Improving college students’ fact-checking strategies through lateral reading instruction in a general education civics course

• Published in: Cognitive research: principles and implications Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 23 - 18
• Main Authors: Brodsky, Jessica E., Brooks, Patricia J., Scimeca, Donna, Todorova, Ralitsa, Galati, Peter, Batson, Michael, Grosso, Robert, Matthews, Michael, Miller, Victor, Caulfield, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 31.03.2021; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Accuracy; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Civics; Cognitive Processes; Cognitive Psychology; College Students; Colleges & universities; Credibility; Curricula; Experimental Psychology; Fact-checking instruction; General Education; Heuristics; Lateral reading; Learner Engagement; Media Literacy; Misconceptions; Neurosciences; Online Searching; Original; Original Article; Pretesting; Pretests Posttests; Psychology; Reading; Reading Instruction; Reading Strategies; Social Media; The Psychology of Fake News; Wikipedia; Media literacy; Wikipedia; Fact-checking instruction; College students; Lateral reading

College students lack fact-checking skills, which may lead them to accept information at face value. We report findings from an institution participating in the Digital Polarization Initiative (DPI), a national effort to teach students lateral reading strategies used by expert fact-checkers to verif...