Data and Distrust: Epistemic Vigilance and Students' Evaluations of Infographic Trustworthiness

• In Event: Reimagining Equity in Science Education

Abstract

Deciding whether or not to trust information is important in today’s digital age, where information is circulated on digital platforms with little consideration of credibility. As students navigate online environments, they should critically evaluate scientific information in the form of data visualizations and infographics to decide whether or not this information is trustworthy. This exploratory study examines how students evaluate the trustworthiness of data in infographics. We observe that students consider five features of the integrity of the data source and three features of the benevolence, or motivations and biases, of the data source. The results of this study provide insight into how students critically evaluate data and infographics that they may encounter online.

Authors

• Daniel Pimentel, Stanford University

• Emily V. Reigh, Stanford University

• Victor R. Lee, Stanford University

• Bryan A. Brown, Stanford University