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Creating a Model World: Introducing dynamic modeling to infectious disease ecology and epidemiology students via an active-learning approach

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posted on 2017-10-25, 12:44 authored by Juliet PulliamJuliet Pulliam, Steven BellanSteven Bellan, Jonathan Dushoff, A. Gavin Hitchcock, John W. Hargrove, Travis C. Porco, James C. Scott, Brian G. Williams, Alex Welte
We describe an exercise that helps students identify, clarify, and refine a research question by leading them through the development of a ‘model world’ (i.e., a conceptual model of their study system). The exercise begins with guided formulation of a research question that can be addressed through dynamic modeling. Students are then led through a process of (compartmental) model development, broken down into a series of manageable steps focused on dividing the populations of interest into relevant categories (states) and identifying important processes that involve interactions or transitions between states. After the group exercise, participants repeat the exercise individually, producing a model world to address their own research question and a schematic diagram describing its assumptions. Participants then test their model interpretation and communication skills through a version of the game ‘telephone’. Each participant translates another’s diagram into a written description. A third participant then translates the description back into diagrammatic form, after which each group collectively reviews their original diagrams along with the translated text and diagrams, to evaluate where communication broke down. Finally, the conceptual models are developed into short research plans that can be used as a framework for developing grant or dissertation proposals, or as a starting point for discussion with potential collaborators or supervisors. Crucially, following each step in the process, the output is critiqued in small faculty/student groups, to ensure students remain on track and allow them to learn from each other’s experience.

(v1) Presented at the Stellenbosch University 10th annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Somerset West, South Africa. October 2017.

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R25GM102149

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