Exploring signatures of inflammation in long COVID using a scaffolded approach to teaching with primary literature 3328

Abstract Description The number of undergraduate immunology programs in the U.S. has increased from just a handful only five years ago and is predicted to continue to increase (Bruns et al., 2019). As these new majors are built, there will be an increased need for teaching advanced immunology topics and research-related skills. The CREATE Method (Hoskins et al., 2007, 2011; Stevens and Hoskins, 2014) is a pedagogical strategy that leverages multiple evidence-based active learning practices to teach students how to deeply analyze scientific literature, while making the scientific process more transparent (Hoskins, 2019). We have designed a CREATE Method module that teaches students about inflammation mediators and next-generation protein sequencing in a clinical population through the analysis of a primary literature article on long COVID. The module and accompanying dataset will be openly available. In our module, students analyze the paper “Persistent serum protein signatures define an inflammatory subcategory of long COVID”. The 4-week module includes standard assignments associated with the CREATE Method: concept maps for the introduction and again after the students have analyzed the entire paper, cartooning of the methods, figure annotation, hypothesis identification and paraphrasing, data analysis sheets that include guided questions for each figure, an experimental design and grant panel activity, and a survey of the authors. We also include slide decks and an instructor guide. Topic Categories Immunology Education and Communication (EDU)