Towards exploring midwifery students' misconceptions of reproductive health education: Case of Sexually transmitted infections

Abstract

Sexually Transmitted Infections” (STI) present a taught knowledge which evoked several
agitations of comprehension. Among the factors that hamper this understanding: the nature of this
knowledge, the approaches adopted in the curricula, and the learners' misconceptions. Since midwives
students will be actors in health promotion and prevention of transmission of STIs, they should have
adequate knowledge to transmit them healthily to the population. This study is the first to our
knowledge, which aims to approach the conceptual world of midwifery students in order to discover their
knowledge and their misconceptions of the disease in general and STIs in particular, and this by two
tools: mind maps and individual directive interview. By diagnosing these barriers to learning, we will
have time to take them into account in our teaching practices. As a result, the misconceptions identified
reflect to a large extent the ideas of the media and Moroccan society, whose common knowledge takes
priority over scientific knowledge. These conceptions sent us back to the obstacles: cultural and belief,
epistemological and didactic. The didactic implications of the history of science could lead to effective
training/teaching actions.