FunkyChromeMedina t1_j9yyxgx wrote on February 25, 2023 at 4:32 PM

I taught a course like this at a RI institution of higher ed a few years back.I was utterly blown away by the complete lack of knowledge about source credibility. 20-ish students in the class, and I bet 16 of them walked in the door on the first day convinced that "if it's on the internet, it must be true."

I honestly have no idea what the local public high schools were doing.

Allopathological t1_j9z0hgv wrote on February 25, 2023 at 4:42 PM

You mean people do that? Just go on the Internet and tell lies?!!?

smokejaguar t1_j9zq1uz wrote on February 25, 2023 at 7:30 PM

>I honestly have no idea what the local public high schools were doing.

I had this epiphany when helping administer ASVAB testing to high school seniors. You'd be shocked at the number of students leaving the Providence public school system who are functionally illiterate.

coreyjroth t1_ja08mpi wrote on February 25, 2023 at 9:37 PM

It’s mind blowing. I went to public school in CT and remember teachers always stressing the importance of source credibility. Bibliographies and citations were always required and Wikipedia was never acceptable.

I also remember learning back in middle school how to determine whether a source is providing opinion or fact and if that source is credible or not.

the_gubna t1_ja47y1r wrote on February 26, 2023 at 6:50 PM

If you don’t mind me asking, what sorts of classes did you take in high school?

In my experience (as both their classmate and as a TA) the difference between AP/IB kids and everyone else coming into introductory level college classes is pretty staggering, especially when it comes to avoiding plagiarism, in text citations, using reliable sources, etc.

Chance_Bad_7437 t1_ja0lfkx wrote on February 25, 2023 at 11:10 PM

Learned about source credibility in a public speaking course. Very important.