EDITORIAL

Abstract

As COVID-19 is still ravaging across the world we have to once again offer ACSME online. In 2020 we collectively demonstrated that we can maintain high levels of engagement in an online platform and I am positive we will achieve this again. It is time again to get together to showcase what has been happening around the country regarding science teaching and learning and to hold discussions about how we can best capitalise on what we learned during the recent disruption. These proceedings document the keynotes, panel discussions, oral presentations, posters and workshops presented at ACSME 2021. They revolve around the theme of Sustainable transformation of science education. The pandemic offered us the unique opportunity to carefully think about what a science education could look like today in order to equip graduates for the ever-changing world. By necessity, faculties of science have engaged in large-scale experimentation with online delivery, in the process discovering what works well and what doesn’t. As we emerge from this highly disruptive experience, how do we reshape science education in a way that it is sustainable and meaningful for a complex world facing numerous challenges? ACSME conferences bring together science and mathematics educators from around the country and beyond, to share good practice and discuss the latest developments relevant to the teaching and learning of the various science disciplines. It is a strong community of university teachers, educational researchers, tutors and students who come together to share the joy, successes, disappointments and challenges of science teaching at university level. The high participation at this conference at this time of crisis is testament to the strength and resilience of this community and bodes well for the health of science education in this country. I give my heartfelt thanks to the committee for the energy they put towards making this conference happen despite the stress they are under in present circumstances when they have to pivot their teaching in and out of successive lockdowns. Thank you to Elizabeth Angstmann, Erica Smith, Elizabeth Yuriev and Reyne Pullen for the time and the ideas they put towards shaping the academic program, reviewing contributions from participants, and running the conference. I am grateful also to Angela Ziebell for taking care of the social side of this event, to Ana Lopes for managing the reviewing process and the production of the proceedings, and to Glenda Key for providing us all with highly professional executive support. I hope you find this conference enjoyable and stimulating and that you take home new ideas to implement in your own context. I hope also that we will be able to meet in person in Perth a year from now. Professor Cristina Varsavsky Conference Chair The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education