing conclusions generated from the data. Moreover, all students reported that they enjoyed the activity and that it helped them understand more about the current COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the immune response.