Few could argue that biotechnology has played an important role in addressing the human condition and will continue to do so far into the foreseeable future. Within the educational community certain disciplines such as technology education, science education, and agriculture education have all recognized the significance and need for promoting biotechnology literacy at the secondary school level. The primary goal of this study was to investigate current research trends in biotechnology education and to better understand the issues regarding its implementation in the technology education classroom. The study began by establishing the rationale for inclusion of biotechnology in technology education based on the accepted operational definition. The inclusion of biotechnology is then further investigated through a review of relevant research literature viewed from the historical context of technology education curriculum development. From that context, the results from a meta-analysis of 28 prior studies are presented as a means of documenting research trends and issues relevant to the inclusion of biotechnology in technology education, and to provide insight into the current lack of classroom implementation.
Findings from this study show that biotechnology content has been included as a content area in the technology education curriculum since 1991, and that inclusion of this same content area has similarly occurred in both science and agriculture education. Meta-analysis results revealed that prior studies on biotechnology education in technology education focused primarily on teachers using quantitative data analysis, and that there were parsimonious studies regarding student learning using qualitative or mixed methods research. In the final analysis the most significant finding points to the dire need for professional development of technology education teachers to become competent in the content of biotechnology and its associated instructional practices, and to be adequately supported by an administrative and facilities infrastructure. Results from this study provides usefulinsight into the process of biotechnology inclusion in technology education, and offers direction for further research investigating the instructional practices associated with the teaching of biotechnology in the technology education classroom.