sti research project middle school

• STD Prevention

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) are an important health concern for sexually active adolescents. The following resources offer a wealth of tools and data on STD/STI prevention for adolescents. While these resources provide information that will be relevant to health professionals, others will find useful information as well, including adolescents, their parents, and educators working with adolescents.

• AIDS/HIV Information Resources Medline Plus, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health The National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus provides a wealth of information related to HIV and AIDS, including interactive tutorials, clinical resources, and breaking news updates regarding HIV prevention initiatives. This site also has HIV facts, statistics, and health care resources specifically for the general public, teenagers, providers and health professionals, scientists, and non-English speakers.
• National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) NCSD aims to educate policy makers about issues relevant to STD control, as well as spread awareness about and promote effective STD control practices. Resources that NCSD offers a list of resources , including data and fact sheets about STD prevention, webinars and trainings for health professionals dealing with STD prevention. NCSD also hosts the only annual meeting in the U.S designed specifically for STD prevention and sexual health professionals.
• HIV/AIDS/STD Prevention Program Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction This program is most useful for educators teaching youth about STDs and STD prevention. The website includes training tools for both educators and students, in addition to assessment tools to aid individuals in assessing, developing, and enhancing current STD policies and programs in their local school districts.
• Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) reports national surveillance data for youth behaviors in six areas, including sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and STIs. Fact sheets and interactive data tables that can be customized by year and subpopulation make this resource particularly useful for grant proposal writing, presentations, and acquiring general information about a variety of trends in youth health behaviors.
• Young People & HIV Prevention: Multimedia The Body This page provides the latest news articles, scholarly articles, and blog posts about new media and multimedia efforts in HIV/STD prevention, specifically for adolescents.
• Teen Help Teen Help is a website that offers resources for teens, parents, and professionals working with teens in a number of various health and social service areas. Teen Help features especially detailed information on sexually transmitted diseases, featuring separate web pages for each of the most common STDs.
• TeensHealth TeensHealth website is designed for teenagers and also offers resources for parents. It offers quizzes, a questions and answers section for teens’ most commonly asked health questions, and interactive health activities. Providers, health professionals, educators, and parents can refer youth to the website for accurate health information, especially regarding STDs and STD prevention.
• Today is for Tomorrow Today is for Tomorrow is a website designed by YTH that provides information, tips, videos, and humorous links regarding a variety of health topics, including reproductive health and STD prevention for high school-aged youth. Teens have the option of signing up for weekly health tips delivered to their mobile phone and engaging in a Tumblr site that is also part of the Today is for Tomorrow initiative.

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Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) Tool

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A sexually transmitted infection (STI) is an infection that’s spread through sexual contact (oral, vaginal or anal). Any type of sexual contact or activity involves some risk. STIs can negatively affect a person’s sexual and reproductive health. Many people who have an STI don’t have symptoms, and don’t even realize they are passing on an STI to their partner. Safer sex practices can reduce a person’s risk. Getting tested is an important part of staying healthy. The rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea are highest in the 15-24 year old age group.

Chlamydia is a serious bacterial infection spread through unprotected sexual contact. Up to 90% of people with Chlamydia don’t have symptoms. If left untreated, it can cause serious, long-term effects. Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics.

Genital Herpes

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) can cause one or more blisters around the genitals, rectum or mouth. It’s spread through intimate skin-to-skin contact or sexual intercourse. There’s no cure, but medication can help.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is spread through sexual contact. There are more than 100 strains. Most aren’t harmful, but some can cause genital warts and even some types of cancer. A vaccine is available for males and females.

Trichomoniasis

AKA Trich, is caused by a parasite commonly found in the vagina and urethra. It’s spread through sexual intercourse. Many don’t show symptoms; some have burning when they urinate and itchy genitals. It’s treated with antibiotics.

Gonorrhea is spread through unprotected sexual contact. Many people have no symptoms while others have discharge from the penis or vagina, or burning when urinating (peeing). Gonorrhea is treated with antibiotics.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is spread through direct contact with body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal fluids, etc.). Infections can occur if body fluids containing blood are in contact with mucous membranes or fresh cuts. Most recover. In rare cases, it’s deadly.

Syphilis is spread through unprotected sexual contact. Many people have no symptoms while others have sores on/near their penis, vagina, mouth or rectum. If untreated, it can cause blindness and more. It’s treated with antibiotics.

HIV is commonly spread through unprotected sexual contact or by sharing needles. HIV makes it hard to fight infections and can lead to AIDS. There’s no cure, but if found early and given treatment, people can stay healthy for a long time.

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STI Health Disparities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Preventive Interventions in Educational Settings

Nway mon kyaw soe.

1 School of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 2Z4, Canada; ac.ksasu.liam@405kwn (N.M.K.S.); [email protected] (Y.B.)

Yelena Bird

Michael schwandt.

2 Medical Health Officer, Fraser Health Authority, Surrey, BC V3T 0H1, Canada; [email protected]

John Moraros

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to address disparities related to sexual health among students by examining the effectiveness of sexually transmitted infection (STI) preventive interventions in educational settings. PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Public Health Database, and EMBASE databases were used to conduct searches. Information relating to studies, programs, participants, and quantitative outcome variables were extracted. Risk of bias was assessed and meta-analysis was conducted. This systematic review included 16 articles. The outcomes were classified into behavioral and psychosocial categories. The behavioral category included sexual partners, sexual activity, condom use, STI/HIV testing, and alcohol/drug use before sex. The psychosocial category consisted of knowledge, motivational factors, and skills. Interventions had a significantly positive impact on both behavioral (OR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.17–1.39) and psychosocial (OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.36–2.72) outcomes. Among the psychosocial outcomes, the interventions were most effective at promoting knowledge (OR, 3.17; 95% CI, 2.13–4.72), followed by enhancing motivational factors (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.04–2.75) and increasing behavioral skills (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.13–1.81). The results of this systematic review provide empirical evidence for public health professionals and policy makers regarding planning, implementation, evaluation, and modification of STI preventive intervention programs in educational settings.

1. Introduction

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a significant public health concern worldwide [ 1 ]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 360 million people acquire one of four STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and trichomonas) annually [ 2 ]. Youth (aged 15–24 years old) are particularly vulnerable to STIs due to their high likelihood to engage in risky behaviors [ 3 , 4 ]. The majority of youth are students, especially in developed countries [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Therefore, educational institutions represent ideal settings to implement effective strategies to help reduce the STI burden and provide improved health to their students.

Youth in developed countries are not immune to the scourge of STIs. In the U.S., individuals 25 years old and younger accounted for half of all STI cases despite representing only a quarter of the sexually active population [ 9 ]. Similarly, in Canada, individuals aged 15–29 years old reported the highest rates among three commonly notifiable STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis) [ 10 ]. In Australia, 77% of chlamydia incidence cases in 2015 were seen among individuals aged 15–29 years old and the highest rates of gonorrhea and syphilis were reported among males aged 20–29 years old [ 11 ]. In Europe, youth accounted for 62% of chlamydia and 52% of gonorrhea cases [ 12 ]. These disproportionately high STI rates suggest deficits related to sexual health among youth.

