Reflective questions about the constitution of science clubs to address fake news in the pandemic context

Abstract

The present work aims to understand the possibilities and limitations of pedagogical work on fake news in a science club in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. A teacher and three undergraduate students from the same school were interviewed, all of whom were part of a Science Club related to fake news. The interviews were semi-structured and carried out first with the teacher and later with the undergraduate students. The interviews were analyzed according to the discursive textual analysis framework and through them the following categories were constructed: i) fake news and its implications for the educational process, ii) training aspects of the Pedagogical Residency Program, and iii) (im)possibilities of developing the Science Club during the pandemic. All participants cited fake news as something done intentionally in order to manipulate the public. The analyzes highlight the relevance of scientific knowledge and its importance for combating fake news and problematize the lack of teaching working conditions for the development of scientific education processes in Science Clubs.