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Evaluating Information

Fighting biases, identifying truth, and finding common ground in the digital world

Learning Module

Abstract

This module is geared toward students grades 9-12. The goal of this module is to develop the skills to evaluate digital sources by considering their context, the dissemination of information, and the perspectives/agendas of the authors and publishers. Students will consider how algorithms and “filter bubbles” play a role in online research. By the end of this module, students will have increased ability to evaluate sources and critically analyze context.

Keywords

Internet, Research, Algorithms, Sources, Analysis

Overview

This learning module is intended for high school students. The main goal is to develop students' ability to evaluate online information sources for validity. The primary focus is on the idea of fake news and filter bubbles. It is assumed that students have some familiarity with conducting online research. This could be used as a stand-alone unit or as a lead in to a research unit. It is also assumed that students have background knowledge and awareness of the concepts of bias and validity, specifically pertaining to sources. 

Essential Questions: 

  • What is truth?
  • How is what we see on the internet manipulated? 
  • How can we identify biases and truth? 
  • How do we evaluate the information we find online? 

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to...

  • analyze their news sources and what compels them to read news stories
  • analyze the findings of a report and relate it to the unit theme
  • analyze an online post to determine if it provides strong evidence for a claim
  • define "post-truth" and hypothesize about its consequences
  • analyze and interpret motivation
  • determine the validity of an online source
  • define "filter bubbles" and describe their effects
  • summarize and critique ideas about truth and common reality

Standards: 

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6
    Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness or beauty of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7
    Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2.a
    Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2.b
    Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4
    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.6
    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8
    Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

Update 1: Where do we find our news?

For the Student

 Where do we get our news? 

This update will address our online browsing habits, specifically related to news, which we will broadly define as informative media (articles, videos, podcasts, etc.). The goal is for you to recognize your habits and begin to think about your relationship with the media.

It used to be common that people sat down to watch the nightly news on one of just a few major networks. They might have also picked up one of a couple town papers in the morning to look over the front page stories. As a result, most people heard about the same major news stories, and they were a topic of conversation at school and in the workplace. 

Now, there are still some stories that reach a large number of people (generally what we consider viral stories), but we have many more outlets for receiving news. With cable television came more news networks, like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. Then, with the internet came news websites. Now, with social media, stories from a wide array of sites are posted and shared on a daily basis. In order to think more specifically about your browsing habits, complete the survey linked below.

Click here to complete the survey about where you find your news.

Once you have completed the survey above, watch the below video called "How to choose your news." Use the information and your knowledge about how you approach news to make a comment and engage in a discussion with your peers below.

Media embedded July 18, 2017

Make a comment: Where do you find most of your news? What types of stories are common? What types of stories do you click on most? Why do you think that is - what makes you want to click on a story?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to analyze why they read different types of news their sources of news media.

Rationale: Completing the survey regarding their media consumption will allow students to begin thinking about their interactions with the news and any trends they see in their approach to news media. The linked video discusses where we get our news, as well as the evolution of news. It touches on the idea of false reporting, which will be a common thread in all the updates. Then, the comment asks the student to begin analyzing their habits and what compels them to click on certain stories. 

By asking students to reflect on their own habits and speak about themselves, the subject matter becomes personal. With this first update, students can begin relating to the material and immediately drawing personal connections.

Further Teaching Strategies: This would be a strong starting off point for a group discussion on habits. Students can compare and contrast their habits. They could even begin to look into their browser history or look at the types of stories that appear in their Facebook feed to notice any common threads. Some ideas for in-class discussion questions include: 

  • What motivates you to click on specific news stories?
  • Why are we taken in so easily by "clickbait" type articles? 
  • What similarities do we notice in our browsing habits? 
  • What might be the effect of only reading a headline or the first few sentences of an article?

Students would likely have a lot to say about this topic, so it would probably also work to let the conversation develop organically and be more student-driven, with the teacher (or an appointed student) as facilitator/moderator.

Sources/Additional Resources: Many of the survey questions were based off of a Pew Research Center survey discussed here.

