MISINFORMATION, FAKE NEWS, AND CORRECTING FALSE BELIEFS ABOUT SCIENCE

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: Satisfied Communications A or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Social & Behavioral Science Breadth - Social Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Summer 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Define and identify examples of misinformation and disinformation relating to scientific topics. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Explain psychological and contextual factors that lead people to believe false information. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Explain how traditional and online media contribute to the spread of misinformation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Analyze examples of science misinformation and make arguments about the motivations of the creators/sharers and intended audience. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Build arguments, supported by social science research, about the effects misinformation is likely to have on science attitudes, trust in science, and democratic society. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Evaluate different strategies for correcting misperceptions and preventing the spread of misinformation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Analyze and synthesize relevant scholarly literature related to misinformation and misperceptions. Audience: Graduate 8. Formulate a research proposal articulating an original research project related to the study of scientific misinformation. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Define and identify examples of misinformation and disinformation relating to scientific topics. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Explain psychological and contextual factors that lead people to believe false information. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Explain how traditional and online media contribute to the spread of misinformation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Analyze examples of science misinformation and make arguments about the motivations of the creators/sharers and intended audience. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Build arguments, supported by social science research, about the effects misinformation is likely to have on science attitudes, trust in science, and democratic society. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Evaluate different strategies for correcting misperceptions and preventing the spread of misinformation. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Analyze and synthesize relevant scholarly literature related to misinformation and misperceptions. Audience: Graduate 8. Formulate a research proposal articulating an original research project related to the study of scientific misinformation. Audience: Graduate