{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T17:53:38Z","timestamp":1792173218149,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1792108800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001659","name":"Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Project-ID 454648639 - SFB 1528"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project-ID 454648639 - SFB 1528"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001659","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Attitudes towards socioscientific issues (SSIs) represent crucial learning dispositions, as they can influence the students\u2019 willingness to engage with SSIs. Animal experimentation is a particularly contentious SSI, with attitudes ranging from rejection to acceptance. They are influenced by external factors (e.g., research context, test animal) and internal factors (e.g., knowledge, ethical aspects). Understanding these attitudes is essential for fostering reflective engagement with SSIs in higher education. This study (\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u2009503) examines self-reported attitudes of pre-service teacher biology students and non-pre-service teacher biology students towards three contexts: animal experimentation with nonhuman primates, animal experimentation with other test animals, and behavioural research with nonhuman primates. It also explores the internal factors underlying these attitudes. Students\u2019 attitudes differed across contexts: animal experimentation with nonhuman primates was viewed most critically, while behavioural research was perceived most favourably. Pre-service teacher students expressed more ambivalent and negative attitudes than non-pre-service teacher students. Regarding internal factors, a clear explanatory pattern emerged: \u201cpro\u201d attitudes were mainly explained by knowledge, \u201cambivalent\u201d attitudes by conditions (e.g., the necessity of the research), and \u201ccontra\u201d attitudes by ethical aspects. Pre-service teacher students consistently explained their attitudes with more references to knowledge than non-pre-service teacher students. These findings highlight the need for evidence-based integration of learning dispositions into science (teacher) higher education that explicitly addresses the SSI animal experimentation.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0358949","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T17:28:57Z","timestamp":1792171737000},"page":"e0358949","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Learning dispositions as a lens for teaching socioscientific issues: Attitudes of university biology students towards animal experimentation"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4868-2226","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jacqueline","family":"Dischereit","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Biology Education, Georg-August-Universit\u00e4t G\u00f6ttingen","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5745-7827","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Susanne","family":"B\u00f6geholz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biology Education, Georg-August-Universit\u00e4t G\u00f6ttingen","place":["G\u00f6ttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358949.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/14792779943000116","article-title":"Attitudes and the attitude-behavior relation: Reasoned and automatic processes","volume":"11","author":"I Ajzen","year":"2000","journal-title":"Eur Rev Soc Psychol"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref002","first-page":"121","article-title":"Einstellungen von Sch\u00fclern bei den \u00dcberg\u00e4ngen zwischen Sachunterricht und Nawiunterricht im Land Berlin","volume":"6","author":"A Pleus","year":"2007","journal-title":"Erkenntnisweg Biologiedidaktik"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-122216-011911","article-title":"Attitudes and attitude change","volume":"69","author":"D Albarracin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Annu Rev Psychol"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358949.ref004","first-page":"158","article-title":"Primary teachers\u2019 attitudes toward science: A new theoretical framework","volume":"96","author":"SI van Aalderen\u2010Smeets","year":"2011","journal-title":"Sci Educ"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0358949.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1016\/0749-5978(91)90020-T","article-title":"The theory of planned behavior","volume":"50","author":"I Ajzen","year":"1991","journal-title":"Organ Behav Hum Decis Process"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0358949.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1049","DOI":"10.1080\/0950069032000032199","article-title":"Attitudes towards science: A review of the literature and its implications","volume":"25","author":"J Osborne","year":"2003","journal-title":"Int J Sci Educ"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0358949.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"871","DOI":"10.1080\/09500690600909091","article-title":"Developing attitudes towards science measures","volume":"29","author":"P Kind","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int J Sci Educ"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0358949.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"513","DOI":"10.1002\/tea.20009","article-title":"Informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues: A critical review of research","volume":"41","author":"TD Sadler","year":"2004","journal-title":"J Res Sci Teach"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0358949.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"350","DOI":"10.1080\/1046560X.2020.1826079","article-title":"Elementary preservice teachers\u2019 challenges in designing and implementing socioscientific issues-based lessons","volume":"32","author":"M Kinskey","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Sci Teacher Educ"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-007-1159-4","volume-title":"Socio-scientific issues in the classroom: Teaching, learning and research","author":"TD Sadler","year":"2011"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0358949.