Theme: Science Education's Responses to the Post-Truth Era

The Oxford Dictionaries define “post-truth” as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. The first quarter of the 21st century has already demonstrated the challenges of navigating a post-truth era with examples such as the differing opinions and responses held by governments and citizens towards public health safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the prevalence of deep fakes on social media platforms enabled by the accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Given these challenges of the 21st century, what should be the role of science education in helping people navigate the post-truth era? ISEC 2024, through the theme of “Science Education’s Responses to the Post-Truth Era”, invites science education scholars to propose, deliberate and critique ways to achieve appropriate and relevant roles that science education should take within the next decade in the post-truth era, through the following strands.

ISEC 2024 Conference Strands

We invite presentations on the theme of Science Education’s Responses to the Post-truth Era in the form of an individual paper, a poster, or a symposium. Please submit your presentation to any of the following strands/topics in science education.  

Science Teacher Professional Development and Teacher Education 

Pre-service teacher education, in-service teacher education, professional development, teacher education reform, teacher education policies, reflective practice, lesson study, action research, transformative practices. 

Curriculum and Policy 

Curriculum reform, curriculum change, curriculum implementation/enactment, curriculum framework, educational policy, science and technology innovations and change, organisational leadership, local or global policy issues.  

Assessment and Evaluation 

Summative assessment, formative assessment, alternative assessments, assessment issues, TIMSS, PISA, curriculum evaluation, programme evaluation.    

New Media and Technologies  

Multimedia, science and technology, computers, data analytics, digital tools, online learning, simulation, augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence.     

Science in Informal Settings  

Out-of-classroom learning, informal learning, museums, science centres, student science research, outdoor setting, afterschool programmes, community outreach.   

Nature of Science (NOS), History, Philosophy and Sociology  

History, philosophy, sociology, equity, diversity, sociocultural, sociopolitical, multicultural, culture, bilingual, race/ethnic, gender studies.  

Science Teaching and Learning 

Pedagogies, pedagogical content, pedagogical content knowledge, conceptions, conceptual change, science and engineering practices, learning contexts, teacher-student interactions, cognition, instructional materials.