Determining GMO awareness among students of agricultural engineering in Turkiye

Abstract

Courses on GMOs in Agricultural Faculties are included in the curriculum of the departments under different names. It was aimed to determine the knowledge level of 273 agricultural engineering students from Faculty of Agriculture studying at Kırsehir Ahi Evran University, Turkiye in this study. The questionnaire consisted of a test on Personal Information Scale to measure their knowledge about GMO Foods. The data obtained showed that the students in the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology had the highest level of awareness about GMOs and GMO based foods. It was concluded that awareness and knowledge of the students was related to their subject of the study, grade and gender. It was understood that male students had a higher GMO awareness compared to the female students. The results of the study revealed that it was appropriate and necessary to include more detailed courses about GMOs in the curricula of the departments in faculties of agriculture. The findings obtained from this study can be used as a source to prepare or rearrange curricula of the departments in agricultural faculties.