fake news

Submitted by Lauren deLaubell on January 17th, 2025
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

The most powerful wizards have gathered to battle one another.  Only one will win.  Wizards must use reliable sources to research incantations for the battle, or their spells will fizzle.  Truly wise wizards must learn to tell the difference. 

Research Wizards is an information literacy card game designed to teach students ages 12+ about source evaluation.  Research Wizards corresponds to the Frame Authority Is Constructed and Contextual, from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  Players will discuss and challenge the relative value of various sources, each representing a different suit in the game.  The game includes four major actions/phases:  Parley, when players discuss and decide for themselves the relative value of each suit; Battle, which includes competition, player actions, and Challenges; Vengeance, for eliminated players to impact and speed up the remainder of the game; and Victory.

The Research Wizards website contains free game files, player directions, and printing tips for librarians and teachers who wish to use the game in their classrooms.  The website includes an editable, Microsoft Publisher version of the game.  Noncommercial use of the game is free for educational purposes with attribution to the author.  Librarians and teachers are encouraged to adapt the game as needed for their subject areas, student needs, and as the sources in the game evolve over time.  Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.

Players:  3-5 per deck

Play Time:  20-30 minutes, plus discussion

Research Wizards by Lauren deLaubell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0  To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Player directionsdisplayed 1593 times1.02 MB
Printing tipsdisplayed 1510 times26.71 KB
Card deckdisplayed 1557 times2.51 MB
Relevant links: 
Research Wizards
Learning Outcomes: 
    • Wizards will define a variety of traditional and emerging information formats.
    • Wizards will compare a variety of information formats and discuss their relative reliability.
    • Wizards will explore the variation in quality found within specific categories of information (e.g., the wildcard of using resources located by or generated with artificial intelligence).
Discipline: 
AnthropologyArchaeologyArtBiologyBusinessChemistryClassicsCommunication StudiesEconomicsEducationEnglishEnvironmental StudiesEthnic StudiesFilm and TVHealthHistoryInformation ManagementLiberal StudiesLibrary and Information ScienceMultidisciplinaryPhilosophyPolitical SciencePsychologyRhetoric, Composition, and WritingSocial WorkSociologyUrban StudiesWomen's Studies

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

It is recommended to review directions out loud with students, with pauses for students to sort their decks and conduct the Parley phase of play.  To contextualize and reinforce learning, it is recommended to conclude the game with discussion questions; sample questions are provided at the bottom of the player directions file but may be adjusted as needed.

Suggested Citation: 
deLaubell, Lauren. "Research Wizards." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2025. https://projectcora.org/assignment/research-wizards.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Ariel Dyer on November 18th, 2024
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

Play-based learning activity asking students to intentionally create "fake news" and engage with their emotional reactions in coming across information. 

Relevant links: 
Canvas Module in Commons
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Evaluate news using the SIFT rubric
  • Select relevant misinformation tools and apply to misleading information
  • Create misinformation in order to understand its proliferation
Discipline: 
Library and Information Science

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Recommendations for adaptation:

  • -Prior introduction to AI tools
  • -Stronger parameters for discussion post (set the scene)
Suggested Citation: 
Dyer, Ariel. "Faking Breaking News." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2024. https://projectcora.org/assignment/faking-breaking-news.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License

Teaching Resource

Four Moves: Adventures in Fact-Checking for Students

The Four Moves blog is maintained by Mike Caulfield, who has been helping teachers integrate digital citizenship skills into the classroom for over 10 years.

