Secondary school students’ misconceptions in genetics: obstacles to learning and to address complexity

‘Complex thinking’ has become an essential skill for understanding current societal issues. Complexity, inherent in the living world, is part of our daily lives. Genetics, a complex discipline, occupies an increasing place in our society, notably through free access to online genetic tests. Our research questions the ability of students, at the end of their school journey, across all tracks, to grasp genetics in all its complexity. Is this discipline approached in such a way as to anchor fundamental knowledge essential to awaken the learner to a reality full of unexpected events and uncertainties? A first study examined the misconceptions conveyed by the education frames of reference, school curriculums, and textbooks used by Frenchspeaking Belgian teachers (the prescribed). This analysis highlighted that the prescribed reflects little, if at all, the complexity of genetics and reinforces misconceptions. Two surveys were then conducted in order to analyse the practices of science teachers in the third degree of secondary education in French-speaking Belgium (the taught) and the knowledge of students leaving secondary school (the learned). These surveys reveal that a rather reductionist and deterministic approach, poorly contextualised, insufficiently updated (didactic transposition delay), and little nuanced persists in the teaching of genetics.