Closing the Gap: Inverting the Genetics Curriculum to Ensure an Informed Public

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, the focus of national efforts to improve K-12 science education has ranged from curriculum and professional development of teachers to the adoption of science standards and high-stakes testing. In spite of this work, students in the United States continue to lag behind their peers in other countries. This underperformance is true for genetics, as well as for science and math in general, and is particularly worrisome given the accelerating need for scientists and engineers in our increasingly technology-driven economy. A scientifically literate public is essential if citizens are to engage effectively with policymakers on issues of scientific importance. Perhaps nowhere is this conjunction more personally meaningful than in human genetics and medicine. Rapid changes in our field have the potential to revolutionize healthcare, but the public is ill prepared to participate in this transformation. One potential solution is to modernize the genetics curriculum so that it matches the science of the 21(st) century. This paper highlights changes in human genetics that support a curricular reorganization, outlines the problems with current genetics instruction, and proposes a new genetics curriculum.

The Critical Challenge of Educating the Public About Genetics

“…This may leave the public susceptible to information of questionable merit. Alternative approaches to the genetics curriculum have been proposed to help rectify some of these deficiencies, but research is needed to determine the efficacy of those approaches [31,32].…”

Genetic Determinism in the Genetics Curriculum

“…Other routes to the same destination run through the small but scorching critical literatures on the defects of 'dominance' talk (Allchin 2000(Allchin , 2002(Allchin , 2005Falk 2001), 'gene for' talk (Kitcher 1995, ch. 11;Burian and Kampourakis 2013;Kampourakis 2017) and overreliance on monogenic traits in genetics teaching (Dougherty 2009;Lewis 2011). There is even a growing international body of work exploring the links between persistent genetic determinism and persistently Mendelian ways of teaching, talking and thinking about genetics (see, e.g.…”

Improved student linkage of mendelian and molecular genetic concepts through a yeast‐based laboratory module

“…With this approach, students approach their study of basic inheritance armed with the knowledge of the molecular processes that make it possible. This knowledge, in turn, facilitates the study of how different genes functionally interact to produce the complex phenotypes that underlie the vast majority of traits [1,5]. Such knowledge provides all students with the ability to competently engage in debate and make critical decisions on medical and political issues that may powerfully affect their lives.…”

“…Science's more complete understanding of genetics comes with challenges for science education: How can a teacher adequately teach the principles of Mendelian genetics while at the same time linking those principles to the molecular phenomena that make them possible? To meet the pedagogical challenge of providing a complete picture of genetics for students of all educational interests and backgrounds, it is critical to establish an inquiry-based way by which students can come to appreciate both the basic Mendelian principles of genetics and the ways that molecular biology has better informed these principles.Traditional Mendelian techniques for the teaching of genetics provide a strong logical foundation for the exploration of inheritance but do not address the complexities that underlie the majority of genotype/phenotype interactions [1]. In middle and high school, students traditionally begin their studies of inheritance with Mendel's pea plants and the use of Punnett squares.…”

“…Traditional Mendelian techniques for the teaching of genetics provide a strong logical foundation for the exploration of inheritance but do not address the complexities that underlie the majority of genotype/phenotype interactions [1]. In middle and high school, students traditionally begin their studies of inheritance with Mendel's pea plants and the use of Punnett squares.…”