Misinformation

Fake-Believe: An Introduction to Misinformation

NEW CONTENT ADDED! Check out our new lesson, AI and mis-/disinformation, and the Data Literacy unit added to the Making Good Choices lesson

This 5-part non-credit online course was designed with the input of NorQuest faculty to introduce students to concepts of misinformation and help them practice valuable critical thinking skills. The content is accessible, interactive and engaging. The following topics are addressed:

• Misinformation and its various forms including fake news and disinformation
• The role of bias in spreading misinformation, and how to combat conspiracy thinking
• News literacy, science literacy, and data literacy
• Evaluating information using techniques such as lateral reading
• NEW! Introduction to generative AI and how it contributes to mis-/disinformation

Additional features of this course: Open Educational Resource (OER) published under CC BY-NC 4.0 license (please share and adapt!); accessible and flexible; misiwe pehtâkwan compatible; suitable for Academic Upgrading students, upper-level English language learners, and post-secondary students. The course can be assigned as a whole, or specific lessons and/or segments can be incorporated into a course syllabus. It takes approximately 2 hours to complete all 5 lessons.

Special thanks to Heather von Stackelberg for creating the AI lesson and the data literacy unit, and reviewers Dustin Grue, Stephanie Husby, and Shaunaugh Whelan.

Complete the Introduction to Misinformation and Receive a Digital Badge

Preview the Course

Click on the boxes below to view the course online.  Please note that completion is not tracked and badges are not granted in this web version. 

Instructors please see Integrating this Course for information on embedding and tracking completion of the course in misiwe pehtâkwan. Students please see the information above on enrolling in the course and receiving a participation badge.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Misinformation 

Lesson 2: Bias                    

Lesson 3: Making Good Choices        

Lesson 4: SIFTing Through the News

Lesson 5: AI and Mis-/Disinformation

Integrating this Course

This short course was designed for instructors in all programs to use in their courses to introduce students to the basic concepts of misinformation and help them build essential information literacy skills. The course is flexible and suitable to many disciplinary contexts. It can be assigned to students to complete as a whole (takes approximately 2 hours), or you may choose to assign specific lessons or modules you find most relevant to your course needs.

We recommend:

1. Incorporating the course as low-stakes, formative assessment for students to complete in a self-directed manner. The course can be assigned and graded based on completion (pass/fail). Additionally, lessons can be used for self-assessment, and as the basis for short reflection exercises or class discussions with peers.
2. Integrating questions, reflections, and other activities into your course that connect to, and enrich, the content contained in the lessons. See below for lesson plan ideas.
3. Inviting a librarian to lead a classroom session tied to the topics in the course and your learning objectives (i.e. recognizing bias and combatting conspiracy thinking, data and media literacy, fact-checking using the SIFT method, AI and mis-/disinformation, etc.)

Lesson Plans

Acknowledgement

We are grateful to the following contributors and course reviewers:

Timothy Caulfield  

Judy Frank 

Dustin Grue

Stephanie Husby

Andy Keenan 

Julia Johnson 

Caylee Kreller 

Viola Manakore 

Eve Poirier 

Joseph Siracky (videographer) 

Meghan Stanbridge 

Ada Szulski 

Heather von Stackelberg (AI lesson and data literacy unit creator)

Shaunaugh Whelan