Valerie Solon

Research/Areas of Interest

I am currently working on the development of a new module of the BioScann project for the Center for Science Education. BioScann is a web-based platform used in middle and high school classrooms as part of curricula designed to teach students about STEM careers. Students role-play STEM professionals who are tasked with solving a problem related to a current issue in science or health such as HIV drug development or high levels of stress amongst adolescents. Students work in groups to analyze data specific to each career role and come to consensus about a decision. One of the primary goals of BioScann is for students to gain awareness of the variety of STEM careers and confidence in their ability to pursue a STEM career if they wish. The HIV drug development module is complete and has been used in many classrooms throughout the country. The module currently in development asks students to design a public health campaign for their school around chronic stress, the dangers of chronic stress and what students can do to manage or reduce their stress levels.

Along with Dr. Karina Meiri, I also developed a curriculum for high school students on the COVID-19 pandemic in response to a need for a curriculum with current scientific information about SARS-CoV-2 that could be used in all the different classroom situations at the time: remote or in person, synchronously or asynchronously. COVID-19: The Great Pandemic of 2020 aims to increase student health literacy by providing accurate information for students to analyze, evaluate and interpret. I help to maintain this curriculum and make updates as our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 increases.