Inadequate knowledge, risky behaviors, and lack of access to sexual health programming and services contribute to the high rates of STIs observed among youth. According to the Canadian Youth, Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Study (CYSHHAS), approximately half of grade nine students (14–16 years old) did not know that HIV has no cure, and STI risk perception had little influence on engaging in safe sexual practices [ 13 ]. A research study conducted among secondary students in Italy also found that only 65.3% and 46.6% of the respondents correctly recognized syphilis and herpes from a given list of STIs [ 14 ]. Similarly, 46% of German ninth graders had no knowledge about chlamydia [ 15 ]. Previous studies in the U.S. found that youth are not practicing consistent condom use and instead favour the use of birth control methods that prevent unwanted pregnancies but offer no protection against STIs [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. These research findings are supported by statistics suggesting that 40% of sexually active high school students in the U.S. [ 19 ] and 33% of Canadian youth did not use a condom during their last sexual encounter [ 20 ]. In Italy and Germany, less than 40% of sexually active students used condoms consistently [ 14 , 15 ]. It is reported that 11.5% of U.S. high school students had four or more sexual partners in their lifetime and nearly 4% had early sexual initiation (before the age of 13 years old) [ 19 ]. Likewise, approximately one-third of Canadian youth reported having multiple sexual partners in the last 12 months and 9% had early sexual initiation (before the age of 15 years old) [ 20 , 21 ]. According to Italian data, 26% of high school students had two or more sexual partners in the last two years and nearly 50% had sexual initiation before the age of 15.5 years old [ 14 ].

It is widely acknowledged that in order to be successful, preventive efforts require behavioral change [ 16 ]. Currently, there are numerous biomedical and structural barriers affecting the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of STIs. Biomedical barriers impacting STI interventions are due to the lack of technological advances in comprehensively addressing STIs (i.e., all-in-one screening tests, vaccines, and curative treatments) [ 1 , 16 , 22 , 23 ]. Structural barriers impacting STI interventions are due to health disparities and policies affecting accessibility and viability of services to youth (i.e., funding cutbacks, lack of infrastructure, ineffective messaging, and inefficient intervention strategies) [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Furthermore, many STIs are difficult to control once an individual is infected because of their asymptomatic nature, drug resistance, social stigmatization, and confidentiality issues [ 27 , 28 , 29 ].

To implement equitable and effective preventive interventions to reduce the risk of STIs among youth, educational institutions are recognized as ideal settings [ 9 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. These settings provide the necessary social framework, accessibility, and educational opportunities for sexual health and promotion initiatives to specifically target youth [ 31 , 32 ]. However, in the U.S. fewer than half of the high schools and only one-fifth of the middle schools are reported to teach the essential sexual education topics (i.e., relationships, sexual abstinence, condom use, negotiation, pathology and transmission of HIV, and related information on other common STIs) [ 33 ] and provide access to sexual health services as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [ 9 ]. Australia faces similar challenges, with reports of significant gaps in the current sexual health education programmes and a growing need to improve services among students [ 34 , 35 ]. In Canada, only a few high schools have well-established sexual health curricula [ 29 ] and the outcomes to date have been unsatisfactory [ 36 , 37 , 38 ]. In a recent Italian survey, 59% of secondary students reported that the sexual health education programs at their schools were either insufficient or non-existent [ 17 ].

STI preventive interventions are also needed at post-secondary institutions. In the U.S., post-secondary students show poor knowledge, low condom use, and a high tendency to engage in unsafe sexual practices [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Decreases in condom use were also seen among Canadian students, especially as they transitioned from high school to post-secondary institutions, where less than half reported using a condom during their last sexual encounter [ 31 ]. Therefore, to equitably and effectively reduce the burden of STIs, preventive interventions that increase knowledge and promote behavioral change including safe sex practices are considered the gold standard. By introducing STI preventive interventions to youth, it is likely they may engage in safe sex practices throughout their lifetime. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to address disparities related to sexual health among students by examining the effectiveness of STI preventive interventions in educational settings.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. search strategy and study selection.

A literature search was conducted using the following electronic databases: PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Library, Public Health Database, and EMBASE. The following keywords and PubMed MeSH terms were used: HIV, chlamydia, chlamydia infections, gonorrhea, syphilis, sexually transmitted diseases, mass screening, health promotion, health education, health disparity, guideline adherence, preventive health services, community health planning, health plan implementation, population characteristics/prevention and control, health education, health knowledge/attitudes and practice, program effectiveness, cost effectiveness, health impact assessment, cost savings, and evaluation studies as topics.

Articles obtained from the systematic search were screened in two steps: (1) title and abstract screening and (2) full-text screening. Dual screening was employed, whereby two authors initially screened 20 articles to determine the consistent use of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The two authors independently conducted title and abstract screening followed by full-text screening. Discrepancies in decisions between the screeners were initially discussed among themselves, and when consensus was not achieved, a tie-breaking vote was cast by the third author.

2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Articles were included if they satisfied the following criteria: publicly available; peer-reviewed; published online between 2007 and 2017; English language; human participants; educational settings; examining STIs or chlamydia or gonorrhea or syphilis or HIV; preventive interventions; quantitative outcome measurements; and data from North America, Europe, and Oceania. Articles involving case reports or case series were excluded.

2.3. Data Extraction

Information extracted from the selected articles included in our study were: authors, publication year, location, program types, type of providers, settings, type of study, number of participants, demographics (age, sex, ethnicity), and the quantitative data of the outcome variables, which assessed the effectiveness of the interventions. If there were more than one follow-up measurement, we extracted data only from the final follow-up. Data were collected into a common folder and shared between the researchers. Spreadsheets were constructed based on outcomes of interest and data extracted from the final articles.

2.4. Risk of Bias Assessment

Risk of bias was assessed independently by two of the authors by applying the specific criteria recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) [ 45 ]. The criteria were used to assess five types of bias: selection, performance, attrition, detection, and reporting.

2.5. Data Analysis

In our study, odds ratio (OR) was used as the principle effect size, with values >1 reflecting a positive effect of the STI preventive intervention on the outcomes of interest. Crude effect sizes were computed when adjusted ones were not available. Adjusted ORs were used to provide a conservative effect estimate and included age, gender, ethnicity, and parental education.

Pooled estimates were obtained using random effects models to account for heterogeneity. Analysis of heterogeneity was conducted using I 2 tests and Q-statistics to assess the degree of true variation of the effect size among studies [ 46 , 47 ]. Influential analysis was conducted to determine the robustness and effect that each individual study had on the overall pooled estimate. Pooled, comparative, and sub-group meta-analysis was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software version 3 (Biostat Inc., Englewood, NJ, USA).

3.1. Study Selection

A total of 5243 articles were identified after an initial search of the electronic databases. Among those, 1411 articles were removed as duplicates. The remaining 3832 articles underwent title and abstract screening and upon completion, 181 articles qualified for full-text review. Guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria determined a priori, 165 articles were further excluded. Finally, 16 articles were deemed appropriate and were selected for further analysis ( Figure 1 ).

PRISMA flow diagram for included studies.

3.2. Risk of Bias Assessment

There were 16 articles selected, of which four studies were determined to have a low risk of bias [ 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 ], eight a moderate risk of bias [ 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ], and four a high risk of bias [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. The main methodological concerns were focused on performance bias (15 studies) [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ] and detection bias (6 studies) [ 55 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 ] ( Table 1 ).

Summary of risk of bias assessment.

