Genetically modified food in perspective: an inquiry‐based curriculum to help middle school students make sense of tradeoffs

Abstract

To understand how students learn about science controversy, this study examines students' reasoning about tradeoffs in the context of a technology‐enhanced curriculum about genetically modified food. The curriculum was designed and refined based on the Scaffolded Knowledge Integration Framework to help students sort and integrate their initial ideas and those presented in the curriculum. Pre‐test and post‐test scores from 190 students show that students made significant (p < 0.0001) gains in their understanding of the genetically modified food controversy. Analyses of students' final papers, in which they took and defended a position on what type of agricultural practice should be used in their geographical region, showed that students were able to provide evidence both for and against their positions, but were less explicit about how they weighed these tradeoffs. These results provide important insights into students' thinking and have implications for curricular design.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers 9873180 and 9805420. The data and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation. Special thanks to Professor Andrea diSessa, Stephanie Sisk‐Hilton, Michelle Williams and Timothy Zimmerman for their feedback on drafts of this manuscript.

Notes

In reality, nearly all of the food we eat is ‘genetically modified’ by cross‐breeding. However, in this paper, as is general practice in the media, the term genetically modified is used more restrictively to describe food derived from plants altered using biotechnological techniques to directly manipulate genes or gene expression.

A number of food crops in the US are now genetically modified, including well over one‐half of the nation's soybean crop and about one‐third of the corn (Kaeppler 2000). Other modified foods include potatoes, canola, papaya, and squash (Wall Street Journal, Tuesday 12 October 1999). This genetically modified food, especially soybeans and corn, is found in a wide array of processed foods; for example, soy and corn oils, soy flour, and corn starch are added to cakes, crackers, candies, and so on.

For a list of chemicals approved for use on organic crops, see http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NationalList/FinalRule.html.