Jamieson, A and Radick, G (2017) Genetic Determinism in the Genetics Curriculum: An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Mendelian and Weldonian Emphases. Science and Education, 26 (10). pp. 1261-1290. ISSN 0926-7220
Abstract
Twenty-first century biology rejects genetic determinism, yet an exaggerated view of the power of genes in the making of bodies and minds remains a problem. What accounts for such tenacity? This article reports an exploratory study suggesting that the common reliance on Mendelian examples and concepts at the start of teaching in basic genetics is an eliminable source of determinism. Undergraduate students who attended a standard “Mendelian approach” university course in introductory genetics on average showed no change in their determinist views about genes. By contrast, students who attended an alternative course which, inspired by the work of a critic of early Mendelism, W. F. R. Weldon (1860-1906), replaced an emphasis on Mendel’s peas with an emphasis on developmental contexts and their role in bringing about phenotypic variability, were less determinist about genes by the end of teaching. Improvements in both the new Weldonian curriculum and the study design are in view for the future.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Genetic determinism; Genetics teaching; Mendel; Weldon; Dominance |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number John Templeton Foundation (US) TWCF 0025/UAB 012 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 16 May 2017 09:17 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:29 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s11191-017-9900-8 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116533 |