Teaching Political Information Literacy in a Hybrid Media Environment

• In Event: TLC at APSA: Tools for Civic Engagement

Abstract

This paper explores the efficacy of teaching information literacy in political science classes in a media environment where unreliable information is increasingly prevalent. First, students learn tools for understanding the difference between fact claims and opinion claims in political news. Second, students are introduced to ways of identifying and assessing the expertise of sources in political news. Third, students are asked to rate their own proficiency at choosing appropriate sources for political news. In this project, principles of information literacy derived from the political communication literature are incorporated into two undergraduate political science classes, with a pre-test/post-test design for testing their success. A third class is used as a control. This project is a pilot for implementing these approaches to information literacy in a broader set of political science classes.

Author

• Janet L. Donavan, University of Colorado, Boulder