Submitted by Michelle Keba Knecht on December 10th, 2018
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

Did fake news affect the presidential election? Do websites purposely publish misleading stories? In this workshop, learn how to evaluate the trustworthiness of news stories while responsibly sharing reliable information.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Fake News Harmless or Disruptive Lesson Outline.pdfdisplayed 1638 times216.03 KB
Keba Fighting Fake News Presentation SEFLIN Conference 2018.pptxdisplayed 1123 times9.92 MB
Learning Outcomes: 

After completing the library instruction session, students will be able to:
• evaluate the trustworthiness of the information in news stories
• explain the ethical responsibility of readers to evaluate information sources

Discipline: 
Library and Information Science

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Keba Knecht, Michelle. "Fake News: Harmless or Disruptive?." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/fake-news-harmless-or-disruptive.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Jen Hasse on July 9th, 2018
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

A one-shot or seminar class on fake news tied to source evaluation. Examination of the factors at play in the creation of misinformation; insight into how to select sources; tools and strategies for evalutating content of stories, authors, and news outlets.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
evaluating information - fake news & craap + stereotypes + epic.pptxdisplayed 1764 times2.87 MB
Relevant links: 
Lesson Plan Libguide
Learning Outcomes: 

● Students will discuss and reflect on their own encounters/experiences with “fake news” and erroneous information ● Students will investigate and consider different theories or explanations for why people fall prey to “fake news” ● Students will identify motivations for the creation of misleading or inaccurate information ● Students will be introduced to tools for identifying and counteracting fake news and develop their own strategies for weeding out problematic sources and selecting credible sources

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

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

This course is typically taught as part of a one-credit information literacy first year seminar. Class is 50 minutes once per week.

Suggested Citation: 
Hasse, Jen . "Fake News: Fight Back ." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/fake-news-fight-back.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Jo Angela Oehrli on June 20th, 2018
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

What is “fake news” anyway? Are we living in a post-truth world? These University of Michigan course materials will provide opportunities to discuss and analyze news production, consumption and evaluation. Students will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to be an informed citizen; understand how their worldview affects their interpretation of the news; and create a personal strategy for fact-checking and evaluating the news. Topics include types of “fake news” such as misinformation and disinformation; economic and technological contexts of the news media; psychological and social factors of media consumption; and the impact of news on our society.

Relevant links: 
Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda Course Google Site
Learning Outcomes: 

After participating in this course, students will be able to:
1. Critically evaluate news sources in order to determine content credibility.
2. Develop and implement a strategy to make an informed opinion about current topics and issues in order to become a better informed citizen
3. Identify types of “fake news” including misinformation, disinformation, biased information, propaganda, and satire in order to determine the credibility of news content
4. Describe the news production process and information landscape in order to recognize the impact of the economic and technological context
5. Analyze the impact of psychological and social factors on media consumption in order to reflect on their own personal media consumption behaviors and practices
6. Discuss the individual and societal impacts of news literacy in order to understand its importance to public policy and democracy.

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

Suggested Citation: 
Oehrli, Jo Angela. "Fake News, Lies, and Propaganda: How to Sort Fact from Fiction." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/fake-news-lies-and-propaganda-how-sort-fact-fiction.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Andrea Brooks on June 20th, 2017
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

This resource and accompanying assignment focuses on evaluating news sources/claims and were used in an online information literacy class.

Relevant links: 
Overview & Additional ResourcesPrezi: Fact Checking ProLibWizard: Fact Checking Coffee Claims
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to critically evaluate information sources using a number of factors, including the creator’s authority and perspective, the intended audience, the accuracy of the content, the context of the information need, and one's own perspective in interpreting the information

Discipline: 
Communication StudiesLibrary and Information ScienceMultidisciplinaryRhetoric, Composition, and Writing

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

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

Setting: Online, 8-week information literacy course. This three-credit course is typically taught as a 16-week semester offering, but was altered for a summer 2017 session.

Context: As part of a larger module on evaluating information, students are presented with multiple resources/readings related to news sources, perspective of news sources, fake news/misinformation, and tips for evaluating claims. This particular assignment had students view a Prezi presentation titled Fact Checking Pro and then complete a LibWizard that presented multiple claims related to coffee/caffeine consumption. For each claim, students ranked the quality of the headline’s claim on a sclae of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), and provided an explanation for their choice. Students also had to describe the steps they took to fact check the claim.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

See provided links

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

It may be beneficial to provide more prompts in the LibWizard to gauge student fact-checking efforts. Some students were very detailed; others were not. Additionally, it would be interesting and maybe more interactive for the students if they could somehow see how their peers had rated the source. I’m not sure how to do this in the LibWizard, but there may be some other way to make this happen. In a face-to-face setting, this would be easier to accomplish

Suggested Citation: 
Brooks, Andrea. "Fact Checking Pro." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/fact-checking-pro-0.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License

Teaching Resource

Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers

The web is a unique terrain, substantially different from print materials. Yet, too often attempts at teaching information literacy for the web do not take into account both the web’s unique challenges and its unique affordances.

