Giving Facts a fighting chance against misinformation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Winkler ◽  
John Cook
Keyword(s):  
Climate Science ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Logical Fallacies ◽  
The University

<p>Skeptical Science is a volunteer-run website publishing refutations of climate misinformation. Some members of the Skeptical Science team actively research best-practices refutation techniques while other team members use the provided materials to share debunking techniques effectively either in writing or through presentations. In this submission, we highlight several of our publications and projects, designed to help to give facts a fighting chance against misinformation. While some of the resources are nominally related to climate change, the underlying techniques apply across different topics. Resources include the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) “Denial101x - Making sense of Climate Science Denial” co-produced with the University of Queensland in 2015, the “FLICC-framework” explaining the taxonomy of science denial with its five main techniques (fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations, cherry picking, and conspiracy theories), the Debunking Handbook 2020 which summarizes research findings and expert advice about debunking misinformation, and the Conspiracy Theory Handbook distilling research findings and expert advice on dealing with conspiracy theories. We will also introduce the Cranky Uncle smartphone game, using critical thinking, gamification, and cartoons to interactively explain science denial techniques and build resilience against misinformation.</p>

The story of Skeptical Science: How citizen science helped to turn a website into a go-to resource for climate science

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Winkler ◽  
John Cook
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
Study Team ◽  
Turn Over ◽  
The University

<p>Skeptical Science (SkS) is a website with international reach founded by John Cook in 2007. The main purpose of SkS is to debunk misconceptions and misinformation about human-caused climate change and features a database that currently has more than 200 rebuttals based on peer-reviewed literature. Over the years, SkS has evolved from a one-person operation to a team project with science-minded volunteers from around the globe. The Skeptical Science team also actively contribute to published research, with a highlight being the often cited 97% consensus paper published in 2013 (Cook et al. 2013) for which team members content-analysed about 12,000 abstracts in a study whose publication fee was crowd-funded by readers of the website.</p><p>The SkS author community formed in 2010 in response to the proposal to expand existing rebuttals to three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Since then, team members regularly collaborate to write and review rebuttal and blog articles for the website. Volunteer translators from many countries have translated selected content into more than 20 languages including booklets such as The Debunking Handbook, The Uncertainty Handbook or The Consensus Handbook. In addition to the already mentioned consensus study, team members have helped with other research projects initiated by John Cook such as the efforts to train a computer to detect and classify climate change misinformation. Another significant project is the Massive Open Online Course (or MOOC) “Denial101x: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial” in collaboration with the University of Queensland, for which the SkS team produced numerous video lectures and for which forum moderators were recruited. Outreach activities such as the “97 Hours of Consensus” were crowdsourced with team members collecting and organising content and providing technical support.</p><p>Challenges: Due to the volunteer nature of people’s involvement, there are some challenges involved as not everybody is available to help with tasks all the time. People help as much – or as little – as their time allows and there’s always some turn-over with new people joining while others leave.</p><p>Skeptical Science (SkS): (accessed November 29, 2019)</p><p>Cook, J., Nuccitelli, D., Green, S. A., Richardson, M., Winkler, B., Painting, R., Way, R., Jacobs, P., & Skuce, A. (2013). . <em>Environmental Research Letters</em>, <em>8</em>(2), 024024+.</p><p>Cook, J., Schuennemann, K., Nuccitelli, D., Jacobs, P., Cowtan, K., Green, S., Way, R., Richardson, M., Cawley, G., Mandia, S., Skuce, A., & Bedford, D. (April 2015). Denial101x: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial. <em>edX</em>. </p><p>Cook, J., & Lewandowsky, S. (2011). . St. Lucia, Australia: University of Queensland. ISBN 978-0-646-56812-6.</p>

Using an interdisciplinary MOOC to teach climate science and science communication to a global classroom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bärbel Winkler ◽  
John Cook
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
The University

