Editorial: Asia-Pacific Science Education (APSE): Challenged to Lead in Uncertain Times

Abstract

This editorial was originally only intended to be an announcement of new changes for the journal and an invitation for readers to continue to read and share their work with us in the coming years. However, the emergence of a global pandemic has revealed the critical need for scholars to have a dedicated space for publishing research that describes how the pandemic has had an impact on science teaching and learning in the Asia-Pacific region. Now, more than ever, we need journals like Asia-Pacific Science Education ( APSE ) that can amplify the voices of researchers from countries not traditionally included in mainstream science education journals. Herein, I briefly re-introduce APSE to our readers and then provide an analysis of publication trends in four top science education journals to show why publishing outlets like APSE are so important. I conclude this editorial with an introduction to nine articles published in this first issue, which includes a special set of six papers focused on earth science, climate change education, and environmental education and three additional papers addressing different issues in science education in Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia. findings from a study exploring types and intensities of students’ emotions related to participation in school-based SSI club projects related to climate change. This study describes how students explored local problems related to climate change and what they did to plan and participate in social actions. Using the control-value theory, these researchers analyzed how students’ emotions changed when planning and participating in social action and considered which emotions were important for compelling students to act.