Investigating genomics education in schools

Supervisor: Dr Jeremy Airey

A) Rationale for the project

Genomics literacy is a pressing issue in school science education, given the rapid development of genomics and its applications, the urgent need to support learners with personal choices and with their democratic rights to engage with related societal debates, and the evidence of persistently low levels of genomic literacy. There have been many calls, dating back at least two decades, for evidence-informed modernisation of school-level teaching of variation, inheritance and genetics, to meet these needs. These calls have come from within and beyond the genetics and science education research communities. However, the pace of change is frustratingly slow.

There are some under-researched groups, in relation to ‘genomics education’ - notably teachers, and learners in the 9-13 age range. For example, we know little about science teachers’ views on what needs to be taught and how, or about how confident they feel with their relevant subject knowledge and pedagogical skills. We know little about what learners want to know, how they relate to the issues that genomics applications raise, or how they come to solid (or shaky) understandings of relevant ideas. Improved knowledge in these areas could support relevant educational reform.

B) References that should be read (if you do not have access to these, please email jeremy.airey@york.ac.uk)

Airey, J., Moore, A., Davies, R., Speakman, D., & Bennett, J. (2019) Viewed as a whole: syntheses of research evidence and teaching and learning support resources related to genomics education in schools. Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton. https://publicengagement.wellcomeconnectingscience.org/projects/landscape-analysis-of-genomics-education-in-schools/

Aivelo, T., & Uitto, A. (2019). Teachers’ choice of content and consideration of controversial and sensitive issues in teaching of secondary school genetics. International journal of science education, 41(18), 2716-2735.

Asbury, K., McBride, T., & Bawn, R. (2022). Can genomic research make a useful contribution to social policy?. Royal Society Open Science, 9(11), 220873.

Boerwinkel, D. J., Yarden, A., & Waarlo, A. J. (2017). Reaching a consensus on the definition of genetic literacy that is required from a twenty-first-century citizen. Science & Education, 26, 1087-1114.

Carver, R. B., Castéra, J., Gericke, N., Evangelista, N. A. M., & El-Hani, C. N. (2017). Young adults’ belief in genetic determinism, and knowledge and attitudes towards modern genetics and genomics: the PUGGS questionnaire. PloS one, 12(1), e0169808.

Chapman, R., Likhanov, M., Selita, F., Zakharov, I., Smith-Woolley, E., & Kovas, Y. (2019). New literacy challenge for the twenty-first century: genetic knowledge is poor even among well educated. Journal of community genetics, 10, 73-84.

McKnight, L., Pearce, A., Willis, A., Young, M. A., & Terrill, B. (2021). Supporting teachers to use genomics as a context in the classroom: an evaluation of learning resources for high school biology. Journal of Community Genetics, 12(4), 653-662.

Stern, F., & Kampourakis, K. (2017). Teaching for genetics literacy in the post-genomic era. Studies in Science Education, 53(2), 193-225.

Whitley, K. V., Tueller, J. A., & Weber, K. S. (2020). Genomics education in the era of personal genomics: academic, professional, and public considerations. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(3), 768.

Yacoubian, H. A. (2018). Scientific literacy for democratic decision-making. International Journal of Science Education, 40(3), 308-327.

C) Research aims / questions

The aims of this project are to contribute to knowledge and understanding of under-researched aspects of education for genomics literacy in schools, in order to help identify and/or remove barriers to change. No one PhD study can accomplish all of this! You might choose to focus on teachers or on younger students.

With teachers, you might explore their understandings of genomics and genomics education, including what they think should be taught about genomics (and why, when and how), comparing this to the views of other expert stakeholders. You could also investigate teachers’ views on effective genomics education pedagogies, their confidence in their own related knowledge and skills, and the factors that relate to how they teach genomics.

With early adolescents, you might explore what young people want to learn about genomics and why, their experiences of doing so and the impacts of these experiences on them.

D) Methods

The methods you use will be determined by your research questions, reading and supervision. Your approach will most likely be qualitative, and the methods you use might include interviews, focus groups, Delphi techniques, observation, document analysis or survey methods. There are possibilities for open science practices and for co-creation.