“Post-truth” challenges and associated science education responses

Abstract

The goal of this study is to identify the challenges of “post-truth” that science education needs to address and to suggest how these can be met. Based on the literature, four types of challenges are identified: (1) people’s lack of knowledge and skills to assess the reliability of information and recognize misinformation, or common tactics used by conspiracy theorists, (2) lack of commitment to objective facts, (3) lack of a shared understanding of ways of helping people to decide which ways of knowing are more reliable than others, and (4) a lack of understanding that all science knowledge is socially constructed. As a response, respective knowledge and skills need to be taught to students in order to “vaccinate” them against wrong, or biased information before they begin to believe in it. More attention must be paid to the development of well-established science identities and virtues by students. Epistemic disagreements on which ways of knowing are reliable must be seen as educational opportunities for learning to undertake critical analysis. And finally, updated meaning and more importance need to be given to educational approaches demonstrating the interplay between science, technology and society in science classrooms. Based on these four highlights, six teaching-learning modules on controversial issues such as viruses, climate change, evolution, etc. are developed and tested in the Erasmus+ project EVIDENCE for students (age group 15-18