Making Sense of Genetic Complexity: A Representative Case Study of a Middle Grades Science Teacher’s Sensemaking in the Co-Design Process

Technological advances in the study of the human genome have led to increased understanding of the complexity of genetic variation and the role of genes and the environment in shaping human phenotypes. Accurate interpretation of modern genetic data will require increased support for science teachers to update their curriculum to teach more complex genetics. In this paper, we analyze the co-design process of one middle school science teacher working with museum educators to develop professional learning activities for science teachers to update their curriculum to include more complex genetics. This representative case study describes the science teacher’s organizational sensemaking as she engaged in the co-design process with limited understanding of genetic complexity. We identified the sources of pedagogical and conceptual ambiguity the teacher surfaced and the available resources she leveraged to work through that ambiguity. Sources of ambiguity included a lack of empirically based examples of complex traits to hook students’ interest, word choice in the activity, order of activities to support conceptual development, and relationship between genes and the environment in determining phenotype. The teacher leveraged her understanding of how children learn science, the social network of the museum educators, and observations of other teachers engaged in the activity to develop and iterate on her activity design. These findings suggest that co-design teams should surface both pedagogical and conceptual ambiguity related to the teaching of new science content throughout the design process and include opportunities for sensemaking with scientists and other science teachers.