A preliminary evaluation of the effects of a science education curriculum on changes in knowledge of drugs in youth.
Drug and alcohol use among youth remains at pervasively high levels, but students are receiving less school-based prevention. Infusing health information into core curricula may be a valuable prevention approach. Therefore, behavior change theory was used to develop a science education curriculum on drugs for fourth- and fifth-grade students, which was then evaluated using a pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design. Exposure to the curriculum was associated with a change in knowledge; other characteristics like grade level also played a role. More positive attitudes toward science at pretest predicted greater knowledge change, and students who knew less at the start showed a greater change in knowledge. Results of this evaluation may support the efficacy of the curriculum and the utility of combining behavior change theory with educational approaches.
Holtz
Kristen D
KD
KDH Research & Communication Inc., Atlanta, Georgia 30312, USA. kholtz@kdhrc.com
Twombly
Eric C
EC
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003479:Curriculum; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*