Preparing for the New Genetics: Education of Professionals

The objective of this project is to determine what key professionals need to know about the ethical, legal, and social ramifications of the genome project and how these needs can best be met. Working with four professional groups -- appellate judges, journalists, human resources executives, and high school biology teachers -- an educational program will be developed that will be broad enough to satisfy the common needs of the four professional groups, yet tailored to meet the specific demands of their differing professions. The project team will develop an educational program that goes beyond prior projects by asking the participants to co-evaluate -- through their own assessments of their needs and through their questions and critiques -- educational materials as well as the pedagogical methods themselves. This project will create and distribute educational products, including; an integrated text, designed for use among these and other professions and the general public; a casebook, incorporating cases developed for and refined during the course with commentaries from different professional perspectives; and a teaching manual drawn from participant narratives and evaluations of the project with appropriate recommendations for each professional group.