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.21-12-0338","article-title":"A vision for university biology education for non-science majors","volume":"21","author":"C Gormally","year":"2022","journal-title":"CBE Life Sci Educ"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-6091-900-8_2","article-title":"The model of educational reconstruction \u2013 a framework for improving teaching and learning science","author":"R Duit","year":"2012","journal-title":"Science education research and practice in Europe. Rotterdam: SensePublishers"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref013","first-page":"511","article-title":"The model of educational reconstruction: A framework for the design of theory-based content specific interventions. The example of climate change.","volume-title":"Educational design research \u2013 Part B: Illustrative cases","author":"K Niebert","year":"2013"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0358949.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6715","DOI":"10.1007\/s10639-022-10906-y","article-title":"A comparison of recursive and nonrecursive models of attitude towards problem-based learning, disposition to critical thinking, and creative thinking in an computer literacy course for preservice teachers","volume":"27","author":"S Toker","year":"2022","journal-title":"Educ Inf Technol"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0358949.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0233204","article-title":"Attitudes toward animals, and how species and purpose affect animal research justifiability, among undergraduate students and faculty","volume":"15","author":"EP Sandgren","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0358949.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2065","DOI":"10.1080\/09500693.2021.1950944","article-title":"\u2018I wouldn\u2019t want to be the animal in use nor the patient in need\u2019 \u2013 the role of issue familiarity in students\u2019 socioscientific argumentation","volume":"43","author":"C Garrecht","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Sci Educ"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0358949.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"391","DOI":"10.3390\/ani4030391","article-title":"Public attitudes toward animal research: A review","volume":"4","author":"EH Ormandy","year":"2014","journal-title":"Animals (Basel)"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0358949.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1207\/s15327019eb1602_3","article-title":"The foundations of attitudes about animal research","volume":"16","author":"DA Saucier","year":"2006","journal-title":"Ethics & Behav"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0358949.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1177\/0963662513490466","article-title":"Understanding attitudes towards the use of animals in research using an online public engagement tool","volume":"24","author":"CA Schuppli","year":"2015","journal-title":"Public Underst Sci"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref020","volume-title":"Public attitudes to animal research in 2016","author":"M Clemence","year":"2016"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0358949.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"463","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-4560.2009.01609.x","article-title":"Science versus human welfare? 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Cham: Springer"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0358949.ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1325","DOI":"10.1007\/s11165-019-09910-z","article-title":"Exploring australian preservice primary teachers\u2019 attitudes toward teaching science using the dimensions of attitude toward science (DAS)","volume":"51","author":"CV McDonald","year":"2019","journal-title":"Res Sci Educ"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0358949.ref041","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1007\/s13412-015-0352-7","article-title":"Model-based reasoning to foster environmental and socio-scientific literacy in higher education","volume":"6","author":"AE Sorensen","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Environ Stud Sci"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358949.ref042","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.1177\/0004944116629807","article-title":"Pre-service science teachers\u2019 self-efficacy: The role of attitude, anxiety and locus of control","volume":"60","author":"B Senler","year":"2016","journal-title":"Aust J Educ"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358949.ref043","first-page":"40","article-title":"Student attitudes towards biology in an introductory biology course at a two-year, open access college","volume":"4","author":"A Beumer","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Res Pract Coll Teach"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0358949.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1187\/cbe.09-05-0029","article-title":"Comparison of views of the nature of science between natural science and nonscience majors","volume":"9","author":"MCD Miller","year":"2010","journal-title":"CBE Life Sci Educ"},{"key":"pone.0358949.ref045","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.64136\/wrrf8371","article-title":"Nachhaltigkeit in fachdidaktisch-bildungswissenschaftlichen Projekten f\u00fcr \u00d6ffentlichkeitsarbeit in Sonderforschungsbereichen: Fokus Evaluation.","author":"S B\u00f6geholz","year":"2025","journal-title":"Praktiken der Wissenschaftskommunikation in Forschungsverbunden \u2013 Formate, \u00d6ffentlichkeit, Nachhaltigkeit. 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