Online Tutor Created by a team based at Penn State
The D2P-StOP tutor is a computer based tutor that teaches knowledge to help interrupt the transmission of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These skills are also applicable to other respiratory pathogens and will also generally help decrease infections.
The tutor is long because it is comprehensive. The knowledge requires practice and thinking about. If the material is too long for you, skim or skip the quizzes, but you will not learn the material as well. The tutor assumes you want to learn a lot. You can also come back to it if you remember your login or create a new one. Logins are free.
The tutor is designed for non-medical professionals, for example, Penn State students and their community. The tutor encompasses multiple types of skills. The scenarios reflect everyday life and strategies that can be done by almost everyone. It is based on the D2P learning theory (Kim, Ritter, & Koubek, 2013). The tutor has been used to present a 1-credit course at Penn State.
The goal of the tutor is for you to understand how viruses spread and to know what you can do to stop the spread by protecting yourself and others. You will learn basic microbiology concepts. You will learn strategies to reduce the chance of being infected and that will help “flatten the curve” by reducing or delaying infections. A one-page summary of the tutor is available, as well as a summary as a press release.
The expected learning time is two or more hours. There are many quizzes for practice and further learning. If you click the “Read More:” links you can learn even more (but will take longer). If you just want to read more, all the URLs are on one handy page. This tutor is not intended to provide medical advice. It has been used to offer a university course (Spring 2021 at Penn State). Syllabus and slides available to instructors upon request.
We have a shorter treatment available as a video (19:13) that can serve as an introduction.
The tutor does not present material on why the pandemic is leading to a huge amount of suffering and how it could get worse. Information in this area is readily available. If you have any questions about whether this is a serious problem—we do not—we have curated a set of descriptions of why this is a serious pandemic [collection of links noting why this is a serious pandemic].
Media coverage: Centre Daily Times (12feb21), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (15feb21), WTAJ (Johnstown/State College, 15feb21), WPMT Fox34 (Harrisburgh, 16feb21), WKBN (Youngstown, 16feb21), Daily Collegian (25feb21, and 3mar21), OnwardState (24mar21), LionLegacy Podcast (1apr21, #11).
All content and media in this tutor are created and published online for informational purposes only. They are not intended to be a substitute for professional health advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.
Click below to Access the STOP Tutor.
(create any account, email used to create user name, not verified).
Updates to the tutor (30apr21)
Current advice for professors (23nov21)
Current advice for professors (2sept22)