Assessing the Need for Improvement of Plant Biotechnology Curriculum in Texas.

Our research has found that there is a tremendous gap between enrollments of students in agricultural biotechnology in comparison to other AFNR courses in Texas. This demonstrates that essential knowledge, skills and concepts for plant biotechnology are not reaching enough students across Texas. Even though the trend of students enrolling in agricultural science courses is increasing, the overall trend of students enrolling in biotechnology courses is decreasing. This is alarming trend should concern scientists in the fields of agronomy and biotechnology for the reason that education is a key element for the acceptance of a new technology. Further research includes: surveying students and teachers on their perceptions of biotechnology, making recommendations for the improvment of biotechnology curriculum, and testing the effectiveness of said curriculum.