The level of knowledge of prospective biology teachers on gene technology and their source of information

Abstract

The Gene Technology includes an area of various implementations (health, agriculture etc.) on which we shall have knowledge and which will be our guide in our actions. This is of particular importance notably when it is evaluated in terms of the instructors providing education on these issues to the public. Knowledge and literacy on gene technology is acquired through educational institutions and various sources of information. The aim of this study is to assess the level of knowledge of prospective biology teachers on gene technology, and to investigate the sources of knowledge on the related subject. 135 prospective biology teachers participated in this study. Descriptive analyses were carried out for the items, the frequencies were interpreted and cross tabulation analyses were used. The results of this study demonstrate that the prospective biology teachers possess predominantly a low-level knowledge on gene technology (69.6%) and mostly feel that their knowledge on gene technology is scanty, regardless of whether they have taken courses on the subject or not. The top sources of the prospective teachers (over 60% as frequency) are television documentaries on gene technology, and journals, biology/chemistry teachers and experts from universities on the related area.