<p>MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are a powerful educational tool, making scientific content available to a large and diverse audience. The MOOC “Making Sense of Climate Science Denial” applies science communication principles derived from cognitive psychology and misconception-based learning in the design of video lectures covering many aspects of climate change. As well as teaching fundamental climate science, the course also presents psychological and critical thinking research into climate science denial, teaching students the most effective techniques for responding to misinformation. A number of the enrolled “students" have been secondary and tertiary educators, who have adopted the course content in their own classes as well as adapted their teaching techniques based on the science communication principles presented in the lectures. The MOOC—developed by John Cook while at the University of Queensland's Global Change Insitute—integrates cognitive psychology, educational research and climate science in an interdisciplinary online course that has had over 40,000 enrolments from over 180 countries since the MOOC was launched in 2015.</p>

scholarly journals Curso Autoformativo de Português para Intercâmbio (CAPI): materiais didáticos baseados nas noções de uso da linguagem e gênero do discurso

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33348
Author(s):  
Kétina Allen da Silva Timboni ◽  
Andrea De Araújo Rupert ◽  
Margarete Schlatter
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Exchange Programs ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Academic Exchange ◽  
The University ◽  
The City ◽  
Selection Of

Curso Autoformativo de Português para Intercâmbio (CAPI) is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that aims to prepare students for academic exchange programs. The didactic materials of CAPI are being designed based on a perspective of language use (Clark, 2000) and discourse genres (Bakhtin, 2011). This paper analyzes the course contents in order to examine how this theoretical construct was put into practice in the selection of themes and texts and in the design of the pedagogical tasks. The materials are coherent with the theoretical perspective in that they foster the learning of Portuguese in use and to use through the interaction with oral and written texts in social practices in which students might participate in the university and the city of destination, thus preparing them for their stay. The addition of explicit reflection on possible implications of interlocutors’ relations to the use of linguistic-discursive and cultural repertoires is suggested.

scholarly journals Challenges in the Creation, Development and Implementation of MOOCs: Web Science Course at the University of Southampton

Comunicar ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (44) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-del-Mar Sánchez-Vera ◽  
Manuel León-Urrutia ◽  
Hugh Davis
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Web Science ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The University ◽  
Participation Index

Massive is one of the distinctive features of MOOCs which differentiate them from other e-learning experiences. This massiveness entails certain possibilities, but also some challenges that must be taken into consideration when designing and implementing a Massive Open Online Course, in relation to context, work progress, learning activities, assessment, and feedback. This document presents an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the massive aspect of MOOCs, and specifically it narrates the experience of creating a MOOC on Web Science, developed at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom) using the new FutureLearn platform, in autumn 2013. In this document, the importance of Web Science as an emerging field is analyzed and its origins explored. The experience gained from the decisions and the work progress developed for the creation and implementation of a specific MOOC is also shared here. The final section of the paper analyses some data from the MOOC in Web Science, including the participation index, the comments and interactions of some participants, tools used, and the organization of facilitation. Challenges involved in running a MOOC related to course design, platform use and course facilitation are also discussed. El carácter masivo es una de las peculiaridades de los MOOC, que lo diferencian de otro tipo de experiencias de aprendizaje en red. Este hecho configura una serie de posibilidades, pero también una serie de retos que hay que tener en cuenta a la hora de diseñar e implementar un curso masivo en red, en relación, por ejemplo, a los contenidos, el proceso de trabajo, las actividades, la evaluación y el feed-back. Este trabajo presenta un análisis de las ventajas y desventajas del carácter masivo de los MOOC y concretamente describe la experiencia de creación de un MOOC sobre Web Science desarrollada en la Universidad de Southampton (Reino Unido) en la plataforma FutureLearn durante el otoño de 2013. Se analiza la importancia del estudio de la rama de Web Science y cómo se originó esta experiencia. También describen las decisiones y el proceso de trabajo desarrollado para la creación e implementación del MOOC en concreto. Se termina este trabajo analizando alguno de los datos que se han obtenido, como el índice de participación (ligeramente elevado respecto a la media de los MOOC), los comentarios de los participantes, la manera de gestionar la facilitación del curso y algunos de los retos que nos encontramos a la hora de gestionar un MOOC, que se relacionan con el diseño del curso, la plataforma que se utiliza y cómo se organiza la facilitación del curso.