For each bias: (+) = low risk and (−) = high risk or unclear risk. For within studies risk of bias: Low risk of bias = (+) for four or all types of bias. Moderate risk of bias = (+) for three types of bias. High risk of bias = for three or more types of bias.

3.3. Study Characteristics

In total, there were 16 studies included in our systematic review and meta-analysis, encompassing 15 different STI preventive programs (two studies overlapped by examining the same program [ 49 , 54 ]). The majority of the programs were in the U.S. and conducted in middle school (two), high school (six), and post-secondary (three) settings. The rest of the programs were conducted in other countries. Most programs were guided by health promotion theories and promoted both knowledge acquisition and improved behavioral skills among participating students. Two-thirds of the programs were conducted face-to-face and one-third were technology-based interventions. There was a peer-to-peer component in seven programs. The duration of the program interventions ranged from 1–18 h. Program interventions were evaluated at designated time interval(s): immediately, 3-months, 6-months, and 12-months. Table 2 provides a summary description of the included studies.

Summary description of the included studies.

* HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus; STIs = Sexually Transmitted Infections.

3.4. Synthesis of Results

All 16 included studies measured psychosocial outcomes; 10 studies also measured behavioral outcomes, but no studies measured biological outcomes. Synthesis of effect measures was conducted for behavioral outcomes (overall), psychosocial outcomes (overall) and its sub-categories (information/knowledge, motivational factors, and behavioral skills).

3.4.1. Effects of Interventions on the Behavioral and Psychosocial Outcomes

Overall behavioral (OR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.17–1.39; I 2 = 0%; p -value = 0.65) and psychosocial (OR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.36–2.72; I 2 = 96.95%; p -value = 0.00) outcomes were significant compared to controls, suggesting a positive intervention effect ( Table 3 ) ( Figure 2 ).

Forest plots.

Summary table for pooled effect sizes of outcome measures.

3.4.2. Effects of Interventions on the Psychosocial Sub-Categorical Outcomes

The psychosocial sub-categorical variables, specifically information/knowledge (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 2.13–4.72; I 2 = 97.12%), motivation (OR = 1.69; 95% CI: 1.04–2.75; I 2 = 98.67%), and behavioral skills (OR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.13–1.81; I 2 = 89.91%), were significant compared to controls, suggesting a positive intervention effect ( Table 3 ) ( Figure 2 ).

3.4.3. Effects of Interventions on the Specific Psychosocial and Behavioral Outcomes

When examining pooled estimates of specific behavioral outcomes, sexual partners and condom use were significantly improved by the interventions. However, alcohol and/or drug use before sex and STI testing were measured by only one article and therefore prevented pooled analysis. When examining pooled estimates of specific psychosocial outcomes, attitudes (condom use and abstinence), norms and beliefs relating to condom use and abstinence, condom efficacy, HIV self-efficacy, partner communication, and parental communication were significantly improved. Information detailing specific outcomes is presented in Table 3 .

3.4.4. Comparative Analysis

A comparative analysis found no statistically significant differences in the effectiveness of STI interventions between the psychosocial and behavioral outcomes. Analysis at the sub-categorical level (information versus motivation + behavioral skills and information versus behavioral outcomes) found that interventions were significantly more effective for the dissemination of information compared to improving motivation and behavioral skills ( p -value < 0.001) and behavioral outcomes ( p -value < 0.001).

3.4.5. Subgroup Analysis

There were no significant differences between subgroups based on the type of provider (peer-involved versus non-peer-involved) and type of intervention (face-to-face versus technology-based).

4. Discussion

Globally, youth are recognized as a vulnerable subpopulation for STIs. It is reported that more than 60% of STIs are found among this age group [ 14 ]. Our study found that students exposed to STI preventive interventions were 28% more likely to practice safe sex behaviors and 92% more likely to show improvement in psychosocial factors compared to those who were not exposed. Therefore, educational settings may represent ideal venues for the design and implementation of STI preventive intervention programs that help improve the psychosocial factors and behaviors related to disparities in sexual health among students.

From our comparative analysis, it was found that the effect of STI preventive interventions was most prominent for promoting knowledge, while some improvements were also seen for enhancing motivational factors, behavioral skills, and behavioral outcomes related to sexual practices. In the information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model, behavioral change can be directly predicted by way of information (knowledge) and motivational factors and indirectly by behavioral skills [ 64 ]. If the desired behavior (i.e., carrying condoms) is not complicated and does not require developing behavioral skills, information dissemination (i.e., on the importance of carrying condoms) might have a direct impact on behavioral change [ 64 ]. However, if the desired behavior (i.e., use of a condom in every sexual encounter) has a complex nature and requires specific skills (i.e., dealing with new/casual sex partners, negotiations, self-efficacy), information dissemination alone would not be sufficient to achieve successful behavioral change [ 64 ]. Based on our findings and the concepts of the IMB model, STI preventive interventions targeting students should focus on achieving promising behavioral changes by more effectively emphasizing motivational factors and behavioral skills.

In our meta-analysis, eight of the included studies discussed the difference in the effectiveness of STI preventive interventions based on an individual’s sex. They suggest that STI preventive interventions were more effective for females compared to males [ 50 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 63 ] and this finding was consistent with the results reported in other research [ 65 ]. Female students showed greater improvements in knowledge and motivational factors (i.e., subjective norms, interest and confidence in safe sex behaviors, attitudes towards condom use) and were less likely to engage in risky behaviors (i.e., having multiple sexual partners) after the intervention compared to males [ 50 , 54 , 55 , 57 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 63 ]. These findings may be due to different social norms and expectations between sexes (sexual double standard) [ 66 , 67 ] and the fact that STI interventions tend to preferentially target females because they are reported to suffer more from the adverse effects of risky sexual behaviors, including unwanted pregnancies and higher rates of STIs [ 68 ].

Peer-involved programming is recognized as a key component of an effective STI prevention strategy, since youth are more likely to be influenced by their peers and aim to gain acceptance within their social group [ 69 , 70 ]. When examining the effectiveness of peer-involved and non-peer-involved STI interventions in our subgroup analysis, no significant difference was found. While previous systematic reviews [ 65 , 71 , 72 ] reported similar results, other studies revealed that peer-involvement had a positive impact on STI preventive interventions among youth [ 73 , 74 , 75 ]. According to Advocates for Youth, to achieve optimal results from peer-programming, adequate human and financial resources, careful and continuous recruitment, participation of peers in every step to enhance self-determination and empowerment, repeated training, and systematic supervision and evaluation of peer facilitators are required [ 70 ]. In the initial planning phase, it is important to consider multiple key factors in order to balance the cost, benefit, feasibility, and acceptability of peer-involved STI programming.

When examining the method of delivery for the different STI preventive interventions, we found that face-to-face and technology-based interventions were equally effective. Previous studies support our finding [ 76 , 77 ]. However, face-to-face interventions show significant effectiveness on both behavioral and psychosocial outcomes. This might be attributed to greater compliance, peer-influence, proper engagement, and sufficient dosage of delivery [ 78 , 79 ]. However, a recent study found that the most positive and significant outcomes were seen with the use of mixed delivery for STI interventions (i.e., combination of face-to-face and technology-based) rather than individual approaches [ 80 ]. Increasingly, youth have become reliant on the use of technology (i.e., internet, mobile phones) as part of their social environment (i.e., daily communication, information gathering, and entertainment) [ 81 ]. Therefore, given their popularity among youth, technology-based interventions have several advantages over face-to-face interventions, including broader coverage, speed, convenience, privacy, confidentiality, opportunities for open discussion, cost-effectiveness, and different delivery methods (i.e., text messaging, social networking sites, webpages, blogs, and applications) [ 78 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 83 ]. Considering the structural barriers in implementing STI preventive interventions (i.e., inadequate funding, lack of infrastructure, and limited human resources), a mixed approach (i.e., face-to-face and technology-based) may be most practical. Further research in this area is needed.

