Current knowledge and attitudes of students towards biotechnology: A long way to go

Abstract

Thanks to technological innovations, science is rapidly evolving, and therefore, development of effective and engaging learning strategies is needed to ensure knowledge transmission. But first, we need to know what the current situation is. In this work, we focused on biotechnology, a scientific branch that is present in many of aspects of our daily life, but also a source of controversy. We developed a questionnaire to investigate the knowledge of 124 Baccalaureate students about biotechnology and its uses, as well as their awareness about the transgenic food as a socioscientific issue, and their attitudes towards applications of transgenics. Most students cannot give an appropriate definition of biotechnology. Besides, students have misconceptions about transgenics, and easily change their attitudes. Thus, new strategies to get students interest and improve knowledge transfer should be implemented.