scholarly journals Ancient Cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
Michael Blömer ◽  
Francis Brouns ◽  
Alain Duplouy ◽  
Stefan Feuser ◽  
Simon Malmberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Learning Material ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Academic Teaching ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
The University

The paper presents the international, multilingual teaching project 'Ancient Cities'. The contributors explain the production of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) 'Discovering Greek & Roman Cities', its structure and learning material (such as videos, introductory texts, and quizzes), the participants’ varied demographics and their feedback. Furthermore, they show how the course’s materials were successfully implemented in academic teaching at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mining a MOOC

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Milligan ◽  
Patrick Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
21St Century ◽  
21St Century Skills ◽  
Emerging Technology ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
The University

In July 2014, a massive open online course (MOOC) entitled The Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) was offered within the University of Melbourne's programme. Designed as a research engagement and dissemination initiative, the ATC21S MOOC enrolled 18,000 education practitioners, predominantly interested in teaching and assessment of complex 21st century skills. This chapter describes the experience of developing and teaching in the MOOC, and of learning through it. The authors suggest areas for ongoing research, and highlight areas in which MOOCs may stimulate broader change. This chapter commences the dialogue for the opening book section – policy issues in MOOCs Design, and responds to the topic of ‘emerging technology and change management issues for eLearning in the MOOCS environment.'

scholarly journals 2358 Expanding our educational reach: Development of a massive open online course (MOOC)

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (S1) ◽  
pp. 55-56
Author(s):  
Nicole L. O’Dell ◽  
Eric Fredericksen ◽  
Sarah Peyre
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Translational Science ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
The Public ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
The World ◽  
The University ◽  
Research Impacts

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Translational Science 101 aims to: (1) Orient the public to the field of clinical and translational science; (2) Provide a brief overview of each phase of translation (T0-T4); (3) Provide real-world examples of clinical and translational researchers and research projects that have directly impacted patients; (4) Provide learners with information on how they can become involved in clinical and translational science through many different avenues (study volunteer, student, faculty member, or study coordinator). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The primary audience for Translational Science 101 is the general public and media outlets who are interested in learning more about clinical and translational science and how this research is improving population health. The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute created the course in order inform the public about the field of clinical and translational science, orient the public to the types of research that fall under the translational science umbrella, and demonstrate how translational research impacts populations. The Coursera Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform was selected to host the course in order promote the greatest level of exposure and also to expand the educational reach of the UR-CTSI to new external audiences. The course was constructed from scratch utilizing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, an approach that is often utilized to guide the design and construction of asynchronous online coursework. CoI highlights the elements of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence as key factors impacting the educational experience learners have when enrolled in an online course. Discussion boards, embedded quizzes, and end of module quizzes were integrated in to the course design to promote learner engagement, collaborative learning, and interactions among learners. The “storytelling” instructional strategy is the backbone of the Introduction to Clinical Science modules, with various researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center explaining their lines of research and how the research impacts patients and communities. Educational research has shown that there are many benefits to including storytelling in instruction (Green, 2004; Geanellos, 1996), including: (1) Stories create interest: The narrative structure increases learner interest and engagement as they are drawn in to a good story. (2) Stories create a more personal link between the learner and the content: Storytelling allows exploration of shared lived experiences without the demands of practice and allows students to make connections between the shared experiences and their own previous experiences and knowledge. (3) Stories provide a structure for remembering course materials: The inclusion of stories facilitates remembering because it is easier to remember a story rather than a list of disparate facts, and stories evoke vivid mental images which are an excellent cue for recall. (4) Stories are a familiar and accessible form of sharing information: Storytelling aids in overall learner understanding as it is a nonthreatening way of sharing information. Storytelling can also enhance course discussions as students feel more at ease discussing a story than discussing abstract or new concepts that they are still in the process of mastering. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Introduction to Translational Science was launched on October 16, 2017, and is automatically scheduled to begin a new session every 3 weeks. To date the course has reported the following analytics: (1) 2308 learners have visited the course page, (a)476 learners have enrolled in the course; (b) 244 learners are currently active in the course; (c) 11 learners have completed all of the requirements of the course. (2)Learners by Continent, (a) North America 31%; (b) Asia 30%; (c) Europe 23%; (d) Africa 9%;(e) South America 5%; (f) Oceania 2%. (2) Learners by Country: Learners have come from 84 different countries from around the world. The 15 highest enrollment numbers are: (a) USA 25%, (b) India 11%, (c) Egypt 3.7%, (d) United Kingdom 3.4%, (e) Mexico 3.2%, (f) Brazil 2.8%, (g) China 2.8%, (h) Saudi Arabia 2.2%, (i) Spain 2.2%, (j) Germany 1.7%, (k) Russian Federation 1.7%, (l) Malaysia 1.5%, (m) Turkey 1.5%, (n) Italy 1.5%, and (o) Canada 1.5%. (3) Gender: 48% women and 50% men. (4) Age: (a) 13–17: 0.72%, (b) 18–24: 19.6%, (c) 25–34: 44%, (d) 35–44: 14.4%, (e) 45–54: 8.6%, (f) 55–64: 7.2%, (g) 65+: 3.6%. (5)Highest Education Level o Doctorate Degree: 17%; (a) Professional School Degree: 14%; (b) Master’s Degree: 31%; (c) Bachelor’s Degree: 27%; (d) Associate’s Degree: 2.3%; (e) Some College But No Degree: 4.5%; (f) High School Diploma: 3.8%; (g) Some High School: 0.75%. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform offers new, exciting opportunities for CTSA institutions to create courses and trainings that are accessible by learners all over the world. This greatly expands the educational reach that the CTSA education programs can have, moving beyond hub-focused or consortium-focused education to a much broader audience. The expansion of educational reach can promote increased visibility of the CTSA program, encourage collaborations amongst researchers at different institutions, and also inform the public about clinical and translational science, potentially fostering advancement opportunities.

