Poster #3 - Designing Life in the 21st Century: A Review of High School Students' Attitudes Toward Biotechnologies

• In Event: 21.063 - MTCC Poster Session Three
  In Poster Session: 21.063-1 - Research in Science Teaching and Learning Poster Session 2

Abstract

Biotechnology has impacts on myriad sectors. While most research is on adult consumer attitudes toward biotechnologies, fewer research has explored high school students’ attitudes—a group who’ll need to engage with the topic in numerous ways. Conducting an extensive literature search, we examine how the existing research describes high school student attitudes toward biotechnology. Findings suggest that (1) this research has only occurred outside of the United States, (2) attitudes depend on many factors including how biotechnologies are applied, (3) students evaluate biotechnologies using many considerations and that (4) age and gender may mediate these attitudes. We discuss implications of these findings, directions for updating future research instruments, and opportunities to explore attitude formation and factors that mediate its stability.

Authors

• Justice Toshiba Walker, University of Texas at El Paso

• Yasmin B. Kafai, University of Pennsylvania