Understanding Intersections Between GenAI and Pre-Service Teacher Education: What Do We Need to Understand About the Changing Face of Truth in Science Education?

This article highlights the challenges faced in educating pre-service science teachers in a post-truth era informed by the widespread presence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). It examines a significant challenge associated with integrating artificial intelligence into educational methods, where the consequences of GenAI’s tendency to generate hallucinations highlight tensions around the fundamental nature of truth in the field of Science Education. The paper argues that the conventional linear model of knowledge creation and dissemination is inadequate for addressing the complexities linked to evaluating and instructing science in an era marked by the prevalence of generated ‘facts’. By advocating for the educating of science teachers through the conceptual lens of technical agonism, the article presents a framework for the emerging skills that pre-service science teachers need to navigate advancements in GenAI. Importantly, it initiates a discussion on the evolving meanings of ‘objectivity’ and ‘evidence’ in Science Education within a post-truth age shaped by GenAI drawing on Manne’s Logic of Misogyny, laying the groundwork for addressing emerging inquiries into the understanding of ‘truth’ in Science Education influenced by GenAI.