Empowering Students to Make Sense of an Information Saturated World: The Evolution of Information Searching and Analysis

Abstract

How well students conduct research online is an increasing concern for educators at all levels, especially higher education. This paper describes the evolution of a course that examines confirmation bias, information searching, and the political economy of information as keys to becoming more information and media literate. After a key assignment in which students assess their own tendency to engage in confirmation bias, students research a social justice issue across web, news and academic research resources. Designed to build good analytical skills in assessing the trustworthiness of a variety of sources of information, the course empowers students as researchers, citizens and consumers.

The Effectiveness of Sea-Based Blended Learning eBook on The Subject of Cookies and Candies

“…The effectiveness of sea-based online learning eBooks in line with research that says that there is an influence of internet utilization on student achievement [11][10] [12]. Learning with interactive multimedia is more effective than learning without resorting to interactive multimedia [13] [14].…”

“…In addition, the printed book as a reference is rarely published and has a higher price. Conventional knowledge makes students saturated, so many students become less concentrated in receiving the subject matter [10] [11].…”

Re-examining the Construct Validity and Causal Relationships of Teaching, Cognitive and Social Presence in Community of Inquiry Framework

“…Ultimately, engagement in metacognition allows learners to make more symmetrical judgements about self-knowledge and the knowledge of others (Brycz, 2014), thus contributing to the achievement of the intended collaborative-constructivist learning outcomes within a community of inquiry (Rubin & Fernandes, 2013). However, for learners to engage in this process of critical assessment and regulation of their own and others' cognition, educators must purposefully steer the process (Wittenbols, 2016). Gašević, Adesope, Joksimović, and Kovanović (2015) demonstrated the importance of facilitating the metacognitive processes of learners through incorporation of scaffolding strategies as a primary element of teaching presence in a community of inquiry.…”

Critical Information/News Literacy and the Flipped Classroom: Student Evaluations of Information Searching and Analysis

“…The evolution of this course, which started as an assignment learning to assess websites, is fully detailed in (Wittebols, 2016). Students are asked in the first week of the course to choose a social justice issue they will research for the rest of the semester.…”