TY - JOUR
T1 - Fighting fake news inspiring critical thinking with memorable learning experiences
AU - Diaz, Stephanie A.
AU - Hall, Russell A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Our first idea was to visit the Newseum in Washington, D.C., a museum dedicated to teaching about the First Amendment and the importance of the free press. Surprisingly, after we made travel arrangements, the organizers of the 2018 March for Our Lives announced that their demonstration would happen on the exact same date. At first, we were concerned about alienating students who might think that the trip was politically biased and designed to coincide with the march. However, we kept our reservations, because we anticipated national news coverage and felt this would give the students an ability to compare their experience to the news coverage. The trip was jointly funded by the library and by Behrend’s Student Activity Fee Committee (SAF). One of the stipulations of SAF funding is that activities must be open to any Penn State-Behrend student, which was our original intent. We promoted the trip to students by sending campuswide emails and by posting digital signs across campus. Our van could only accommodate 13 students, so we were forced to limit participation. However, only seven students participated, as six students did not show up at our 5 a.m. departure time. Though 29 students were on the waitlist, it was impossible to find replacements due to the early hour.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Stephanie A. Diaz and Russell A. Hall.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/5
Y1 - 2020/5
N2 - Despite fake news having a long and notorious history in the United States, it seemed like a brand-new phenomenon to many people during the 2016 presidential campaign. Four years later, we continue to grapple with the understanding that the fake news issue is a symptom of a perfect storm of political polarization, shifting U.S. demographics, labor market upheaval, the proliferation of social media use, foreign interference, and normal human psychology. With no clear solutions in sight, the battle against fake news continues. Fake news has many troubling implications for life outside of the academy, but it also has serious consequences for student learning. From the perspective of undergraduate students, it may seem that in this post-truth era, anyone with a cellphone can create news, journalists have ulterior motives, news organizations cannot be trusted, debate centers on reaffirming one’s worldview, and nothing is knowable because there is always evidence on both sides of an argument. Despite this, we believe learning experiences designed to be memorable can change students’ perspectives and make a lasting impression.
AB - Despite fake news having a long and notorious history in the United States, it seemed like a brand-new phenomenon to many people during the 2016 presidential campaign. Four years later, we continue to grapple with the understanding that the fake news issue is a symptom of a perfect storm of political polarization, shifting U.S. demographics, labor market upheaval, the proliferation of social media use, foreign interference, and normal human psychology. With no clear solutions in sight, the battle against fake news continues. Fake news has many troubling implications for life outside of the academy, but it also has serious consequences for student learning. From the perspective of undergraduate students, it may seem that in this post-truth era, anyone with a cellphone can create news, journalists have ulterior motives, news organizations cannot be trusted, debate centers on reaffirming one’s worldview, and nothing is knowable because there is always evidence on both sides of an argument. Despite this, we believe learning experiences designed to be memorable can change students’ perspectives and make a lasting impression.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85084211210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5860/crln.81.5.239
DO - 10.5860/crln.81.5.239
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084211210
SN - 0099-0086
VL - 81
SP - 239
EP - 243
JO - College and Research Libraries News
JF - College and Research Libraries News
IS - 5
ER -