New Perspectives in Science Education

The development of the biotechnology phenomenon is inevitable. It is one of the fastest-developing areas with an impact onto whole society. It is therefore necessary to be familiar with the current state of awareness not only among the students themselves but also in society. The interviews were examined to determine the state of society's awareness of current biotechnology, which is consistent with scientifically correct ideas, and to analyse the occurrence of misconceptions. In this research, the interview was used as the main research method. Its format was semi-structured, thus it was flexible to find out additional information above the interview questions. A total of 40 respondents took part in the research study. The gathered data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively.  For qualitative analysis, the Grounded theory [1] was used. Coded segments in transcribed interviews were categorised into four concepts: biotechnology, genetic engineering, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and cloning. In each of the above-mentioned concepts, many respondents claimed a negative connotation. When it comes to misconceptions, there´s a wide range of different ideas. The most common idea among respondents is that biotechnology (23 %) and genetic engineering (15 %) produce/are robots or machines and have nothing to do with living organisms. Moreover, biotechnology (8 %), genetic engineering (8 %), and GMO (23 %) have for the respondents the same meaning as breeding. Quantitative analyses revealed that in the biotechnology concept, almost 30 % of respondents had very limited awareness of what biotechnology in general. Almost 33 % of respondents had no information about the concept of genetic engineering. When it comes to GMOs, about 68 % of respondents are not even aware of what GMOs are. About 63 % of respondents claimed that they have none or too little information about the concept of cloning. There are significant differences between men and women, where women have a better awareness of the concept of biotechnology and GMOs than men. Based on the knowledge obtained from the research, it becomes visible what has been neglected in education regarding the given phenomenon so far. With such an exponentially developing phenomenon, it is necessary to find out the current society's awareness, and especially the knowledge gaps in this area. Moreover, based on this research, we are able to not only identify the most common misconception society has, but it will also help to create effective teaching strategies that will reflect the needs of society which is crucial for school and lifelong education. Research is supported by GFD_Pdf_2023_06.

Keywords: biology instruction, education, biotechnology awareness, lifelong learning

References: [1] Strauss, A. & Corbin, L. Grounded Theory Research: Procedures, Canons and Evaluative Criteria. Zeitschrift für Soziologie. 1990, 19 (6), pp. 418-427