Attitudes of Lebanese Secondary School Students and Teachers towards Biotechnology and its Teaching

H. Haidar^1, , M. Chouman¹ and P. Abou Tayeh^{1, 2}

¹Doctoral School of Literature, Humanities and Social Sciences, Lebanese University, Dekweneh, Lebanon

²Faculty of Pedagogy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon

Cite this paper:
H. Haidar, M. Chouman and P. Abou Tayeh. Attitudes of Lebanese Secondary School Students and Teachers towards Biotechnology and its Teaching. American Journal of Educational Research. 2014; 2(6):430-435. doi: 10.12691/education-2-6-15

Abstract

Modern biotechnology has a large impact on society and requires informed decision-making and critical attitudes among the public. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of Lebanese secondary school students and their biology teachers towards biotechnology and its teaching. Two questionnaires were administered to 400 students and 53 biology teachers. Results showed that teachers have more positive attitudes than students. Both had negative opinion towards consumption of genetically modified food. A mismatch between the teachers and their students was revealed concerning the socioconstructivist environment in biotechnology classes. The three components of attitudes (cognitive, affective and behavioral) were correlated in the case of students, while there was no correlation in the case of teachers.

Keywords:
biotechnology attitudes secondary school teachers students socioconstructivism

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