Learning the Science behind Drug Addiction: A School-Based Laboratory Approach to Addiction Prevention

The purpose of Science Education Against Drug Abuse Partnership (SEADAP) is to use the planarian animal model to develop an inquiry-based program to teach the science of drug addiction and pharmacology of drugs being abused. Upon completion of a SEADAP teacher professional development, study data reveals a favorable increase in teacher awareness of careers related to biomedical research, knowledge of the hazards of using addictive substances, knowledge about the science of drug addiction and skills related to the use of animals in scientific research. Additionally, SEADAP supported professional development (PD) for teachers is of high quality, relevant to their needs, and meets their expectations in providing important resources for teaching and learning. SEADAP teacher participants gain relevant knowledge about drug addiction and abuse to incorporate it into instruction about the scientific process. Teacher SEADAP participants administered a pretest to middle school students prior to SEADAP-related instruction and a posttest was administered to student participants after SEADAP-related instruction had concluded. Student mean posttests scores on knowledge about drugs, biomedical careers and animal model research significantly increased from pretest scores. This indicates that the implemented lessons of the SEADAP teachers impact students.