Biotechnology learning in Slovenian upper-secondary education: gaining knowledge and forming attitudes

ABSTRACT Purpose: One area of science that will increasingly influence our society is biotechnology. An increasing number of modern biotechnological applications have provoked consideration of the ethical and social issues; therefore, it is important that the public is well-informed about them. Formal education in upper-secondary schools should help students to become biotechnologically literate citizens. There is little published research data on Slovenian high-school students’ knowledge about and attitudes towards biotechnology, as well a lack of curriculum evaluation data. Methodology: This study combines two research approaches. The first part is content analysis of current upper-secondary education programmes in Slovenia, in which all curricula were reviewed about 15 selected biotechnological topics. The second part of the research focused on assessing students’ knowledge of traditional and modern biotechnology and exploring their attitudes towards modern biotechnological methods and their products. ...