ASSESSMENT OF PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF AND ATTITUDES REGARDING BIOTECHNOLOGY: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON

This study examines the level of knowledge of and attitudes toward biotechnology of preservice teachers from Lebanon, Lithuania, Slovakia and Turkey. Data were gathered from a total of 768 preservice teachers from these four countries. The Biotechnology Knowledge Questionnaire and the Biotechnology Attitude Questionnaire were used for data collection. Three-way MANOVA was conducted to analyze the cross-cultural data. The results revealed that preservice teachers' knowledge of biotechnology in all four samples was below average. The results also demonstrated that there were significant differences in attitude towards biotechnology among preservice teachers in the four countries. In addition, significant gender differences were observed between male and females. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.