4.1. Strength and Limitations

This systematic review and meta-analysis has several strengths. It used a standardized, previously validated systematic methodology [ 84 ] and relied on recently published articles (last 10 years). The majority of the studies included utilized a pretest, post-test, and control group design with group-level randomization, which ensured a more accurate comparison. Additionally, our study focused specifically on educational settings in regions with similar overall STI burden, socioeconomic environments, and use of preventive strategies, which enhance comparability. Our findings provide new insights on an important research topic among a vulnerable population while also exhibiting a high level of congruence with those reported in the literature.

Despite its several strengths, our study has a few limitations. It relies on secondary data that used different statistical analyses and a variety of evaluation scales to measure the outcomes of interest, which may have led to under- or over-estimation of the pooled effect sizes. There were different post-intervention evaluation periods. To best address this issue, we used the last available evaluation period for each included study (i.e., furthest in time from the intervention). None of the included studies evaluated biological/clinical outcomes (STIs/HIV incidence and prevalence) to measure the effectiveness of their STI interventions. Finally, some of the included studies were carried out with populations that could not be entirely generalizable (i.e., small sample sizes or as pilot projects), and therefore the results of our study should be interpreted with some level of caution.

4.2. Recommendations for Future Research

Future research evaluating STI preventive interventions in educational settings in developed countries (including Canada, where there is scarcity of research in this area) should: (1) assess the impact of interventions by using clinical/biological outcomes to determine whether these programs contribute to the reduction of STIs; (2) evaluate the short-, intermediate-, and long-term effectiveness of the interventions by using regularly repeated follow-ups over extended periods of time; (3) examine the disparity and effectiveness of the STI interventions on the basis of differences in sex (female vs. male), type of delivery (face-to-face vs. technology-based), and type of facilitator (peer-involved vs. non-peer-involved); and (4) utilize a formative evaluation process to address the dynamic nature of the changes in the sexual behaviors of students.

5. Conclusions

STIs are a public health concern and pose a major burden on the health and well-being of youth. Our systematic review and meta-analysis helps to provide empirical evidence in support of the importance of comprehensive STI preventive interventions in educational settings. Such efforts are shown to have a positive impact on the students’ psychosocial factors and behaviors related to sexual health practices. To be most effective, future STI preventive interventions need to better engage male students, use a mixed delivery method (i.e., face-to-face and technology-based), and select the most appropriate type of facilitation (i.e., peer-involved and non-peer-involved). Finally, it is recommended that STI preventive interventions use a formative evaluation process to address the dynamic nature of the changes in the sexual behaviors of students and to provide them with timely supports and equitable services.

6. Ethics Statement

The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented/reported in this article are those of the authors and are in no way meant to represent the corporate opinions, views, or policies of the American College Health Association (ACHA). The ACHA does not warrant nor assume any liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented in this article. This study was exempt from ethics approval because it relied on the use of ACHA micro-files and secondary analysis of anonymous data (Tri-Council Policy Statement, articles 2.2 and 2.4, respectively). Participation in this survey was voluntary.

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of Rita Hanoski, Health Education and Promotion Coordinator, and Jocelyn Orb, Manager, Student Health Services, University of Saskatchewan.

Author Contributions

J.M., Y.B., M.S., and N.M.K.S. were involved in the study conception and design. J.M. and N.M.K.S. were responsible for the data analysis. All authors contributed to the discussion, interpreted the findings, helped write the manuscript, reviewed/edited the manuscript for intellectual content, and read and approved the final manuscript.

This research was supported in part by an internal grant from the School of Public of Public Health, University of Saskatchewan.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works

Lesson 8.5: STI/HIV Transmittion

Lesson goals.

• Identify feelings attached to STI exposure.
• Analyze how feelings affect subsequent behavior.
• Name two behaviors in each category of risk.
• Name highest-risk behaviors.
• Name ways to reduce risk.
• Identify a resource for support and testing.

Connecting the Lessons

Builds on Lesson 7.7: Introduction to Sexually Transmitted Infections , Lesson 8.3: Addressing Obstacles to Abstinence and Lesson 8.4: Comprehensive Protection Methods .

Planning ahead: Concepts in this lesson will be important in Lesson 8.6: Living with HIV and Lesson 8.7: Refusal Skills .

SEL Skills Addressed

• Self-awareness

Logic Model Determinant(s)

• Increase positive attitudes toward condoms and/or other protection methods.
• Increase communication with parents and other caring adults.
• Increase knowledge of how STIs are transmitted.
• Increase knowledge of how drugs and alcohol can affect decision making around sexual behavior.
• Increase awareness of consequences when condoms and/or other protection methods are not used.
• Increase perceived risk in having an older partner.
• Increase perceived risk of STIs.

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Open Access

A Collection on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections: Call for research papers

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Affiliation World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

Affiliation PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, Cambridge, United Kingdom

• Nicola Low, 
• Nathalie Broutet, 
• Richard Turner

Published: June 27, 2017

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002333
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Citation: Low N, Broutet N, Turner R (2017) A Collection on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections: Call for research papers. PLoS Med 14(6): e1002333. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002333

Copyright: © 2017 Low et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: RT is paid a salary by the Public Library of Science and contributed to this editorial during his salaried time.

Competing interests: We have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: NL receives a stipend as a specialty consulting editor for PLOS Medicine and serves on the journal's editorial board. RT’s individual competing interests are at http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/s/staff-editors . PLOS is funded partly through manuscript publication charges, but the PLOS Medicine Editors are paid a fixed salary (their salaries are not linked to the number of papers published in the journal).

Abbreviations: HPV, human papillomavirus; STI, sexually transmitted infection

Provenance: Commissioned; not externally peer-reviewed.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common, diverse, and dangerous to health—extending from bacterial diseases that may be readily treatable once diagnosed to viral infections such as HIV that can be life-threatening and, as yet, have no cure. A wide range of sexually transmissible pathogens have adverse effects on sexual and reproductive health, including infertility in women and several different types of cancer, with the global burden of cervical cancer a particular concern. Having an STI can also lead to low self-esteem, stigma, and sexual dysfunction. Moreover, some STIs are transmitted from mother to child and thereby lead to poor pregnancy, neonatal, and child health outcomes, including stillbirth. Emerging pathogens that prove to be sexually transmissible, recently exemplified by Ebola and Zika viruses, can be expected to evoke substantial and widespread concern where the risks and possible consequences of a disease outbreak are sketchily understood.

