ACSME 2021 Special Issue – Editorial

Two years of lock-downs and uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone in the education sector to experiment with new ways of teaching and assessing online. This has led to the development of improved online pedagogies. Conversely, certain learning activities – those relying on student-student and student-instructor interactions – were shown to be less effective online compared to the face-to-face mode. Many in the higher education sector, both academics and students, have been left exhausted by the pace of change. There is a general acknowledgement within the sector that wellbeing of students and staff needs to be considered in teaching practice moving forwards. With the hope that the disruption from COVID-19 is now reducing, the theme of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (ACSME) 2021 was forward looking: “Sustainable transformation of science education”.