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The impact of immunology on our daily lives is growing every year. From vaccines to immunotherapies, it's essential for our healthcare professionals (present and future) and the general public as patients or caregivers to be literate in immunology. One way to foster immune literacy in this rapidly advancing field is through Primary Scientific Literature (PSL). There are unique challenges with integrating PSL into immunology courses. First, the laboratory techniques used are often new and not things students have tried before or may have access to, such as flow cytometry. Second, the tools used in this literature can be confusing. For example, antibodies are often used as both part of the research method and as the research subject. Third, immunology literature is especially heavy in acronyms, jargon and abbreviations. In this manuscript, four instructors gathered to discuss the strategies that they have used in their classrooms to utilize PSL in immunology (PSL-I) and scaffold various activities around it. These teaching methods vary from highlighting immunology-specific techniques, interpreting figures, alignment with the 5E instructional model to guide an inquiry, jigsaw format learning, to in-depth journal-club style analysis. Finally, this paper discusses reflections from our experiences teaching PSL-I. We know that there are misconceptions about immunology and health in general. If we teach PSL and how to interpret it, we hope to prepare our students not just for their chosen field, but also to think critically and discern facts from fiction in society. 

There is a shortage of research examining Black male middle school students’ early experiences, content and career exposure, and mentoring in STEM programs at HBCUs. Using Harper’s Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework, this research examined the asset-based pedagogy used to teach middle school Black boys (n=169) using survey data from a more extensive mixed-methods study of STEM programs at HBCUs. Results show that Black boys perceived the instructors and mentors incorporated a relatively high level of engagement and pedagogical practice using transactional strategies (meaningful learning, learning community, teacher student relationship quality). The more Black boys perceived meaningful connections in their lessons, the higher teacher student relationship quality and learning community ratings. The use of the three transactional instructional strategies resulted in Black boys' perceived use of critical thinking in the STEM learning context. As a result of participating in the STEM programs at HBCUs, Black boys significantly increased in STEM-based academic efficacy, specifically in technology. Implications for teachers, teacher educators, and program mentors and instructors in STEM spaces for Black boys are discussed.