According to WHO [ 1 ], more than 30 different bacteria, viruses, and parasites lead to greater than 1 million sexually transmitted infections each day. Chlamydia (with an estimated 131 million new infections annually), gonorrhea (78 million infections), syphilis (5.6 million infections), and trichomoniasis (143 million infections) are 4 of the most common infections worldwide that can, at present, be treated with existing antibiotic regimens. However, antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat, particularly for gonorrhea and Mycoplasma genitalium . The most prevalent viral STIs are genital herpes simplex virus infection (affecting an estimated 500 million people worldwide) and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection (affecting 290 million women and leading to some 500,000 cases of cervical cancer annually). While antiviral treatment may control recurring herpes in some people, disease prevention and, where possible, vaccine development and deployment are priorities in the absence of curative interventions. Enmeshed as they are in human biology, behavior, and culture, STIs provide great challenges to those responsible for disease surveillance, planning services, and provision of treatment in all countries.

Because of the enormous burden of STIs and their wide-ranging adverse health effects, decisive action will be an essential part of efforts to meet the health component of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the targets of the global health sector strategy on sexually transmitted infections 2016–2021 [ 2 ], which were adopted by the 69th World Health Assembly in May 2016. Accompanying this Editorial are several articles forming part of a WHO-sponsored Collection addressing global policy and practice aimed at achieving control of STIs. Andrew Seale and colleagues discuss the development process for the global strategy to counter STIs [ 3 ]. Global targets for STI control specify, by 2030, achievement of a 90% reduction in syphilis incidence; a 90% reduction in gonorrhea incidence; and occurrence of 50 or fewer cases of congenital syphilis per 100,000 live births in 80% of countries, and Melanie Taylor and colleagues discuss systems for STI surveillance and monitoring of treatment resistance towards these targets [ 4 ]. Taylor and colleagues also discuss programs and criteria aimed at elimination of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis and HIV [ 5 ]. Finally, Paul Bloem and colleagues discuss HPV vaccination for control of cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases [ 6 ] in different settings, illustrating the prospects of new interventions for STI control. Further discussion articles will appear in future issues of PLOS Medicine , and, as part of the cross-journal Collection, research papers are being published in PLOS Medicine and in other PLOS journals [ 7 ].

To accompany this Collection, we are inviting submission of reports of high-quality research studies with the potential to inform clinical practice or thinking relevant to STIs, focused on the following:

• Epidemiological studies on the incidence, prevalence, and disease burden of STIs, including emerging and re-emerging infections, mother-to-child transmission of STIs, and STIs in the context of new HIV prevention approaches;
• Molecular and genomic studies relevant to clinical advances in STI research, including antimicrobial resistance and microbiome analysis;
• Studies investigating treatment, partner notification, vaccination, behavioral, and combination interventions for STIs, with reports of randomized controlled trials particularly welcome;
• Implementation research, especially focused on interventions for STI prevention and point-of-care approaches to disease diagnosis in low- and middle-income countries, including qualitative research on issues such as stigma;
• Modelling and cost-effectiveness studies relevant to STIs, addressing prevention and treatment interventions.

Please submit your manuscript at http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/s/submit-now . We (NL and NB) will be the guest editors for the Collection, and successful submissions will be published, following peer review, from December 2017 onwards. Papers to be published in December should be submitted by August 11, 2017 but submissions will still be considered, and can be included in the Collection, after that date. Presubmission inquiries are not required, but we ask that you indicate your interest in this call for papers in your cover letter.

Author Contributions

• Conceptualization: NL NB RT.
• Writing – original draft: RT.
• Writing – review & editing: NL NB RT.
• 1. World Health Organization. Sexually transmitted infections factsheet. [Cited 2017 May 18]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs110/en/
• 2. World Health Organization. Global health sector strategy on sexually transmitted infections, 2016–2021. [Cited 2017 May 18]. Available from: http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/rtis/ghss-stis/en/
• View Article
• Google Scholar
• PubMed/NCBI

Education for prevention of STIs to young people (2021 version) Standardized slides in youth education for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections-for high school students and for junior high school students

Affiliation.

• 1 Sanda City Hospital, Sanda, Hyogo, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].
• PMID: 34344580
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiac.2021.05.008

The best strategy for preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is by educating the young. It is considered effective to provide such education by the age of 15-16 years (at the beginning of high school age), ideally before teenagers become sexually active. This guideline describes the framework and discusses the educational points for standard educational slides created by the Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Japan Society of Adolescentology. A discussion of sexuality is also a discussion of human life, and the prevention of STIs is an important part of sex education. The Japanese Society for Sexually Transmitted Infections has a certification system for doctors and experts, and considers prevention education to be one of its key programs. In this revised version additional slides which are more easy to understand for junior high school students are shown.

Keywords: Certification system; Prevention education; Sexually transmitted infections; Standard slides; Teenagers.

Copyright © 2021 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Sex Education
• Sexual Behavior
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases* / prevention & control

STI CRC Developmental Research Projects (DRP)

One of the major goals of the Sexually Transmitted Infections Cooperative Research Centers (STI CRC) is to recruit and retain talented new investigators from a variety of disciplines into the field of STI research.

The DRP awards (similar to K08, K23, and K99 awards) provide 1 year of funding to support research projects and career development activities that will enhance the applicant’s ability to compete successfully for an independent R- or K-series award (e.g., acquisition of preliminary data, training in grant preparation).

Application Instructions

Applications are open for the 2024 DRP Awards from September 6, 2023 to October 18, 2023 at 5:00PM PST (Optional budget consultation due: September 27, 2023). Download the RFA for detailed application instructions.

Eligibility

Applicants for DRP awards are scientists (M.D., Ph.D., or other relevant doctoral-level degree) nearing completion of the postdoctoral fellowship period or in early faculty positions. Eligible individuals must not have served as a Principal Investigator on a NIH or other grant or contract (in the field of STI or HIV research) exceeding $75,000 direct costs per year. Previous DRP award recipients are not eligible to compete for a second DRP award. Applicants will be drawn from early-career investigators interested in continuing STI research and located at UW or the following UW-affiliated institutions: Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s, University of Victoria. Contact Susan Mello ( [email protected] )  for questions regarding eligibility.

Types of Projects

Eligible research areas include basic, epidemiological, translational, behavioral, or implementation science research on STI topics other than HIV . HIV studies may be included in a proposal only as they relate to, or impact upon, other STIs. Preference will be given to studies focused on syphilis. Per NIH, we cannot fund clinical trials of investigational or approved or standard-of-care drugs or any other interventions that evaluate the effect of that intervention on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes. Please see NIH policy ( NOT-16-147 and NOT-15-015 ). Please contact Anna Wald ( [email protected] ) to determine whether your proposed project would be eligible for funding.

Funding of Awards

One application will be selected for funding, to provide one year of funding. The amount of each award is up to $60,000 per year (direct costs). Only direct costs will be awarded; no indirect costs (IDC) will be paid to non-UW institutions. A letter of agreement to waive IDC should be included with applications if relevant. The award may be used for PI or other salary (no salary is provided for the mentor), technical support, laboratory or other supplies, equipment, and travel costs related to the project.

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Teen Talk Middle School

Below is a sample of lessons and activities from our Teen Talk Middle School (TTMS) course (visit our Table of Contents for a more exhaustive list). Lessons in TTMS have been informed by best practices in adolescent health, state/federal guidance, the California Healthy Youth Act, and feedback from students, parents, and teachers.

