Unit 1: How do we Know Things?
3 *Evil Plot to Develop Competent Information Consumers
This course might legit make you feel like you’re suddenly supposed to question everything and trust no one! I want to say that’s not true…but it kiiind of is. But it’s not. But it a little bit is.
Jeepers but there’s A. Lot. of crap information out there these days. Misinformation just seems to become more rampant despite best efforts to curb it. Part of the solution is related to research methods. Research methods are the KEY to understanding what you can trust. I mean, hey, you can’t even trust the news because, sad to say, they COMPLETELY screw up the translation of scientific evidence…sometimes on purpose (sensational headlines, anyone?) and sometimes because they just don’t understand how methods work. But guess who is not going to be fooled? That’s right, you.
Here’s what your student textbook authors have to say:
Learning Objectives
Learn about the overall purpose of this course and docmc’s idea of step toward the successful creation of Competent Information Consumers
Evil Plot to Develop Competent Information Consumers
Steps to success…
Step 1: Know that you need to know more [scientific vs. everyday ways of knowing]
Step 2: Identify solid info [obj 2; information literacy]
Step 3: All roads lead to research, or they should. Deconstructing Publishing, Peer Review, and Predatory Journals.
Step 4: Ok, the journal is legit. Now what? Deconstructing the average article.
Step 5: Back the truck up, how do research producers’ minds work anyway? [ologies, paradigms]
Steps 6-15: Critically analyzing and evaluating the methods within each section.
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2. Problems with Common Ways of Knowing