Undergraduates' News Consumption and Perceptions of Fake News in Science

This study investigates undergraduates' news consumption and their perceptions of fake news in science while they took an online introductory geography course at a large Midwestern university. The authors collaborated with university science instructors to design and integrate a news literacy curriculum into a set of learning activities to promote critical thinking and research skills. A qualitative analysis of 108 students' written essays presents empirical evidence of their perceptions of fake news in terms of content (what), purpose (why), and source (who). The results show that students primarily sought news from traditional sources, such as CNN, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and the New York Times, while working on their research assignments. They spent, on average, about 7 hours per week reading, watching, or listening to news while taking the online course. More than half the students indicated that they used mobile devices to browse news most of the time. The strategies and tools the students used to manage multiple news sources are discussed.