Trusted Adult Communication: " Back in the Day "

Youth who communicate with their parents about sexual development succeed in a variety of ways, from improved literacy to better decision making. It also creates a closer bond between families. That’s why we encourage students to identify trusted adults in their lives and open up a dialogue with their parents/guardians. In Teen Talk Middle School, this is through the “Back in the Day” adult interview assignment.

Understanding the Body: "Sexual & Reproductive Anatomy"

Before or on the first day of instruction, students gain an age-appropriate understanding of key reproductive organs. With correct terminology and functional language, students are better equipped to maintain healthy sexuality. When Health Connected instructors will be presenting Teen Talk Middle School, we typically ask teachers to deliver our Sexual and Reproductive Anatomy lesson. 

Gaining Common Language: "Sexual Behaviors"

Under CA Education Code, middle school sexual health curricula must explain the ways in which sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be passed. The CA Ed Code also requires curricula be inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities; this is a fundamental aspect of our pedagogy. Teen Talk Middle School defines the term "sexual behaviors" as including sexual touching, oral, anal, and vaginal sex. By defining sexual behaviors this way, students understand these activities as ones that carry the highest risk of STIs and also ensures that sexual behaviors are defined in a way that is inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Under the facilitation of a trained educator, students also gain respectful, medically accurate language that reduces the use of potentially inappropriate or demeaning slang. Facilitators center this lesson around sexual decision-making, emphasizing the importance of understanding personal and family values and encouraging communication with trusted adults. There is also a discussion about the importance of consent. Strong focus remains on “abstinence”, defined as “not having sex.”

Sexually Transmitted Infections: "Sheding Some Light on STIs" Prezi

In this 40-minute presentation, students learn about sexually transmitted infections, ways to prevent them (no sex, partner communication, and regular testing/condom use for those who are sexually active), and manage them with a doctor’s care. This includes discussion about HIV/AIDS. There is a strong focus on prevention and partner communication.

Sexual & Gender Identities: "Straightlaced"

This film chronicles the lives of Bay Area teens and how common stereotypes around gender and sexuality shapes their lives, and what happens when those expectations are broken (from Groundspark Productions). Click on the icon (left) to watch the trailer. 

Decision-Making: "Dealing with Pressure"

Using social script scenarios about peer pressure and partner pressure, students work in pairs to identify ways to deal with potential pressures. The focus of this activity is on delaying sexual activities, decision-making aligned with personal values, building communication skills, and boundary setting.

Goal-Setting: "My Super Future"

Used as an end-of-course activity, My Super Future (below) prompts students to envision their futures while reflecting on their personal and familial values, and the information they've learned throughout Teen Talk Middle School.

“MY BODY, MY BOUNDARIES”

Through this activity, 7th and 8th graders are introduced to the important legal definitions of sexual assault, sexual harassment, rape, and sex trafficking within a safe, guided classroom discussion. After gaining an understanding of each term, as a class, students examine true-to-life "scenarios" and determine if a sexual crime occurred in those scenarios. This enables students to identify sexual crimes in real life and several trusted adults they can turn for help immediately.

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30 Captivating Research Activities for Middle School

February 6, 2023 //  by  Josilyn Markel

Learning to research effectively is an important skill that middle-school-aged students can learn and carry with them for their whole academic careers. The students in question will use these skills for everything from reading news articles to writing a systematic review of their sources. With increased demands on students these days, it’s never too early to introduce these sophisticated research skills. 

We’ve collected thirty of the best academic lessons for middle school students to learn about sophisticated research skills that they’ll use for the rest of their lives. 

1. Guiding Questions for Research

When you first give a research project to middle school students, it’s important to make sure that they really understand the research prompts. You can use this guiding questions tool with students to help them draw on existing knowledge to properly contextualize the prompt and assignment before they even pick up a pen. 

Learn More: Mrs. Spangler in the Middle

2. Teaching Research Essential Skills Bundle

This bundle touches on all the writing skills, planning strategies, and so-called soft skills that students will need to get started on their first research project. These resources are especially geared towards middle school-aged students to help them with cognitive control tasks plus engaging and active lessons. 

Learn More: Pinterest

3. How to Develop a Research Question

Before a middle school student can start their research time on task, they have to form a solid research question. This resource features activities for students that will help them identify a problem and then formulate a question that will guide their research project going first. 

Learn More: YouTube

4. Note-Taking Skills Infographic

For a strong introduction and/or systematic review of the importance of note-taking, look no further than this infographic. It covers several excellent strategies for taking the most important info from a source, and it also gives tips for using these strategies to strengthen writing skills. 

Learn More: Word Counter

5. Guide to Citing Online Sources

One of the more sophisticated research skills is learning to cite sources. These days, the internet is the most popular place to find research sources, so learning the citation styles for making detailed citations for internet sources is an excellent strategy. This is a skill that will stick with middle school students throughout their entire academic careers! 

Learn More: Educator’s Technology

6. Guided Student-Led Research Projects

This is a great way to boost communication between students while also encouraging choice and autonomy throughout the research process. This really opens up possibilities for students and boosts student activity and engagement throughout the whole project. The group setup also decreases the demands on students as individuals. 

Learn More: The Thinker Builder

7. Teaching Students to Fact-Check

Fact-checking is an important meta-analytic review skill that every student needs. This resource introduces probing questions that students can ask in order to ensure that the information they’re looking at is actually true. This can help them identify fake news, find more credible sources, and improve their overall sophisticated research skills. 

Learn More: Just Add Students

8. Fact-Checking Like a Pro

This resource features great teaching strategies (such as visualization) to help alleviate the demands on students when it comes to fact-checking their research sources. It’s perfect for middle school-aged students who want to follow the steps to make sure that they’re using credible sources in all of their research projects, for middle school and beyond!

9. Website Evaluation Activity

With this activity, you can use any website as a backdrop. This is a great way to help start the explanation of sources that will ultimately lead to helping students locate and identify credible sources (rather than fake news). With these probing questions, students will be able to evaluate websites effectively.

10. How to Take Notes in Class

This visually pleasing resource tells students everything they need to know about taking notes in a classroom setting. It goes over how to glean the most important information from the classroom teacher, and how to organize the info in real-time, and it gives tips for cognitive control tasks and other sophisticated research skills that will help students throughout the research and writing process. 

Learn More: Visualistan

11. Teaching Research Papers: Lesson Calendar

If you have no idea how you’re going to cover all the so-called soft skills, mini-lessons, and activities for students during your research unit, then don’t fret! This calendar breaks down exactly what you should be teaching, and when. It introduces planning strategies, credible sources, and all the other research topics with a logical and manageable flow. 

Learn More: Discover Hub Pages

12. Google Docs Features for Teaching Research

With this resource, you can explore all of the handy research-focused features that are already built into Google Docs! You can use it to build activities for students or to make your existing activities for students more tech-integrated. You can use this tool with students from the outset to get them interested and familiar with the Google Doc setup. 

13. Using Effective Keywords to Search the Internet

The internet is a huge place, and this vast amount of knowledge puts huge demands on students’ skills and cognition. That’s why they need to learn how to search online effectively, with the right keywords. This resource teaches middle school-aged students how to make the most of all the search features online. 

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

14. How to Avoid Plagiarism: “Did I Plagiarize?” 

This student activity looks at the biggest faux pas in middle school research projects: plagiarism. These days, the possibilities for students to plagiarize are endless, so it’s important for them to learn about quotation marks, paraphrasing, and citations. This resource includes information on all of those and in a handy flow chart to keep them right!

