Fish in a Dish: Using Zebrafish in Authentic Science Research Experiences for Under-represented High School Students from West Virginia

Abstract

Early research experiences positively affect students' interest in STEM careers, and develop practical science and critical thinking skills. However, outreach opportunities are not equally accessible for all students. In states like West Virginia, where many students live in rural Appalachian communities, opportunities for engaging in STEM experiences are limited. In addition, rural teachers may not be equipped to provide authentic research experiences for students due to lack of resources or support. For many students in West Virginia, the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) is a major opportunity for STEM engagement. Since its inception in 1998, HSTA has spread to 26 of 55 counties in West Virginia. The program recruits first-generation, low-socioeconomic status, rurally living, and African American high school students who are under-represented in STEM fields. Our research laboratory partnered with HSTA to implement an innovative, hands-on research camp using zebrafish for students participating in their annual junior-level biomedical sciences summer camp. Our camp was held in-person and adapted to an online format during the Covid-19 pandemic. We used pre-post surveys in both camps to assess impacts on science confidence and to collect information about general perceptions of zebrafish, research, and STEM fields. We found that students participating in the in-person and online camps experienced similar overall gains in science confidence. We also identified strong interest in zebrafish, research, and STEM degrees among online students. Online students did not prefer virtual learning experiences; however, they still enjoyed our camp. We also surveyed high school teachers volunteering for HSTA to identify factors that would encourage use of zebrafish in classrooms. The most prominent needs include classroom supplies, experience, and funding. Our successful science-education partnership demonstrates that zebrafish research experiences foster positive outcomes for under-represented students, and can inform future outreach efforts and collaborations with teachers.

Keywords: K-12; STEM; outreach; science education; zebrafish.

FIG. 1.

STEM outreach across West Virginia. Map displays the distribution of STEM outreach initiatives (summer camps, science centers, STEM programs, extracurricular clubs, and university-affiliated programs) across counties in West Virginia. The number of K-12 students per county for the 2020–2021 academic year is represented by the value within the county × 1,000 (data from the West Virginia Department of Education). Cooler colors indicate fewer outreach initiatives, warmer colors indicate more outreach initiatives, and no color indicates no outreach initiatives. Cross hatching indicates urban counties (data from the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture). Table summarizes the distribution of outreach across rural versus urban counties.

FIG. 2.

Zebrafish in the education literature. Graph represents the number of publications containing the keywords “zebrafish” and “classroom” from 1990 (0 publications) to 2020 (294 publications). Data obtained from searches conducted on Google Scholar.

FIG. 3.

Students report higher science confidence after the zebrafish camp in both in-person and online formats. Graphs represent average student responses across all questions for the pre (blue bars) and post (green bars) surveys. Solid bars represent data from our 2019 in-person camp (n = 12 students), and dotted bars represent data from our 2020 online camp (n = 65 students). Answers from students were ranked on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).

FIG. 4.

Concerns for implementing new approaches to science education as reported by HSTA teachers. Graph represents the percentage of teachers (total n = 55, rural n = 27, urban n = 28) selecting factors that might prevent them from using zebrafish or other innovative strategies as a tool for enhanced science education. Red bars represent urban teachers, and blue bars represent rural teachers. Map depicts the distribution of counties represented by the teachers (n = 24/55 counties). The color code corresponds to the color code on the graph; red counties are urban and blue counties are rural. HSTA, Health Sciences and Technology Academy.