This Worksheet is based on Mike Caulfield’s S.I.F.T. Method. Students will first need to have a familiarity with that. I highly recommend the “S.I.F.T. For Teachers” video playlist on his YouTube channel and/or his website.This activity would probably take most of a class period. Could also be done online via a Discussion.

List of nearly two dozen short (~5 min) videos that deal with various topics related to Misinformation & News/Media Literacy. Prompt Questions included for each video. Great to use for a class activity/assignment.

Tabs/Topics: Categories of Misinformation, Evaluating Information, Media Bias Charts, Classroom Activities, Videos, Podcasts, Infographics, More Resources

Powerpoint to accompany science information literacy activity following a news article back to a research article.  Created by Megan Carlton and Lea Leininger.  Accompanies chapter How the scientific method invalidates ‘fake news.’ From the book Teaching About Fake News: Lesson Plans for Different Disciplines and Audiences. Benjes-Small, C. M., Wittig, C., & Oberlies, M. K. (Eds.). (2021): https://uncg.on.worldcat.org/v2/oclc/1262768350

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.

The following activity is meant to demonstrate the concepts of authorship and authority to first year writing students. Students will use their prior knowledge and everyday experiences with subpar information to draw parallels between evaluating academic and popular sources.

This reading provides a broad overview of the topic of "fake news" and discusses the inherent difficulty of "fixing" the problem.

This hands-on activity was piloted as part of a teach-in on fake news at Purchase College, SUNY. To convey the idea that “fake news” exists on a continuum, we did a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey activity using a blank version of Vanessa Otero’s Media Bias chart. The chart is a useful tool for showing the nuances between nonfactual, biased, and inflammatory news sources. Participants are asked to research a news media organization and decide where to place it on the chart, then compare their choices to Otero's original infographic. Two groups can also compare their choices to each other. The ensuing discussion fits nicely with the ACRL Threshold Concept: “Authority is constructed and contextual” and can relate to "Research as Inquiry" or "Information as Value" as well, if economic factors related to the press and clickbait websites are discussed. The concept of a source being on a spectrum of “complex vs. clickbait” adds an additional layer of complexity for students who are used to focusing on binaries such as: liberal vs. conservative or “trustworthy vs. fake.” The details of how to implement this activity as well as copies of Otero's chart are attached. (P.S. An updated version of the chart was created in Fall 2017 adding more nuance along the "complexity" axis and removing some of the "PG-13" or "sassy" language. See attached PDFs).

In light of the proliferation of fake news and just plain erroneous news, this assignment tries to give students tools and strategies for evaluating the information that comes to them via social media and other outlets. Students identify one news story and thoroughly investigate it, including using CRAAP criteria, searching for other articles on the same topic, and checking factchecking sites.News stories to evalute were updated July 2019.

Short video: What does it mean for a source to be credible? Why is it important to use these sources? How can you tell if a source is credible?