Implementation Processes: Sustainable Integration of Biotechnology Experiments into Schools

Abstract

AbstractProfessional development (PD) enables teachers to keep abreast of new technologies and innovations. Biotechnology is a fast-expanding field with well-established basics, which relies on technological equipment that is mainly absent from schools (e.g. for polymerase chain reaction). An evaluated PD addresses that issue by qualifying teachers to borrow the equipment needed, while allowing them to design its implementation. This study targets those implementation processes. We investigated teachers’ strategies to implement the biotechnology experiments into their lessons. We interviewed 20 teachers from different schools and analysed the transcripts following Mayring’s typecasting strategy. We determined three main implementation formats: regular lessons, block lessons and special events. Furthermore, a school that integrated the experiments into its curriculum was assessed more thoroughly. The biology teachers developed their implementation process over several years to fit their schools’ needs perfectly. This demonstrates that a one-time PD has the potential to initiate school curriculum development under certain conditions.