A Pilot Study on the Feasibility and Usability of a Midwife-Led Visual Educational Tool for Sex Education

TL;DR

A new visual tool for sex education, called BEPC, was tested with midwives and students to see if it helps teach fertilization and fetal development effectively.

Contribution

The study introduces and evaluates the feasibility of a midwife-led visual educational tool for teaching the 'Beginning of Life' section of sex education.

Findings

The BEPC was praised for its visual appeal, ease of use, and ability to engage families.

The tool's hierarchical design and visual representations, like holes and beans, effectively helped students understand fetal development.

Midwives suggested future work should involve parents and strategies to reach home-schooled students.

Abstract

Enhancing sexual literacy through sex education from an early age is vital for preventing unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The “Beginning of Life” section of sex education presents a crucial opportunity to educate students on fertilization and fetal development. This study aimed to determine the feasibility and usability of the Beans Education Project Card (BEPC), a novel teaching tool for this section, in a real-world educational setting. Five midwives with sex education experience were provided with the BEPC for use with elementary, middle, and high school students over an approximate 3-month period (October 2024 to January 2025). Subsequently, group interviews were conducted with the midwives to gather feedback on the design, feasibility, and usability of the tool. The interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative analysis, with large language model-assisted thematic exploration employed as a supplementary method to identify key themes. The analysis showed that the BEPC was highly regarded for its visual appeal, ease of use, and potential to engage families. The hierarchical design and visual representations, such as the use of small holes and beans to represent different stages of fetal development, were particularly effective in facilitating student understanding. The findings suggest that the BEPC has the potential to be a visually engaging tool for interactively teaching the process of fertilization and fetal development in the “Beginning of Life” part of sex education. Future research should focus on collaborations with parents and the development of strategies for reaching out to absent or home-schooled students.

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