scholarly journals The challenges of launching a MOOC and reusing that material in a blended campus class

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin G. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Online Courses ◽  
Electronic Materials ◽  
Operating Costs ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Qualitative Feedback ◽  
Engineering Statistics ◽  
The University

Online courses are launching daily on thevarious massive open online course (MOOC) platforms,such as Coursera and edX. These electronic resources arecostly to develop and often likened to sunk “capitalcosts”, as contrasted to ongoing “operating costs” of atraditional face-to-face class. To complete this economicanalogy, it makes sense to amortize, or profitably reusethose electronic materials in the university classroom, asa way to achieve a blended class. It is also worthwhilelearning from others' experiences so those large capitaland labour-intensive investments of video and resourcedevelopment are used profitably.There are some shortcomings and counterintuitiveaspects to the fully online class, described in the paper.The experience of the author using these MOOCmaterials in his active-learning flipped class is described.Plentiful advice is available online regarding the blendedclass, and we give feedback and commentary on thevarious successes and failures experienced when runningthis advanced, final-year engineering statistics course.What activities to use during scheduled class-time is oneof the more daunting questions for the instructor flippinga course, so this section is covered in greatest depth.Some student qualitative feedback is interspersedthroughout.

scholarly journals Building capabilities: Using MOOCs to make transitions in work

Open Praxis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
Janet Small ◽  
Andrew Deacon ◽  
Sukaina Walji ◽  
Tasneem Jaffer ◽  
Jeff Jawitz
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Educational Aspirations ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Massive Open Online Course ◽  
Self Development ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

Our research explores the experience of adults looking for flexible online learning opportunities that intersect with university study. We interviewed 58 people living in 14 African countries who have taken a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) developed by the University of Cape Town. The interview data reveals diverse uses of MOOCs in workplace contexts. While only two of those we interviewed articulated a goal of making a career change, there were many more taking a MOOC for some form of self-development within their current profession. There were also cases where people had not yet identified a new career, but believed the knowledge and skills would support future transitions. Our intentions for exploring the expectations of MOOC takers regionally is to improve our understanding of how universities, following open practices, could support the educational aspirations of this audience through the provision of flexible online learning opportunities.

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