Biotechnology in American High Schools: Then and Now

作为NSF先进技术教育（ATE）项目早期拨款的一部分，DNA学习中心（DNALC）对4,100名高中生物教师进行了一项全国性的调查。这个有目的的样本使用20世纪80年代和90年代的独特数据集，对1998年美国高中的生物技术/分子遗传学教学进行了快照。这项研究项目将重复这项研究，看看生物技术教学在20年后的地位。 这项调查将帮助教育界了解生物学教学在过去30年中的发展情况，以及未来30年的发展方向。1998年的研究表明，生物技术实验室教学的早期采用集中在位于高财富郊区邮政编码的学校。重要的是要看看，今天，动手生物技术教学是否已经扩大到包括更贫穷和更多样化的城市人口。此外，本研究还将把教师态度和行为的变化与这一时期的资金和教育趋势联系起来，以便为教育政策提供见解。1998年DNALC调查拥有20世纪80年代和90年代的独特数据集。许多对这些调查作出答复的教师已经退休。本研究为比较两代生物教师提供了难得的机会。上一代人率先引入了新的实验室，说明了分子遗传操作的基本概念，主要是使用微生物模型E。杆菌当前这一代教师面临着将生物学教学带入人类和其他生物体全基因组分析时代的挑战。 拟议的调查将比较实验室教学和学生接触的四个主要技术的生物技术/分子遗传学，在原来的调查测量：细菌转化，DNA限制性分析，聚合酶链反应（PCR）和DNA测序。将在原始研究中的一系列变量中比较响应，包括：（学生能力，行政支持，家长支持，教学大纲，教科书，实验室空间，设备/用品，班级规模，班级和准备时间）;行为/表现（四个生物技术实验室，实验室准备方法，试剂盒使用，实验室“实地考察”，资金数额和来源，培训机会，支持互联网的计算机数量，互联网使用，信息来源）;和人口统计（入学率，少数民族/弱势群体的百分比，生物班级规模，实验室时间长度，年龄/性别/种族，种族，教学年数，认证/最高学位，专业发展，课外活动）。此外，还将包括在1987-1996年举办的为期一周的讲习班上接受培训的至少600名教师的数据。这些调查的问题与全国性调查相同或类似，但也包括语义差异-这提供了一种衡量态度的独特方式。教师们用18种极性形容词（“重要-不重要”、“凌乱-整洁”、“安全-安全”等）来评价他们对“重组DNA、生物技术”和“我作为生物教师”的反应。反应聚集在效能，活动和评价的维度-提供了一个有效的方法来跟踪教师态度的转变。病例对照分析将提供历史和当前队列之间的信息比较。每个时间点的参与者将根据学校和教师的人口统计数据被分成匹配的组。通过以这种方式分析数据，将消除一些混淆变量，以更好地了解生物学教学实践如何变化。

As part of an early grant from the NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) conducted a nationwide survey of 4,100 high school biology teachers. This purposive sample took a snapshot of biotechnology/molecular genetics instruction in American high schools in 1998 using unique datasets from the 1980s and 1990s. This research project will repeat that study to see where biotechnology instruction stands two decades later. This survey will help the education community see how far biology instruction has come over the last 30 years, and where it needs to point for the next 30 years. The 1998 study showed that the early adoption of biotechnology lab instruction was concentrated in schools located in high wealth suburban zip codes. It is important to see if, today, hands-on biotech instruction has broadened to include poorer and more diverse urban populations. It is also expected that the study will correlate changes in teacher attitudes and behavior with funding and educational trends over this period of time such that the study results can provide insights for educational policy.The 1998 DNALC survey possesses unique datasets from the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the teachers who responded to those surveys have since retired. This study offers the rare opportunity to compare two generations of biology teachers. The previous generation pioneered the introduction of new labs that illustrated the basic concepts of molecular genetic manipulation, mostly using the microbial model E. coli. The current generation of teachers faces the challenge of bringing biology instruction into the age of whole-genome analysis of humans and other organisms. The proposed survey will compare lab instruction and student exposures to four major techniques of biotechnology/molecular genetics that were measured in the original survey: bacterial transformation, DNA restriction analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing. Responses will be compared across a range of variables in the original study, including: Constraints (student ability, administrative support, parental support, syllabus, textbooks, lab space, equipment/supplies, class size, class and prep time); Behaviors/Performance (four biotech labs, lab prep methods, kit use, lab "field trips," funding amount and sources, opportunities for training, number of Internet-enabled computers, Internet use, information sources); and Demographics (school enrollment, percent minority/disadvantaged, biology class size, length of lab period, age/sex/race, ethnicity, years teaching, certification/highest degree, professional development, extracurricular activities). Additionally, the data from at least 600 teachers trained at week-long workshops conducted from 1987-1996 will be included. These surveys had identical or comparable questions as the nationwide survey, but also included semantic differentials - which provide a unique way to measure attitudes. Teachers rated their reactions to "recombinant DNA, biotechnology" and "myself as a biology teacher" on 18 scales of polar adjectives ("important-unimportant," "messy-neat," "dangerous-safe," etc.). Responses clustered in dimensions of potency, activity, and evaluation - providing a validated way to track shifts in teacher attitudes. Case-controlled analysis will provide an informative comparison between historic and current cohorts. Participants at each time point will be sorted into matched groups based on school and teacher demographics. By analyzing the data in this manner, a number of confounding variables will be eliminated to better understand how biology teaching practices have changed.