Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109.
CBE Life Sci Educ. 2019 Jun;18(2):ar14. doi: 10.1187/cbe.18-08-0169.
We analyzed effects of peer teaching on non-science major undergraduates' knowledge, perceptions, and opinions about genetically modified (GM) crops and their use in agriculture. Undergraduates enrolled in an introductory nonmajors biology course participated in a service-learning program (SLP) in which they acted as cross-age peer teachers to high school students, teaching about the role of genetics in crop improvement through traditional breeding and GM approaches. Using pre/postassessments, we found that undergraduates' opinions shifted to favor the use of GM organisms (GMOs) in agriculture after SLP participation, rising from 46 to 97%. Perceptions about risks and benefits of GMOs also shifted from 43% stating that GMOs are harmful or suspect to no students describing GMOs in that way. Knowledge about GMOs became more accurate after SLP participation. There were significant correlations between students who had negative perceptions of GMOs and negative opinions or inaccurate knowledge about them. Students recognized the effect of peer teaching on their knowledge and perceptions, identifying the repeated peer teaching as an important factor in knowledge gain. Our results suggest students developed an informed opinion about the use of GMOs through first learning the science of genetic engineering and then teaching this information to younger students.
我们分析了同伴教学对非理科专业本科生关于转基因（GM）作物及其在农业中应用的知识、看法和意见的影响。参加入门生物学非专业课程的本科生参与了服务学习计划（SLP），他们作为跨龄同伴教师向高中生教授传统育种和 GM 方法在作物改良中的作用。通过使用预/后评估，我们发现本科生在 SLP 参与后对农业中使用 GM 生物（GMOs）的看法发生了转变，从 46%上升到 97%。对 GMOs 的风险和收益的看法也从 43%的人表示 GMOs 有害或可疑转变为没有学生以这种方式描述 GMOs。参与 SLP 后，学生对 GMOs 的了解变得更加准确。对 GMOs 有负面看法的学生与对 GMOs 有负面意见或不准确了解的学生之间存在显著相关性。学生认识到同伴教学对他们的知识和看法的影响，认为反复进行同伴教学是知识获取的重要因素。我们的结果表明，学生通过首先学习基因工程科学，然后向年轻学生传授这些信息，对 GMOs 的使用形成了明智的看法。
