Using Cultural Diffusion to Support Vaccination Campaigns

This lesson was created by Catherine Yackee, a high school teacher in Chicago, IL, as part of the fall 2024 Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship program. It is designed for facilitation across approximately two 50-minute class periods.

For more lessons created by Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellows in this cohort, click here.

[Students] were quite interested in the Pulitzer news stories. One of my students questioned, “Why did we not hear about this issue before”? ... [This lesson] reaffirmed my belief that curriculum must be relevant for the students.

Lesson Overview

The interaction of people contributes to the spread of cultural practices. In this lesson, students will be introduced to the four kinds of diffusion: relocation, contagious, hierarchical, and stimulus expansion. Students will examine news articles on global health  and identify the types of diffusion represented by the article. They will then be introduced to a new vaccine, and students will need to get the word out via the type of diffusion method (social media, government pamphlet, etc.).

Objectives

Students will be able to define and evaluate four types of diffusion (hierarchical, contagious, stimulus and relocation), and analyze how diffusion spreads information  in global health reporting.

Performance Task

One important global health issue shared in the last article relates to vaccination. Students will briefly view a video from Vice news, which goes over some of the other reasons people in the United States have refused to get vaccinations, and some of the arguments others have shared for getting vaccines.

Video: Anti-Vaxxers In Texas Would Rather Have Liberty Than Safety

Discussion questions:

1. Why do many people oppose vaccines?
2. What reasons are shared for requiring vaccines?
3. Does a government have the right to mandate vaccinations for people?
4. What are some methods you could use to promote vaccination or share information about the goals of vaccines?

Students will then create a media campaign to promote the new COVID vaccine by using hierarchical and/or  contagious diffusion techniques. They will either create a social media campaign (Tiktok, Instagram, etc.) to spread the word to individuals about the vaccine or a short informational brochure about the new vaccine on behalf of the Chicago government. 

Projects must include the following:

1. At least four facts from the following sources: 

• Why Do Vaccinated People Represent Most Covid Deaths 
• Adults not vaccinated against Covid 
• Covid Deaths by Vaccination
• Covid Tracker 
• Why Covid 19 Deaths among Vaccinated show Boosters Matter
• How Americans View the Coronavirus
• Myths vs. Facts Covid 19 Vaccine 
• How to Compare Covid Deaths for vaccinated and unvaccinated People
• Covid 19 vaccine-what you need to know 
• Covid 19 vaccines-is it true?
• Vaccinated People Lower Risk Covid Study 

2. Directions for TikTok PSA
3. Directions for Brochure  (Example of Template)

Assessment

Students will complete a multiple choice daily formative assessment on the standard.

Students will complete an assignment in which they will select images that represent all four types of diffusion.

Students will respond to discussion questions related to the articles about contagious diffusion and hierarchical diffusion. 

Students will analyze a Pulitzer article on clerics and their impact on driving up COVID vaccination rates. 

Rubric for PSA/Brochure

Notes on Context & Content Advisory

The first article (“‘Racialized Myths,’ Medical Exploitation, and Dire Results” by Kylie Marsh and Herbert L. White) could potentially be triggering due to the content about childbirth, gynecological procedures, and the history of using enslaved women for research.

My students are predominantly African American and female, so the articles related to women’s issues will resonate with them.

Two-day lesson plan, including warm-ups, text and video resources, discussion questions, slides, and a final performance task. Download below to read the complete lesson plan.

Lesson Resources

AP Human Geography Standard 3.4 

Define the types of diffusion. 

Relocation and expansion—including contagious, hierarchical, and stimulus expansion—are types of diffusion. 

AP Human Geography Standards

In this lesson, students studied Pulitzer Center reporting to contextualize the concept of informational diffusion among communities. Using their findings, they then created PSA video and graphic design campaigns to share information about vaccines with their community. Below is a sampling of the student-created campaigns.