Evaluation of Biology Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Biotechnology and its Application
Öz
In recent years, it has been emphasized by various authorities that biotechnology will be an important power in shaping the future, and current developments reveal products that confirm this. The fact that genetics and biotechnology enter students' lives at an early age with both written and visual media causes teachers to confront some controversial issues in a constructivist approach. It is extremely important for our teachers to recognize this technology, to learn its scope and ethical boundaries in the correct information and guidance of the young generation. It is necessary to carry out many studies in our country in order to improve the knowledge and attitude levels of teachers and students in biotechnology, to increase biotechnology literacy, and to eliminate prejudices about biotechnology applications. For this purpose, the 'Future Technology Biotechnology-2' project has been designed based on the 5E model and collaborative learning method, one of the innovative educational practices.
In this study, TUBITAK (Turkey Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) 4005 supported by the Science and Society program, "Technology of the Future of Biotechnology-2" project conducted theoretical and practical activities, the effect of the knowledge and attitudes of teachers toward biotechnology were investigated. The target audience of the study, from various provinces of Turkey, has created 25 biology teachers working in schools affiliated to the Ministry of Education. The theoretical and applied activities in the project were carried out in Edirne Trakya University between 23-30 June 2019 as a single term.
It is aimed to renew the biotechnology, genetic engineering, cloning and bioethics knowledge of biology teachers involved in the project, to inform them about new studies in these fields and to increase the variety of teaching materials they use in their lessons. Applied scientific activities designed using collaborative and 5E learning models in line with this goal; Interactive applications, experimental applications in research laboratories, virtual laboratory applications, experimental applications that participants can use in their own teaching environments with simple tools and equipment, innovative learning methods with web 2.0 tools were used.
In the study, one group pretest-posttest weak experimental design was used among the quantitative research designs. The group pretest-posttest was designed as a trial model without control group. In this design, the effect of the experimental process was obtained by using pretest-posttest measurement tools on a single group. Two different measurement tools, namely "Biotechnology Attitude Scale" (3likert type) and "Biotechnology Knowledge Test" (6 open-ended), were used for data collection. In the knowledge test, there are 6 open-ended questions prepared to learn the knowledge of the participants about genetic engineering, biotechnology and cloning studies and genetically modified organisms. In order to learn the general attitudes of the project participants about biotechnology applications, an attitude scale consisting of 15 items (3likert type) was used.
In order to evaluate the open-ended questions used in the study, descriptive analysis was performed first, and as a result of the evaluation, the answers of the participants were scored as correct, partially correct and incorrect / no answer. The scores obtained were evaluated in the SPSS program. When the data obtained were analyzed in terms of normality assumptions, Shapiro-Wilk values were determined as p <0.005. However, Skewness and Kurtosis values were found to be -0.25, 0.18 for the pretest and -0.39, -0.77 for the posttest. Therefore, the nonparametric test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, was applied to determine whether there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the biotechnology knowledge test questions. With the p value of the results obtained in the study, the effect levels were also calculated.
According to the results obtained from the attitude scale applied in the project study, the attitude of biology teachers who participated in the project towards science increased after the project compared to before the project and the results were found to be statistically significant at a high effect level (t = -5.91, p <0.001). The attitude scores of teachers participating in the project towards science were 35.52 (SD = 4.47) before the project, but increased to 41.44 (SD = 3.41) after the project (p <.05). Considering the average rank and total of the difference scores, it is seen that the observed difference is in favor of the post-test scores. When the results of the present study are evaluated, it can be said that applied biotechnology education is effective in increasing the knowledge level of biotechnology and its applications and increasing the attitude towards these issues.
It is recommended to disseminate training projects for biotechnology and its applications to a wider and different target audience, to examine different variables such as misconception, ability to practice, anxiety, interest, perception, and to reveal the relationships between these variables.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Biyoloji Öğretmenlerinin Biyoteknoloji ve Uygulamalarına Yönelik Bilgi ve Tutumlarının Değerlendirilmesi
Öz
Bu çalışmada, TÜBİTAK (Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu) 4005 Bilim ve Toplum programları tarafından desteklenen “Geleceğin Teknolojisi Biyoteknoloji-2” projesinde gerçekleştirilen teorik ve uygulamalı etkinliklerin, biyoloji öğretmenlerinin biyoteknoloji ve uygulamalarına yönelik bilgi ve tutumlarına etkisi araştırılmıştır. Çalışmada tek grup ön-test son-test zayıf deneysel desen kullanılmıştır. Proje etkinlikleri tek dönem olarak 23-30 Haziran 2019 tarihleri arasında Edirne Trakya Üniversitesi’nde yürütülmüştür. Çalışmanın hedef kitlesini, Türkiye’nin çeşitli illerinden Millî Eğitim Bakanlığına bağlı liselerde görev yapmakta olan 25 Biyoloji öğretmeni oluşturmuştur. Veri toplama amacı ile “Biyoteknoloji Tutum Ölçeği” (3likert tipi), “Biyoteknoloji Bilgi Testi” (6 açık uçlu) olmak üzere iki farklı ölçme aracı kullanılmıştır. Uygulanan tutum ölçeğinden elde edilen sonuçlara göre, biyoloji öğretmenlerinin biyoteknoloji ve uygulamalarına yönelik tutumları proje öncesine göre, proje sonrasında yükselmiştir. Biyoteknoloji bilgi testi sorularının sonuçları incelendiğinde, öntest-sontest puan ortalamaları arasındaki farkın istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olduğu saptanmıştır. Bu durum teorik ve uygulamalı biyoteknoloji etkinliklernin biyoloji öğretmenlerinin biyoteknoloji ve uygulamalarına yönelik bilgi düzeylerini ve tutumlarını olumlu yönde etkilediğini göstermiştir. Biyoteknoloji ve uygulamalarına yönelik eğitim projelerinin daha geniş ve farklı hedef kitle ile yaygınlaştırılması, çalışmalarda kavram yanılgısı, uygulama yapabilme becerisi, kaygı, ilgi, algı gibi farklı değişkenlerin incelenmesi ve bu değişkenlerin arasındaki ilişkilerin ortaya konması önerilmektedir.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Geleceğin Teknolojisi Biyoteknoloji-2 projesi (https://gtb4005.trakya.edu.tr/) TÜBİTAK’ın 4005 Yenilikçi Eğitim Uygulamaları programı ile (218B537 etkinlik numarasıyla) 2019 yılında desteklenmiştir.