The "How to choose your news" video has additional teaching resources here

If you have the time and would like to dig deeper into the idea of clickbait and its effects, this TED Talk could be a good conversation starter:

Media embedded July 30, 2017

 

Update 2: Where Americans get their news

For the Student

For the last update, you discussed where you get your news and what makes you want to click on and read an article. For this update, you will look at some data that discusses where people are finding their news. The goal for this update is that you will understand the data presented and begin thinking about its implications.

Recent studies reveal that most Americans get their news online, and a large percentage of us are getting our news primarily through social media. To some people, this will come as no surprise, but this realization comes many questions we must ask ourselves. Who is putting this information on social media? What is the purpose of it? If we are not seeking out news, but having it fed to us through sites like Facebook, what negative effects might this have? We will dig into these questions in greater detail throughout this module. For today, read through the article below from the Pew Research Center that provides some insight into how Americans interact with news sources: 

"How Americans Encounter, Recall, and Act Upon Digital News"

Make a comment: Choose one finding from the Pew Research Center and analyze its implications. What does this tell us about how people consume news? What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to analyze the findings of a report and relate it to the unit theme.

Rationale: This information is helpful for students to look at for a few reasons: 

  • It allows them to analyze real data 
  • The topics addressed are reflective of the survey they took for update 1, so they will have some personal connection
  • This provides strong foundational knowledge for later units. It addresses the question of where and how Americans get their news, which will be essential to consider when analyzing the question of how fake news spreads.

Teaching Strategies: While the article isn't particularly long, it is dense. It would be great to have students share the findings they pulled and their analysis of the implications with one another and then develop a concise, bulleted list of both. Then, they could reference this list regularly when considering future updates. 

You may also want to provide some type of guidance for students in order to differentiate. This could be in the form of guiding questions to think about when reading or asking them to take notes on what sticks out to them. You could also have students read the article together in groups and direct them to a specific section of the article to analyze. 

Sources/Additional Resources:

The complete report from the Pew Research Center is attached here: 

PJ_2017.02.09_Experiential_FINAL.pdf

Update 3: Analyzing Evidence

For the Student

Today's goal is for you to determine how well you are able to analyze evidence. In this situation, the source is a photograph. You are to look at the photograph and read the accompanying statement. After doing so, you will analyze how well you think the photograph provides evidence for the statement. Complete this activity without looking up any additional sources or reverse searching the image provided. Please take time to complete your response in thorough detail. You will not be marked for "correctness" or how accurate your analysis was. What we will do is use our findings from this activity to inform our thinking for future research and activities.

Complete the activity at the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/Qt1D06Pe1z7Eepct2

Make a comment: How difficult did you find it to analyze the source? Do you find that you consciously analyze the sources of information that you encounter on a daily basis?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to analyze an online post to determine if it provides strong evidence for a claim.

Rationale: Students encounter photos on social media daily. These photos are often captioned with claims that, on the surface, make a lot of sense. The photo in this activity presents seemingly mutated flowers along with the claim that they are mutated due to a nuclear disaster. On the surface, this would make sense. However, this activity determines if students will take the time to consider the source of the post (who posted this, and what are their credentials?) and the photograph (where was this picture actually taken?). Once you have their responses and are able to grade them on the rubric (provided in the document below), you will have some data to inform future teaching.

Teaching Strategies: Have students complete the survey. Once the survey has been completed, have students go online to research the source of the photograph. Once they have found more information about the photograph and mutated flowers, discuss whether the source was trustworthy. Consider the following questions: 

  • Where was this posted? How does that affect the trustworthiness of the source? 
  • Who posted the photograph? 
  • What would make this source more valid? 

Another idea is to grade your students' responses on the provided rubric (there is a copy in the pdf of the study below). Once you have graded responses, you can provide students with the data and discuss it as a class. You could also compile responses and have student determine what they think an ideal response would be, and then compare it to what the researchers from the Stanford study found. This could be a good way to get students engaged in the process, rather than "giving them" the answers.

Sources/Additional Resources:

A copy of the Stanford study containing this activity is below.

