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Peer Review

Lyme Disease: Ten things you always wanted to know about ticks...

Reviewed:
Oct 10, 2022 by Biology
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Quality: 5.0 stars
Effectiveness: 4.2 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Overview:

Ten things you always wanted to know about Lyme Disease...but maybe were afraid to ask...This is a tutorial on ticks and one of the the diseases they transmit, Lyme disease. This material is from the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program

Type of Material:

Tutorial

Recommended Uses:

Homework/Class Discussion (read before class, then discuss in class)

Technical Requirements:

Standard Internet browser

Identify Major Learning Goals:

To learn the answers to common questions about Lyme Disease, including important information about Lyme Disease transmission and the emergence of other tick borne diseases

Target Student Population:

High School, College General Ed, College Upper Division

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

A general knowledge of what ticks are, how they require blood meals, and that they can be a source of disease in humans is helpful to reading the article.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:
  • The information is clear, concise, and to the point
  • Current and relevant
  • Summarizes the concept very well
  • Integrates the concept well
  • Self-contained and can be used without requiring an assignment or context
Concerns:
  • Last updated May 16, 2014, so it  lacks the most recent statistics, but it does mention climate change and its impacts on tick borne diseases and also brings up emerging tick borne diseases
  • Content would be improved if each question/answer combo had a photo or short video accompanying i for visual learners
  • Symptoms of the tick borne diseases anaplasmosis, babesiosis, etc. are not addressed.  Rash not pictured or described (i.e. “bull’s eye” not used or shown).

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:
  • Is easy to write assignments for
  • Material is intuitive
  • Information provided helps students understand the relatedness of the topics
  • Is very efficient and one could learn a lot in a short time
  • Material promotes conceptual understanding
Concerns:
  • Site would be improved by adding identified learning objectives
  • However, these can be mitigated by a discerning teacher who uses this resource along with other educational tools in a cohesive lesson

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:
  • The information is well organized
  • Is easy to use     
  • Accessible with standard Internet browsers
  • Easy to read; vocabulary is not overwhelming
  • Q&A format presented the topics logically
  • Information is easy to understand
Concerns:
  • The pictures that are present are along the side and unconnected to the reading 

 

Other Issues and Comments:

The Q&A format makes the content very relatable and will be appealing to high school and lower division college students

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