Learn More: Twitter

15. 7 Tips for Recognizing Bias

This is a resource to help middle school-aged students recognize the differences between untrustworthy and credible sources. It gives a nice explanation of sources that are trustworthy and also offers a source of activities that students can use to test and practice identifying credible sources. 

Learn More: We Are Teachers

16. UNESCO’s Laws for Media Literacy

This is one of those great online resources that truly focuses on the students in question, and it serves a larger, global goal. It offers probing questions that can help middle school-aged children determine whether or not they’re looking at credible online resources. It also helps to strengthen the so-called soft skills that are necessary for completing research. 

Learn More: SLJ Blogs

17. Guide for Evaluating a News Article

Here are active lessons that students can use to learn more about evaluating a news article, whether it’s on a paper or online resource. It’s also a great tool to help solidify the concept of fake news and help students build an excellent strategy for identifying and utilizing credible online sources. 

Learn More: Valencia College

18. Middle School Research Projects Middle School Students Will Love

Here is a list of 30 great research projects for middle schoolers, along with cool examples of each one. It also goes through planning strategies and other so-called soft skills that your middle school-aged students will need in order to complete such projects.

Learn More: Madly Learning

19. Teaching Analysis with Body Biographies

This is a student activity and teaching strategy all rolled into one! It looks at the importance of research and biographies, which brings a human element to the research process. It also helps communication between students and helps them practice those so-called soft skills that come in handy while researching. 

Learn More: Study All Knight

20. Top Tips for Teaching Research in Middle School

When it comes to teaching middle school research, there are wrong answers and there are correct answers. You can learn all the correct answers and teaching strategies with this resource, which debunks several myths about teaching the writing process at the middle school level. 

Learn More: Teaching ELA with Joy

21. Teaching Students to Research Online: Lesson Plan

This is a ready-made lesson plan that is ready to present. You don’t have to do tons of preparation, and you’ll be able to explain the basic and foundational topics related to research. Plus, it includes a couple of activities to keep students engaged throughout this introductory lesson.

Learn More: Kathleen Morris

22. Project-Based Learning: Acceptance and Tolerance

This is a series of research projects that look at specific problems regarding acceptance and tolerance. It offers prompts for middle school-aged students that will get them to ask big questions about themselves and others in the world around them. 

Learn More: Sandy Cangelosi

23. 50 Tiny Lessons for Teaching Research Skills in Middle School

These fifty mini-lessons and activities for students will have middle school-aged students learning and applying research skills in small chunks. The mini-lessons approach allows students to get bite-sized information and focus on mastering and applying each step of the research process in turn. This way, with mini-lessons, students don’t get overwhelmed with the whole research process at once. In this way, mini-lessons are a great way to teach the whole research process!

24. Benefits of Research Projects for Middle School Students

Whenever you feel like it’s just not worth it to go to the trouble to teach your middle school-aged students about research, let this list motivate you! It’s a great reminder of all the great things that come with learning to do good research at an early age. 

Learn More: Thrive in Grade Five

25. Top 5 Study and Research Skills for Middle Schoolers

This is a great resource for a quick and easy overview of the top skills that middle schoolers will need before they dive into research. It outlines the most effective tools to help your students study and research well, throughout their academic careers. 

Learn More: Meagan Gets Real

26. Research with Informational Text: World Travelers

This travel-themed research project will have kids exploring the whole world with their questions and queries. It is a fun way to bring new destinations into the research-oriented classroom. 

Learn More: The Superhero Teacher

27. Project-Based Learning: Plan a Road Trip

If you want your middle school-aged students to get into the researching mood, have them plan a road trip! They’ll have to examine the prompt from several angles and collect data from several sources before they can put together a plan for an epic road trip. 

Learn More: Appletastic Learning

28. Methods for Motivating Writing Skills

When your students just are feeling up to the task of research-based writing, it’s time to break out these motivational methods. With these tips and tricks, you’ll be able to get your kids in the mood to research, question, and write!

29. How to Set Up a Student Research Station

This article tells you everything you need to know about a student center focused on sophisticated research skills. These student center activities are engaging and fun, and they touch on important topics in the research process, such as planning strategies, fact-checking skills, citation styles, and some so-called soft skills.

Learn More: Upper Elementary Snapshots

30. Learn to Skim and Scan to Make Research Easier

These activities for students are geared towards encouraging reading skills that will ultimately lead to better and easier research. The skills in question? Skimming and scanning. This will help students read more efficiently and effectively as they research from a variety of sources.

STEM Career Research Project for Middle School

• December 18, 2022
• Engineering , STEM
• Career Exploration , Engaging Lessons , Real World Connections

How do you inspire future scientists and engineers? Do your students know what careers are STEM careers and what it means to have a career in STEM? You can answer these questions and more with this multi-day STEM career project !

STEM Career Research Project

In this project, students will choose an engineering career to research. They will discover the job roles and responsibilities, possible work environments, education requirements, average salaries, helpful skills and traits, and projected job growth in that field. Then students will imagine a company that is looking to hire a person in that career field. They’ll examine real-world job postings and then design and create a “help wanted” poster for their chosen career. Next, students will present their work and learn about other careers in a gallery walk activity. Finally, they’ll complete an independent reflection activity.

This STEM career research project is independent and low-prep. Grab this resource today! You will save your prep time, and know your students will be engaged and inspired while learning about STEM careers.

What’s included in the STEM Careers Research Project?

This no-prep project includes everything you need for 3-5 days of engaging STEM activities, including: 

• Printable PDF, Google, and Easel versions of the student activities and worksheets
• A webquest that guides students to choose and research a STEM career
• Detailed guidelines and  templates for the “Help Wanted” job advertisement project
• A graphic organizer for capturing student learning during the Gallery Walk activity
• An independent reflection worksheet to be completed at the end of the project
• Embedded links to quality background research websites
• Detailed teacher notes for easy facilitation
• An easy-to-use grading rubric

What materials do you need?

You only need to provide printed or digital copies of the student worksheets and devices with internet access for research. 

How can you use the STEM career project in your classroom?

You can use the research project as a week-long study of STEM careers. You will open your students’ eyes to career options that they may have never before considered. This is a great introductory activity for your STEM class, and it can be used to celebrate National Engineering Week in February.

This STEM career project is also perfect for giving yourself a bit of a break when you are feeling burnt out or feeling frustrated with challenging student behaviors. For example, you could use the project to keep students engaged before a school holiday. You can also use the project to keep students learning when you have unusual schedules or low attendance due to field trips, testing, assemblies, or other interruptions. Or, you can leave the low-prep project as a multi-day STEM sub plan.

Looking for other STEM Career activities?

If you’d like more ideas for inspiring your students and teaching them about STEM careers, check out this blog post on exploring STEM careers !

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Igniting Innovation and Empowering Tomorrow's STEM Leaders

April 4, 2024 By Lauren Jenkins

• Campus Community
• College of Engineering

More than 1,200 middle school and high school students from across Texas traveled to College Station from March 22-23, 2024, to showcase their science and engineering projects at the Texas Science and Engineering Fair (TXSEF) .

Students competed at regional science and engineering fairs from January to March before advancing to the state fair held at Texas A&M University. This year’s fair was held at the Texas A&M University Student Recreation Center with an awards ceremony at Rudder Auditorium. It was co-sponsored by the Texas Workforce Commission, ExxonMobil and Texas A&M Engineering.

