Factors Explaining Students' Attitudes towards Learning Genetics and Belief in Genetic Determinism

Autor/inn/en	Aivelo, Tuomas; Uitto, Anna
Titel	Factors Explaining Students' Attitudes towards Learning Genetics and Belief in Genetic Determinism
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science Education, 43 (2021) 9, S.1408-1425 (18 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Aivelo, Tuomas) ORCID (Uitto, Anna)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0950-0693
DOI	10.1080/09500693.2021.1917789
Schlagwörter	Genetics; Teaching Methods; Student Attitudes; Gender Differences; Secondary School Students; Foreign Countries; Self Concept; Scientific Attitudes; Biotechnology; Instructional Materials; Textbooks; Scientific Literacy; Item Response Theory; Biology; Prior Learning; Finland + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Humangenetik; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Schülerverhalten; Geschlechterkonflikt; Sekundarschüler; Ausland; Selbstkonzept; Biotechnologie; Lehrmaterial; Lehrmittel; Unterrichtsmedien; Textbook; Text book; Schulbuch; Lehrbuch; Item-Response-Theorie; Biologie; Vorkenntnisse; Finnland
Abstract	Understanding how teaching affects students' attitudes and beliefs is notoriously difficult, specifically in a quickly evolving and societally relevant field such as genetics. The aim of this survey study is to capitalize our previous research and examine how teaching relates to Finnish secondary school students' liking of, self-concept in and experienced utility of genetics, attitude towards gene technology and belief in genetic determinism. In this unique setting, we used as explanatory variables their teachers' teaching emphases and learning materials, and as student-related factors, we used gender and the number of biology courses attended. Item-response theory with exploratory, confirmatory, and explanatory analyses were carried out to model the data. Teaching explained students' attitudes and beliefs: if the teacher's emphasis was Hereditary or the textbook with stronger Mendelian emphasis was used, students tended to have more negative attitudes towards learning genetics and stronger belief in genetic determinism . Our results also suggest gender differences: male students had more positive attitude towards gene technology, higher self-concept, whereas as utility of genetics and belief in genetic determinism were higher in females. The results suggest that teaching' approaches as well as learning materials need updates to fulfil the needs for genetics literacy. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01