Genetic Engineering Online Lessons Improve Teaching and Increase Knowledge and Accepting Attitudes Among Students

TL;DRAbstract

Genetic engineering has been used in the production of food in the U.S. for nearly three decades, however, science literacy in genetic engineering among consumers is still low. To address this problem, an online resource called The Journey of a Gene (passel.unl.edu/ge) was created to help incorporate genetic engineering education in high school and college curriculums. Here we report two studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of The Journey of a Gene in 1) improving student knowledge and attitudes about genetic engineering and 2) helping teachers increase their knowledge as well as quantity and quality of genetic engineering instruction. In the first study, we surveyed nearly 900 students and found that the online resource was effective in increasing student knowledge and shifting student attitudes to become more accepting of genetic engineering technology. This increase in accepting attitudes varied by gender, background, and trust in government safety regulation. Our results

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