Slovakian Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes toward Biotechnology

TLDR

The study examined university students' knowledge of and attitudes toward biotechnology in Slovakia. The authors surveyed 378 university students in Slovakia, a country where genetically engineered products are banned by law. Students showed a positive correlation between knowledge and attitudes, but biology majors had higher knowledge yet similar attitudes, females had poorer knowledge and lower acceptance, and overall knowledge was poor, indicating a need to revise the science curriculum. Keywords: Biotechnology education, attitudes, Slovakia, university; acknowledgements to Professor David Treagust and reviewers.

Abstract

Abstract This study examined university students' knowledge of and attitudes (n = 378) toward biotechnology in Slovakia, a conservative country where the distribution of genetically engineered products are banned by law. We found a significant positive correlation between attitudes and the level of knowledge; however, although students enrolled in biology courses have better knowledge of biotechnology, their attitudes toward genetic engineering were similar than those of students who do not study biology. Females showed poorer knowledge and lower acceptance of genetically engineered products than did males. Overall, Slovakian students have poor knowledge and numerous misunderstandings about what genetic engineering means, which suggests that science curriculum with respect to this topic should be greatly re‐evaluated and teaching strategies should be improved accordingly. Keywords: Biotechnology educationAttitudesSlovakiaUniversity Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Professor David Treagust and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on earlier draft of the manuscript.