ORGAN DONATION: AN EDUCATIONAL PACK FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

Blood, bone marrow and organ donation is a major issue that concerns all of us. Even though 18 is the age of eligibility to become a donor, awareness should be raised earlier through education. To this end, and given that this issue is marred by prejudice and misconceptions, we developed an educational pack, aimed at senior high school students, which may be delivered in the context of a biology or sociology course. The proposed teaching intervention follows a three-fold approach: (1) First, students are educated on monoclonal antibodies and relevant biotechnology tools and their role in organ transplantation via a board game, (2) Second, we promote empathy using a free writing exercise that employs art prompts and audiovisual material, (3) Third, we assign students with research projects that involve building questionnaires, collecting and analyzing data and producing a science poster to be posted on the school website. Importantly, the aim of this proposed intervention is to educate and to raise awareness while students build on their research, technology and writing skills.