Developing the self-positioning Master students’ capacity through a collaborative learning on a scientific analysis of the glyphosate controversy
Résumé
The Master students shared their difficulty in developing their own opinion and debating the many
controversies faced by the agricultural sector. An educational module dedicated to the study of the use of
glyphosate in agriculture was created to deal with these difficulties. It was based on a pluri-disciplinary and
collaborative approach to acquire scientific knowledge and to debate. The students were asked to position
themselves on a set of affirmations, at the beginning and at the end of the module. Now that this module
has been used 4 times, the choices made will be discussed in regards to the achievement of the educational
objectives set. The scientific data collected at group level allowed each student to position themself more
easily on the various issues related to the controversy: the ability of positioning was 15% higher at the end
of the module. The ability of the students to self-position changed greatly during the module with a globally
strong agreement on environmental and health impacts of glyphosate. And there was a more balanced
positioning on socio-economical affirmations. In addition, by studying a targeted controversy, it was
possible to lead more general discussions on the link between science and society and to discuss desirable
outcomes and ways to implement agroecological transition.