"The Texas Science and Engineering Fair is a celebration of innovation and boundless creativity, of finalists as they proudly showcase their research skills and projects in science and engineering,” said Dr. Cindy Lawley, assistant vice chancellor for academic and outreach programs for Texas A&M Engineering. “We witness not only the culmination of their hard work but also the unwavering support from dedicated families and educators who are inspiring a new generation of thinkers and innovators poised to shape the future with their ingenuity and determination."

Night at the ZACH

To kick off the weekend, TXSEF participants and their families — nearly 6,000 people —descended upon the Zachry Engineering Education Complex (ZACH) to experience Night at the ZACH. Hosted inside and outside Zachry, Night at the ZACH features exhibitors showcasing their departments, organizations, current projects, and/or expertise with hands-on activities designed to get students pumped about engineering and science.

Night at the ZACH ignites inspiration, fostering connections that transcend disciplines and ignite a passion for pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility.

Crowd favorites included the Lockheed Martin F-35 Cockpit Demonstration Simulator; ExxonMobil’s robotic dog Sparky; NASA’s Exploration trailer; Dell Tech Rally Mobile; and photo opportunities with Reveille X, the First Lady of Aggieland.

"At Night at the ZACH, TXSEF finalists have the opportunity to engage with industry and academia, fueling their curiosity and igniting new avenues of exploration. Yet, beyond the excitement of discovery lies a moment of celebration — a celebration of their remarkable journey to the Texas Science and Engineering Fair,” said Shelly Tornquist, director of Spark! PK-12 Engineering Education Outreach. “Night at the ZACH ignites inspiration, fostering connections that transcend disciplines and ignite a passion for pushing the boundaries of knowledge and possibility."

In addition to student organizations like the Texas A&M Solar Racing Team and the Texas A&M Sounding Rocketry Team, Night at the ZACH welcomed senior capstone projects from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Students shared information about their projects, academic journeys, and experiences as engineering students.

Competition Day

On competition day, finalists presented their projects to over 350 judges with expertise in fields ranging from physical sciences to engineering to life sciences. Finalists competed as an individual or a team in either the junior division (middle school students) or senior division (high school students), where they presented on their project’s scientific basis, the interpretation and limitations of the results, and their conclusions.

"TXSEF is more than just a culmination of months of hard work; it's a day where young minds converge, showcasing their ingenuity and dedication to solving the world's most pressing challenges,” Tornquist said. “As students present their research and projects, the atmosphere is electric with innovation and determination. Each presentation is not just a moment in time but a testament to the endless possibilities that STEM offers."

Several special awards and scholarships were awarded to select projects on the competition floor. These awards were supported by TXSEF sponsors and industry partners and recognized before the awards ceremony. 

After a full day of judging, finalists and families made their way to Rudder Auditorium, filling it to capacity. The Spark! PK-12 Engineering Education Outreach robot Spark-E entertained the crowd with dancing and games. 

In addition to first through third place awards in the 22 categories in both junior and senior divisions, best of state for both life sciences and physical sciences was awarded in both divisions, plus an honorable mention for each category. 

Finalists from the senior division were selected to attend the Governor's Science and Technology Champions Academy and finalists from the junior division were selected to attend the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC). Twelve (12) projects from the senior division advance to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)  held May 11-17, 2024, in Los Angeles, Calif. 

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On Monday, April 8, NASA and its partners will celebrate the wonders of the total solar eclipse as it passes over North America, with the path of totality in the United States, from Kerrville, Texas, to Houlton, Maine.

Eclipses are an important contribution to NASA’s research into the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, and the part of Earth’s atmosphere where space weather happens. They’re also an inspirational opportunity for the public to get involved, learn, and connect with our place in the universe.

Our partners bring their creativity in sharing the excitement of the upcoming eclipse and help encourage everyone to safely enjoy this celestial event.

Maureen O'Brien

Strategic alliances and partnerships manager for NASA's Office of Communications

Here are just some ways NASA is working with partners to engage the public in the upcoming total solar eclipse.

• NASA and the Major League Baseball Players Association are collaborating on the development of video and social content to emphasize eclipse awareness and safe viewing.
• In partnership with the MLB, NASA will provide video content to air at stadiums during games and agency officials will throw out the first pitch in several games leading up to the eclipse.
• Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hosting an eclipse viewing event and live broadcast that will feature NASA exhibits, astronauts, INDY drivers, and STEM engagement talks and activities for visitors.
• Peanuts Worldwide is supporting educators with the release of new eclipse learning resources for elementary and middle school students and Snoopy is participating in events in Cleveland.
• Krispy Kreme introduced a new doughnut in honor of the eclipse and will share information about the eclipse and safe viewing.
• NASA collaborated with Google on new eclipse content on the Arts & Culture and other Google pages.
• Third Rock Radio (TRR) is sharing NASA podcast content and expert interviews, educational and safety messages, and a message from the International Space Station. TRR also will feature a Solar Songs listener request weekend leading up to eclipse day and live NASA TV audio coverage during the eclipse. 
• Nasdaq will carry coverage of part of the NASA TV broadcast on its screen in Times Square.

This year’s total solar eclipse represents a unique opportunity for NASA and partners to collaborate to inspire and engage students across the country.

Rob Lasalvia

Partnership manager for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement

• Crayola Education released an eclipse-themed how-to video about the eclipse with a creative exercise for students.
• LEGO Education launched an eclipse education challenge to engage students and the public in learning more about the Sun and the eclipse.
• Microsoft will launch a quiz on eclipse safety with links to NASA resources.
• Discovery Education will get classrooms excited about space with eclipse resources on its PreK–12 learning platform.
• Canva released a series of free interactive eclipse courses and LabXchange released a new eclipse learning pathway for students.
• The Achievery will feature a collection of eclipse videos, share NASA’s live eclipse coverage, and host student events at AT&T locations across the country. 
• NASA experts participated in a Game Jam hosted by the National Esports Association in February in which university students were challenged to create a game simulation of the Eclipse. The student-developed games will be featured during an online eclipse gaming event April 8.
• Jack and Jill of America, Inc . will host eclipse watch parties across the country for which NASA will provide viewing eclipse resources and educational materials.
• Girl Scouts of the USA is sharing NASA eclipse information and encouraging its chapters and troops to host watch parties or connect to local NASA events.
• NASA partnered with the National Park Service and Earth to Sky on activities, including the “ Interpreting Eclipses ” webinar series, to prepare interpreters and informal educators for the total eclipse and Heliophysics Big Year . Through this partnership, national parks hosting eclipse events also will provide elements designed especially for the blind and low vision, neurodivergent children, the physically impaired, and those with hearing impairments.
• NASA is providing eclipse resources and educational materials to local 4-H clubs along the path of totality through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

At NASA, we believe that science is for everyone. You don’t need a degree in science to be curious, ask questions, and explore how our world and universe work. We work to help people on their own journeys of scientific exploration.

Partnerships manager for outreach and engagement for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

Learn more about NASA’s strategic partnerships and STEM engagement partnerships online. To learn more about where and how to safely view this year’s total solar eclipse, visit:   https://go.nasa.gov/Eclipse2024 .

Author: Gina Anderson, NASA Office of Communications

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