The study contains additional activities you may use, including an analysis of a homepage and analysis of claims on social media. It also contains a rubric for evaluating your students' responses to the prompt.

Stanford Study

This article also does a really good job of breaking down this study and discussing the implications. It would be beneficial for teachers to read over, or even to provide to the students.

Update 4: The Fake News Phenomenon

For the Student

The term "fake news" seems to be everywhere in the wake of the 2016 United States presidential election. But what is fake news? Is it news that is completely made up? Is it news that might include some facts but is also biased? What do we do with this information? Today, you will address all of these questions. In the last update, you learned that we have to consider some important questions when analyzing evidence, including where the information came from and the credentials of the individual posting. 

For this update, read the article and listen to the podcast below. When going through these sources, consider what you believe to be definition of fake news, its origins, and why these stories persist.

Article:

What is fake news? Its origins and how it grew in 2016

Podcast:

The BBC Academy Podcast: The truth about fake news

Make a Comment: What does it mean that we live in a "post-truth" world? What are some of the potential consequences of this reality?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to define fake news and post-truth and hypothesize about their consequences.

Rationale: Now that students have connected to the subject matter on a more personal level, analyzed how Americans access news, and attempted to analyze a source, they can begin to dive into the idea of fake news. 

The reason for addressing this topic at all is that we want to help students develop their critical thinking skills so that they are able to analyze the validity of information. Providing context for the fake news "phenomenon" will help them tie this skill to a specific context. Most students have probably heard this term, but the way it is used varies, depending on the motivation of the individual saying it and the context. In order to move forward with the module and the eventual project, students need to develop a common language to talk about these issues, along with shared definitions.

Teaching Strategies: The podcast and article are rich with information and discuss a number of important issues. This could be a good area to stop and check for comprehension. This could be done in the way of a quick survey, quiz, journal, group discussion, or other assessment. Some ideas to consider include:

  • What are the origins of fake news?
  • How do these "fake news" stories persist? 
  • How does trust factor into the equation? 
  • What is the progression from totally fake to unverified to unwelcome news? (and why does it matter)

Along with the idea of creating a common language, teachers could also work with the class to develop definitions of the core concepts of this unit, including: 

  • Validity
  • Bias
  • Fake news
  • Post-truth
  • Clickbait

And any others you feel are important. Students can record th

Sources/Additional Resources:

The BBC Academy Podcast: The truth about fake news

An additional article explaining fake news that could be used in addition to or in place of the Telegraph article:

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/18/what-is-fake-news-pizzagate

An extensive research document regarding fake news:

https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf

Update 5: The Harmful Effects of Fake News

For the Student

As addressed in the last update, "fake news" is a phenomenon that has spread widely since the 2016 United States presidential election. Fake news stories often spread across social media, garnering hundreds and thousands of shares. As a result, many people inevitably believe the information presented, even if they haven't actually read the articles in full (remember our survey from update one? Do ANY of us always read the full article?). Read through the Snopes and New York Times articles below for two examples extreme of fake news and the resulting events.

The goal of this update is that you will consider these two examples of stories that are clearly fake and start to think about the psychology behind them - that is, why people want to share them and why they just won't give them up.

PizzaGate Conspiracy

How Fake News Goes Viral: A Case Study

Make a comment: These are two examples of actual fake news - stories that are completely made up. Explain why you think people might latch onto these stories and continue perpetuating them, even when it becomes clear they are untrue.

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to analyze and interpret motivation, as related to the believing and spreading of fake news.

Rationale: Now that students have received a definition and history of fake news, they can read through specific examples to develop a context for the idea. 

By analyzing motivation in their comment, they can begin to see what motivates individuals to continue perpetuating fake news. They can then use that information in later updates to consider how to combat this in their own interactions with news media.

Teaching Strategies: After reading through the articles and making their comments, students should have developed some strong reasons for why they believe people click on and perpetuate fake news stories. Work together as a class to develop a list of your most compelling reasons. Store this knowledge on a class website and/or poster paper that is clearly visible in the classroom. This will be a good reference point for students as they continue with the unit.

