Meningitis in College Students: Using a Case Study to Expose Introductory Neuroscience Students to Primary Scientific Literature and Applications of Neuroscience.

This case study was based on a popular press news article about Krystle Beauchamp Gridley's experience with meningitis while in college (Miller, 2019). Students in an introductory neuroscience course read the popular press news article as well as an empirical article that identified risk factors for contracting meningococcal disease in college (Bruce et al., 2001). Students used information from the empirical article to identify Krystle's risk factors for meningitis. Then, students evaluated their University's policy on students receiving the meningococcal vaccine based on what they had learned. This case supports two important goals of neuroscience education, 1) exposing students to primary scientific literature early in their undergraduate education and 2) developing an understanding of the broader implications of scientific research for society. Students enjoyed learning about meningitis using the case-study method, reading the primary scientific article, and considering how scientific research can be applied to policy decisions. Further, the case was instrumental in supporting the content and process learning objectives.