Proposal Title
Complexity genetics: Determining levels of genetic deterministic thinking of undergraduate biology students.
Session Type
Poster
Room
Thames Hall Atrium
Start Date
13-7-2023 4:30 PM
End Date
13-7-2023 6:00 PM
Keywords
Equitable, accessible, and inclusive teaching, scholarship of teaching and learning, students as partners, anti-racist pedagogy
Primary Threads
Curriculum
Abstract
The way genetics has been traditionally taught (i.e., with a focus on Mendelian genetics) can reinforce ideas of genetic determinism, the belief that an organism's traits are mostly unaffected by environmental factors and instead, are mainly influenced by genetic contributions.1 In turn, this can reinforce the assumption that individuals of one race are very similar to one another and distinct from people of another race. Repeated exposure to this traditional view can affect students’ perceptions of human biological variation thereby causing students to endorse the idea that racial differences are determined by genetics.2 Students who learn from a genetics curriculum that talks about racial biological disparities may be less likely to work cooperatively with peers who identify differently from themselves, which might have detrimental effects on one’s sense of belonging and learning experience within the classroom.
For our undergraduate honours thesis, we conducted focus groups to explore the levels of genetic determinism within undergraduate biology students. This research can better inform future modifications to course content to ensure that a more authentic approach to genetics is enacted, improving the learning experience for students and by connection, their sense of belonging within the classroom. This research was approved by our institutional research ethics board.
- Carver, 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–e0169808. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169808
- Donovan. (2017). Learned inequality: Racial labels in the biology curriculum can affect the development of racial prejudice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(3), 379–411. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21370
Elements of Engagement
While our poster will look at our research, we will engage poster viewers with some of the basic questions that help reveal misconceptions about genetics, which we asked in our focus groups. As well, we will ask viewers how they think a genetically deterministic view might affect the learning environment as well as the sense of belonging in a science classroom.
Complexity genetics: Determining levels of genetic deterministic thinking of undergraduate biology students.
Thames Hall Atrium
The way genetics has been traditionally taught (i.e., with a focus on Mendelian genetics) can reinforce ideas of genetic determinism, the belief that an organism's traits are mostly unaffected by environmental factors and instead, are mainly influenced by genetic contributions.1 In turn, this can reinforce the assumption that individuals of one race are very similar to one another and distinct from people of another race. Repeated exposure to this traditional view can affect students’ perceptions of human biological variation thereby causing students to endorse the idea that racial differences are determined by genetics.2 Students who learn from a genetics curriculum that talks about racial biological disparities may be less likely to work cooperatively with peers who identify differently from themselves, which might have detrimental effects on one’s sense of belonging and learning experience within the classroom.
For our undergraduate honours thesis, we conducted focus groups to explore the levels of genetic determinism within undergraduate biology students. This research can better inform future modifications to course content to ensure that a more authentic approach to genetics is enacted, improving the learning experience for students and by connection, their sense of belonging within the classroom. This research was approved by our institutional research ethics board.
- Carver, 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–e0169808. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169808
- Donovan. (2017). Learned inequality: Racial labels in the biology curriculum can affect the development of racial prejudice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54(3), 379–411. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21370