Submitted by Kim Pittman on April 4th, 2017
Share this on: 
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.

Relevant links: 
Workshop materials (slides, outline, and activity worksheet)
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.

Discipline: 
Communication StudiesLibrary and Information ScienceMultidisciplinaryRhetoric, Composition, and Writing

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

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: 
Kayleen Jones
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.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License
Submitted by Elisa Acosta on January 25th, 2017
Share this on: 
Short Description: 

In an effort to provide students with an open space to learn about and discuss recent national concerns over “fake news,” the library offered four sessions of the workshop “Keepin’ It Real: Tips & Strategies for Evaluating Fake News” during a campus-wide Inauguration Teach-In on Friday, January 20, 2017. During this session, students had the opportunity to talk about how misleading news sources (encompassing misinformation, disinformation, click-bait, propaganda, etc.) have affected their views on civil discourse, specifically relating to the recent U.S. presidential election. By the end of the session, we hope students became more confident in their ability to use critical thinking skills to judge the reliability of news reports, whether they come via print, television or the internet.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson Plan displayed 4345 times612.04 KB
AttachmentSize
Activity #1displayed 3814 times143.59 KB
PowerPointdisplayed 2538 times496.98 KB
Handout / Activity #2displayed 2892 times185.37 KB
Handout / Activity #2displayed 3012 times126.82 KB
Activity #2 Answer Key / Additional Instructions displayed 3626 times15.7 KB
Relevant links: 
Workshop LibGuidePhotos & tweetsPowerPoint (Google Drive version)Student Reflection on the Workshop Through a ComicAnother Student Reflection on the Workshop Through a Comic
Learning Outcomes: 

• Students will practice techniques for evaluating the credibility of news stories.
• Students will reflect upon their reactions to stories and practice identifying and distinguishing between their emotional responses and logical analyses of the items.
• Students will learn the value of information and sources from multiple perspectives.
• Students will become credible, trustworthy publishers in the digital age (sharing news).

Discipline: 
Communication StudiesLibrary and Information ScienceMultidisciplinaryPolitical ScienceRhetoric, Composition, and Writing

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Ability Level:

Tags:

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

The campus-wide breakout sessions were from 11:00-12:30pm (1.5 hours). Faculty were encouraged to cancel classes 8am-12:30pm so that students could watch the Inauguration together and attend one breakout session.

• Inauguration Day Teach-in website:  https://web.archive.org/web/20180117195647/http://academics.lmu.edu/teachin/breakoutsessions/

The library decided to offer four 45-minute break out sessions. Approximately 90 students attended. Several staff members and faculty attended also.

• Library Breakout Session Description: 

https://web.archive.org/web/20170113072807/https://librarynews.lmu.edu/2017/01/keepin-real-tips-strategies-evaluating-fake-news/

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Activity #2 could be spun off into a reflective assignment for students to critically examine their own news media consumption and information behaviors.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

We had too much material for a 45-minute workshop. Perhaps 60-90 minutes is more realistic. Set aside more time for student discussion. As time marches on, choose a more timely "Fake News" story for Activity #1.

Collaborators: 
Aisha Conner-Gaten
Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet
Jennifer Masunaga
Suggested Citation: 
Acosta, Elisa. "Keepin It Real: Tips and Strategies for Evaluating Fake News." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/keepin-it-real-tips-and-strategies-evaluating-fake-news.
Copyright icon to go along with copyright rules.
All assignments contributed to this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike United States License

Pages