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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Educ.

Sec. STEM Education

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1624916

This article is part of the Research TopicImmunology Education: In the Classroom and BeyondView all 12 articles

Beyond the Microscope: Integrating Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Principles in Immunology Education through the IDE-A Rubric

Provisionally accepted
  • 1LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, United States
  • 2Bastyr University, Kenmore, United States
  • 3Minnesota State University Moorhead, Kenmore, United States
  • 4Lemieux Library, Seattle, Seattle, United States
  • 5University of California, La Jolla, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Textbooks are essential resources for developing immunological literacy. This article emphasizes expanding educational focus beyond traditional technical content to more broadly encompass inclusion and equity in the classroom. Equitable and inclusive teaching requires thoughtful selection of course materials by applying principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDE-A), yet clear guidance using these principles for course design, especially in textbook selection, is limited. To address this gap, the authors developed and tested the IDE-A rubric and assessed a sample of immunology textbooks, widely used at both undergraduate and graduate levels, to evaluate the rubric's utility. Each textbook was rated on the overall commitment to the principles of the IDE-A framework, assessing the extent to which the textbook authors and publishers make a concerted effort to address these principles in the introduction, preface, and/or overall framing of the content. Inclusion and diversity were evaluated by examining evidence of stereotype threat, including the use of names in case studies and questions, the selection of textbook imagery, and how diverse representations, perspectives, and voices were acknowledged and incorporated into descriptions of concepts and historical context. Equity and accessibility were assessed by evaluating availability of textbooks and ancillary materials at no cost or reduced price, availability of multiple textbook formats, and publisher's provision of accessible versions. Furthermore, the rubric could help instructors maintain diversity within STEM fields. This study is one of the first structured evaluations that apply IDE-A principles in textbook selection, demonstrating how looking "beyond the microscope" creates more inclusive learning environments.

Keywords: immunology, textbook, rubric, science education, Curriculum, pedagogy, higher education, immune literacy

Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Davis, Del Villar, Pandey, Papadopoulou, Ngow and Wenner. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Cynthia Wenner, Bastyr University, Kenmore, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.