Fake news judgement

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide library professionals with insights into students' fake news judgment and the importance of teaching media and information literacy, not as an option but as a core educational requirement. Design/methodology/approach-Qualtrics was used to collect the study data. Students completed a set of tasks designed in the form of a survey that entailed verifying whether news, stories, images and news sources were real, fake, dubious or trustworthy. Statistical tests were used to asses whether their responses depended on criteria, such as faculty and gender. Findings-No significant relationship exists between the students' responses and variables, such as gender, student category, fact-checking and source of information. The findings reveal that students' ability to identify the authoritativeness of information is dependent on the faculty in which they are enrolled. Originality/value-This paper reports the first known attempt in Lebanon to measure students' ability in distinguishing fake from real news. The results of this paper can be used by library professionals, particularly in Lebanon, to convey the importance of teaching and embedding media and information literacy into their curriculum.

Surveying fake news: Assessing university faculty’s fragmented definition of fake news and its impact on teaching critical thinking

“…Providing students in higher education with such skills helps them evaluate the arguments of others and their own, resolve conflicts, and come to rational determinations about complex topics or issues (Allegretti and Frederick 1995). It also helps students become aware of the powerful social forces at work in the world which serve to silence and marginalize others, restricting human freedom (Davies and Barnett 2015).…”

Improved Learning Design for Pre-Service Teacher in a Character Education Course

“…Participants reported that they sometimes believed in hoax news that looked real. According to El Rayess, Chebl, Mhanna, Hage (2017), hoax news often appears in credible sources which drives people to believe it and share it across multiple social media platforms (Rayess, Chebl, Mhanna, & Hage, 2018). Participants gave an example of how relationships can break down because people might hold a strong believe in the hoax news and don't want to accept that others don't believe it.…”

Libraries and Fake News: What’s the Problem? What’s the Plan?

“…At the individual level, the problem is that people are deceived due to their inability to determine the credibility of information (Burkhardt, 2017;Cooke, 2017;Farkas, 2018). It is no surprise, then, that the findings of the Stanford History Education Group (Wineburg, McGrew, Breakstone, & Ortega, 2016) about the inability of students to assess information sources feature prominently in LIS works (Agosto, 2018;Auberry, 2018;Batchelor, 2017;Becker, 2016;Bluemle, 2018;Burkhardt, 2017;El Rayess et al, 2018;Jeffries, Kroondyk, Paolini, & Radisauskus, 2017;Johnson, 2018;Mackey & Jacobson, 2016;Musgrove et al, 2018;Neely-Sardon & Tignor, 2018;Rush, 2018).…”

“…Before considering how to develop the skills or dispositions necessary for fighting fake news, it is worth noting the dark side of one particular disposition: skepticism. Adopting a skeptical stance toward information is thought to be necessary for rejecting fake news or assessing content (Baer, 2018;Burkhardt, 2017;El Rayess et al, 2018;Gibson & Jacobson, 2018;Jacobson, 2017). How, then, to encourage such healthy or "informed skepticism" (Baer, 2018;Bluemle, 2018) while avoiding the self-serving skepticism (Batchelor, 2017), or skepticism as an end in itself (Becker, 2016), thought to be part of the problem?…”