With a background in how the scientific community creates reliable knowledge, students will be able to better protect themselves from being fooled by the massive amount of misinformation on the Internet that pretends to be based on science.
But this important ability requires explicit training in how to use Web resources effectively.
With this goal, an international project led by Jonathan Osborne, a leading scholar of science education, produced the Science Education in an Age of Misinformation report in 2022. Included in its 48 pages are 4 examples of teaching students how to distinguish good science from science fiction.
Click here for an 8-page section from that report with examples that include climate change, food choices, and vaccination.
The websites of the Digital Inquiry Group and Media Literacy Now are both designed for this type of media training. There you will find extensive resources for teaching how a quick “lateral reading” can be used to evaluate sources and identify the true scientific consensus.
Click here for a collection of such instructional materials that are focused on science.
Click on the image below to access the entire Science Education in an Age of Misinformation report, along with additional resources:
