Teaching authentic cutting-edge science to high school students: An analysis of the educational program ‘DNA and Life’ using two didactic theories.

Specialeforsvar ved Leonora Simony, Institut for Naturfagenes Didaktik.

The present study investigates the educational programme ‘DNA & Life’ at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, where practical work using eDNA and qPCR in a laboratory is a central component. Through an analysis of this programme including observations and interviews with various stakeholders and users (teachers and students), this thesis maps these processes using the theoretical framework of didactic transposition. It discusses how biological practices can be developed into a teaching platform, and which actors are at stake when such educational programmes are conducted in a museum context. Finally, the study considers how to optimize educational programs when it comes to biological laboratory work. Further, this thesis contributes to the discussion of how teachers, educators, stakeholders etc. may benefit from considering the process involved in changing scientific knowledge into teachable laboratory exercises.