The Development of an In Silico Vaccine Design-Based E-Module to Improve Students' Biological Literacy

Low levels of biological literacy among students, particularly in biotechnology, highlight the need for innovative digital learning media that facilitate meaningful and contextual learning experiences. This study aimed to develop and evaluate an interactive biotechnology e-module based on in silico vaccine design to improve students’ biological literacy. The study employed Educational Design Research (EDR) using the Hannafin and Peck model, which consists of three phases: needs assessment, development, and implementation. The participants included 73 tenth-grade science students and one biology teacher from SMAN 68 Jakarta, Indonesia. The e-module was developed using Canva and Heyzine to create an interactive flipbook integrating biotechnology content, instructional videos, bioinformatics simulations, and digital assessments. Product feasibility was evaluated through expert validation involving material, language, and media experts. The results indicated that the e-module was highly feasible, with average scores of 90.69 from the material and language experts and 95.50 from the media experts. The effectiveness of the e-module was examined using a one-group pretest–posttest design. Statistical prerequisite tests confirmed the assumptions of normality and homogeneity. The paired-samples t-test revealed a significant improvement in students’ biological literacy after using the e-module (p < .001). Furthermore, the normalized gain (N-gain) analysis yielded a score of 0.837, indicating a high level of effectiveness. These findings suggest that the developed e-module is a feasible and effective digital learning resource for supporting the development of biological literacy in biotechnology learning. The integration of computational vaccine design also provides students with opportunities to connect biological concepts with contemporary digital technologies and scientific practices.