Encouraging Science Communication through Deliberative Pedagogy: A Study of a Gene Editing Deliberation in a Nonmajors Biology Course

Deliberative pedagogy encourages productive science communication and learning through engagement and discussion of socio-scientific issues (SSI). This article examines a two-day deliberation module on gene editing that took place in an introductory nonmajors biology course, furthering research on i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sara A. Mehltretter Drury, Anne Gibson Bost, Laura M. Wysocki, Amanda L. Ingram
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Society for Microbiology 2018-03-01
Series:Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
Online Access:https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v19i1.1494
Description
Summary:Deliberative pedagogy encourages productive science communication and learning through engagement and discussion of socio-scientific issues (SSI). This article examines a two-day deliberation module on gene editing that took place in an introductory nonmajors biology course, furthering research on integrating deliberative discussion into the biology classroom. The results demonstrate the benefits of a single, episodic deliberation in the classroom, which can positively encourage active discussion and critical awareness of connections between biology and real-world issues, thus contributing to the development of scientific citizenship. Additionally, the findings show that gene editing is an apt SSI topic for the deliberative process because it encourages productive communication practices of scientific citizenship, including discussion, perspective taking, questioning, and consideration of different types of evidence when coming to a decision.
ISSN:1935-7877
1935-7885