An extension of this activity could ask students to find additional examples of "fake news" and analyze how they know this information to be false, whether partially or fully.

Update 6: Evaluating Sources & Identifying "Fake News"

For the Student

For the last update, you read about two examples of fake news that were, well, VERY fake. As in completely made up. But what about stories that aren't totally ​fake - stories that maybe have a little nugget of untruth or are slightly misleading. Or maybe the stories aren't outright lies, but they have questionable sources or the author's motivation is suspect. This update will discuss some of the skills we need to evaluate these cases that aren't so clear-cut.

The videos below approach the idea of evaluating news sources in two different ways. The first video takes the approach of evaluating the context, credibility, and construction and then corroborating and comparing the information found. The second video discusses more of a "propaganda function," which is when a story may not be fake, but subtly influencing readers.

Media embedded July 18, 2017
Media embedded July 18, 2017

The image below is a quick guide with some tips on how to spot fake news:

Source: https://www.wnyc.org/story/breaking-news-consumer-handbook-fake-news-edition/

Purdue OWL provides information on how to evaluate sources in a more general sense, not specifically referring to the "fake news" phenomenon. This is a great resource for research. Read through the overview and the three subsections at the link below.

 Purdue OWL: Evaluating Sources Page

Make a comment: Why is it important that we learn how to spot fake news? In your experience, what is most difficult about identifying the validity of sources?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to determine the validity of an online source.

Rationale: This update provides a variety of specific strategies that students can use to evaluate sources. The purpose of this update is to provide them with actionable steps they can take to determine the validity of a source.

Teaching Strategies: This is another information heavy post, so it would be worthwhile to provide an in-class activity that students can complete in order to test their abilities. One potential activity would be to visit whatever site they go to most frequently for news, be it Facebook, Reddit, wherever. Then, they could pull a number of articles and use the methods provided in this update in order to assess the validity of the information presented. This would be a practical activity, as it is clearly applicable to their daily lives. Students could also share their findings with their peers and discuss their reactions.

Sources/Additional Resources:

Though it doesn't fit 100% with the topic for the week, this would be a good additional resource to share with students: 

Video and additional activities here: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-false-news-can-spread-noah-tavlin

Media embedded July 18, 2017

Image source: https://www.wnyc.org/story/breaking-news-consumer-handbook-fake-news-edition/

Update 7: Filter Bubbles

For the Student

This update is going to shift focus onto a different aspect of evaluating information. So far in this learning module, we have been exposed to a variety of information on evaluating the information we encounter online to determine its validity. 

For this update, we will consider how that information even gets to us in the first place. 

When we log onto social media or access a search engine, a number of factors determine what we see. Websites use algorithms to use your browsing history to determine what content they will provide for you. For example, if you have an Instagram account, you may notice that your "explore feed" starts showing you videos and images puppies after you spent some time browsing pictures on an account full of puppy pictures. Similarly, you might notice that video recipes start showing up regularly in your Facebook feed after you clicked on a few of them.

Media embedded July 15, 2017

Algorithms are not a bad thing. They help to connect us to the information we seek. However, there are some drawbacks to this exposure to a regular feed of curated content. Watch the TED Talk below about filter bubbles and make a comment and engage in discussion with your peers.

Media embedded July 15, 2017

Make a comment: What is your filter bubble? How is it affecting your life on a smaller scale? Thinking on a larger scale, how do filter bubbles affect society as a whole? 

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to define "filter bubbles" and describe their effects.

Rationale: This update may seem a little off-topic, considering the previous ones mainly addressed the idea of fake news. However, the idea of filter bubbles is equally important. Our filter bubbles control what type of content we see on sites like Facebook or even in our Google search results. Therefore, we become even more susceptible to fake news, considering that our browsing habits can be used to target us with specific news stories. 

It is important for students to consider this angle, as well, so that they can understand how to better incorporate opposing viewpoints into their research.

