Education for a “Post-Truth” World: New Directions for Research and Practice

Abstract

In the so-called “post-truth” world, there exists widespread confusion and disagreement over what is known, how to know, and who to trust. Current education has largely failed to meet the challenges of this world. Grounded in a new analysis of the goals of epistemic education, we argue for new directions in instruction. Our analysis specifies three components of epistemic cognition that education should address: epistemic aims, ideals, and reliable processes. Apt epistemic performance of these components has five interwoven aspects: cognitive engagement in epistemic performance, adapting performance to diverse contexts, metacognitive regulation and understanding of performance, caring and enjoyment, and participation in performance with others. Using this framework, we show how three emblematic “post-truth” problems stem from specific breakdowns in these five aspects. We then use this analysis to argue for new directions in curriculum, instruction, and research that are needed to promote successful epistemic performance in the “post-truth” landscape.

High School Students’ Epistemic Cognition and Argumentation Practices during Small-Group Quality Talk Discussions in Science

“…As stressed in prior research, the kind of classroom intervention found to be effective for promoting epistemic cognition often involves teachers' creating and supporting an open space where small groups of students can co-construct and challenge arguments about domain-specific problems [2,51]. Further, within the context of an open participation space, the type of task assigned to students may also influence their performance.…”

“…Using the definition of apt epistemic performance, a process of elimination could have resulted in success (i.e., choosing the correct model), but it would not have necessarily been apt (i.e., choosing the correct model by providing reasons and evidence to support all aspects of the model). Therefore, to promote students' apt epistemic performance via scientific discourse [2], it is necessary to consider the model format for discussion and encourage students to negotiate ideas about scientific phenomena using normative practices in science.…”

“…Science is an iterative, social process and the transmission of scientific facts from teacher to student does not do justice to the realities of science practices. Indeed, in the contemporary digital world where abundant unvetted information is easily created and spread [2], it is essential for students to develop reasoning skills and critically evaluate this information. Whether or not students choose to pursue a career in science, they must be armed with the ability to reason, problem-solve, as well as evaluate and justify arguments as they encounter scientific information in their daily lives.…”

Good schools for a troubled democracy

“…Not surprisingly, it’s challenging to adapt instruction to these new realities. In writing about teaching students to evaluate information in a “post-truth” world, Clark Chinn, Sarit Barzilai, and Ravit Golan Duncan (2020) argue for putting students in authentic learning environments in which they must navigate real-world complexity and ambiguity. They worry about the tendency to teach these skills in carefully scripted settings in which educators have more control but the opportunity for learning is modest.…”

Cognición epistémica y comprensión de múltiples documentos: Descripción de las representaciones de estudiantes de nivel secundario desde un modelo multidimensional

“…Sin embargo, también existen dificultades relacionadas con la baja calidad que tienen muchos documentos o lo contradictorios que pueden resultar entre sí (Greene & Yu, 2016). Adicionalmente, en nuestro tiempo se ha expandido el fenómeno de la 'posverdad', término que se utiliza para denotar un clima epistémico donde enunciados falsos aparecen en varios medios de comunicación y han conducido a las personas a dudar de las fuentes tradicionales de conocimiento (Chinn et al, 2020).…”