cognitive biases

Submitted by Carolyn Caffrey on June 9th, 2021
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Short Description: 

A toolkit with various instructional materials to teach media and news literacy. Includes an online activity "Fairness and Blanace" where students watch a short video on journalistic standards and answer discussion questions. Then, students can take one or both interactive tutorials on "Lateral Reading" with a focus on fact-checking and/or "Evaluating Information" based on an information need. Also includes a video on the "Anatomy of a News Website" with reflective questions and in-class assignment ideas for librarians or instructors.

Created by Tessa Withorn, Carolyn Caffrey Gardner, Aric Haas, and Amalia Casteneda.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Teaching_Media___News_Literacy_at_CSUDH.pdfdisplayed 1381 times195.79 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Identify characteristics of news sources (genre, balance, fairness, sources, etc.) in order to effectively interpret news information.
  • Evaluate evidence presented in news sources for verification, independence and accountability.
  • Identify capabilities and constraints of news and emerging media information sources.
  • Recognize the role cognitive bias plays in interpreting and evaluating information in news and emerging media sources.
  • Describe skepticism of news sources as a healthy part of the journalism ecosystem.

Individual or Group:

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Caffrey, Carolyn . "Media & News Literacy Toolkit." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2021. https://projectcora.org/assignment/media-news-literacy-toolkit.
Submitted by Kirsten Hansen on November 20th, 2018
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Short Description: 

In this assignment, students are given a range of newspaper article about science topics and work in pairs to find the original research article that the newspaper article is based on in the library databases. Students then assess when they might use an original research article vs when they might use a well-written newspaper article.

After the activity, the librarian gave short lecture about online fact checking based on Mike Caulfield's excellent fast and frugal fact checking strategies. If time allows, students can do some of the activities that Caulfield lists in his textbook.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Powerpoint presentation to accompany the assignmentdisplayed 1320 times93.52 KB
Outline of the assignmentdisplayed 1032 times17.73 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Frames: Authority is constructed and contextual/Information creation as a process
Students will be able to:
• recognize that information may be perceived differently based on the format in which it is packaged
• Assess the fit between a source’s creation process and the particular information need
• Assess the fit between a source’s argument, methodology, and authority and the particular information need
• Use research tools and indicators of authority to determine the credibility of sources, understanding the elements that might temper this credibility

I will know students have achieved the learning outcomes:
Students wil be able to move “backwards” from popular science articles (i.e. NPR, NYT, Scientific American and the like) to the original research articles on which the articles are based. Students will then articulate strengths/weaknesses of the types of articles and when they might use them.

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

The genesis of this activity was a class about why people do or do not believe scientific conclusions. Mechanically, it can be used to help students practice moving from information “in the wild” as reported by the media to the original research articles. Conceptually, it can be used to help students evaluate how well or poorly scholarly research is reported by the press and to understand that different formats are useful at different times, and that different types of authority (reporter vs researchers) are constructed and contextual.)

This activity could be used in any class where students need to learn how to find the original scholarly articles that give birth to newspaper or other media articles.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

If you are not very familiar with a subject area, it may be challenging to find appropriate articles for this assignment. In my case, the professor found the articles we used and it worked out well.

Suggested Citation: 
Hansen, Kirsten. "From newspaper article to research article: backtracking to find original research." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/newspaper-article-research-article-backtracking-find-original-research.
Submitted by Kim Pittman on April 4th, 2017
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Short Description: 

In this workshop, students learn about the driving forces behind fake news, reflect on how our opinions impact the way we evaluate information, and discuss and practice using criteria for evaluating news. The workshop includes a brief presentation on fake news and cognitive biases, reflection prompts for students to respond to, and an activity in which students work in groups to evaluate different news articles on a common topic.

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to evaluate sources based on information need and the context in which the information will be used. Students will be able to recognize cognitive biases in order to reflect on how those biases influence their thinking about source credibility.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

We offered this as a standalone workshop, and invited instructors in our writing program to offer extra credit to students who attended. We’ve also adapted the workshop for public library and community settings. The workshop generally takes about an hour and could easily be used in one-shot library instruction.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

The closing activity works best with a topic that students find relatable and interesting, but one that they may not already have especially strong opinions about. We’ve used the topic of affordable housing in our region. We choose articles that represent a variety of news source types (in-depth articles, editorials, short blog posts or overview articles) that illustrate different viewpoints and levels of depth and analysis. If working with a smaller group or a longer time period, we recommend assigning each group two articles in order to allow them to compare the two.

If offering this workshop as a standalone workshop (rather than course-integrated), we recommend including an opportunity for students to introduce themselves to each other in the opening think/pair/share. After they’ve had a chance to talk to each other, ask each pair to share their response to one of the reflection questions with the larger group. This serves as an icebreaker and increases student participation throughout the workshop.

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Pittman, Kim. "What's Happening? Evaluating News in a Time of Information Overload." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/whats-happening-evaluating-news-time-information-overload.