Teaching Strategies: This would be an excellent opportunity to get students to explore their filter bubbles in action. The following are some in-class activities that would pair nicely with the online module:

  • Multiple students search the same term in Google (on their personal device - phone or computer) and compare results. If the results vary, analyze why and what browsing habits led to that. Also discuss the implications of these curated search results.
  • Go to Facebook or another social media platform that regularly displays news stories. Create a list of the stories that show up and analyze what they have in common.
  • Students work together to develop an analysis of how filter bubbles can exacerbate the issue of "fake news."

Sources/Additional Resources:

A video on bias and algorithms: 

Media embedded July 18, 2017

Additional news stories about filter bubbles: 

The Filter Bubble Revisited

Your Filter Bubble is Destroying Democracy

How to Burst the "Filter Bubble" that Protects Us from Opposing Views

Update 8: Seeing past our own perspectives

For the Student

For the final update, we consider why all of this matters. Why consider our interactions with media? Why bother with sniffing out fake news? Why try to go outside of our filter bubbles and seek other perspectives? What is the point of all of this? What effect could it possibly have on our lives and the world as a whole and our relations with one another?

In the video below, philosopher Michael Patrick Lynch approaches the idea of fake news and filter bubbles by urging us to participate in our common reality and understand that what we want and what's true could be two different things. When watching his talk below, consider how this applies to the ideas explored in updates one through seven and how it relates to your own life.

i
Media embedded July 15, 2017

Make a comment: What does Michael Patrick Lynch mean when he refers to a "common reality"? Do you agree with his ideas about truth? What might some of the limitations be?

For the Teacher

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to summarize and critique ideas about truth and common reality.

Rationale: This is a strong summary to the material covered in this module, because it appeals to the human aspects of fake news, filter bubbles, and truth. It speaks to why each of these issues is important on a more philosophical and human level.

Teaching Strategies: Teachers can dive further into the three main points and have students work to draw connections to their own lives. The three main points are: 

  1. Believe in truth
  2. Dare to know (need to understand why and know that what you want and what's true could be different)
  3. Have humility

Students can also explore the strengths and limitations of each of the three, relating them to their own lives and experiences.

Sources/Additional Resources:

An article by Michael Patrick Lynch discussing the idea of teaching humility. It is tangentially related and could be incorporated into additional lessons:

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Teaching-Humility-in-an-Age-of/240266

Project: Evaluating News Media Interaction

For the Student

Your project will address the ideas of news media consumption, the spread of ideas, fake news, and filter bubbles. This project will combine all of these ideas into a case study of your interaction with news sources.

Track your news intake for five days. You can choose the specifics of what you track, but some suggestions would be:

  • Where you encountered the piece of news media
  • How completely you read the article
  • Whether you shared it or commented
  • The news organization that published the media
  • The subject matter of the news media

You should attempt to create as complete of a picture as possible by recording this information each time you interact with a news media source. At the end of the data collection period, you will create a work that includes the following:

  • An explanation of what you chose to track and why
  • Visual representation of your data (likely a graph or infographic)
  • Analysis of trends
  • Your perception of how your “filter bubble” affected your news media consumption

Additionally, choose a minimum of two articles or videos that you interacted with. Provide a link to the media source and analyze the validity of the source. You may use a set of criteria of your choosing. Look back on the updates to find suggestions of criteria for analyzing news sources. It may also be beneficial to include screenshots of the articles or videos when discussing certain aspects.

Use the structure tool in Scholar to divide your work into separate categories. You will participate in a peer evaluation process and be assessed on the attached rubric, which is pictured below.

 

For the Teacher

Update 9: Reflection

For the Student

The goal of this entire unit/module is that you will further develop your analysis skills to the point where you are activtely considering how you interact with media and its effects on your life, your ideas, and your interactions with others. Analyzing our media habits, identifying fake news, analyzing sources, and recognizing our filter bubbles are all part of this. 

For the final update, you'll complete a reflection. Please complete it honestly and thoughtfully.

Reflection survey

Thank you!

For the Teacher

Feel free to copy the survey and edit any of the questions to your liking or add additional questions. The goal of the survey is to get students to reflect on the work they have done and provide feedback for improvement in future delivery of this module.