The Effects of the Experience of Media Education and the Media Literacy on Critical Thinking Disposition

<span lang="EN-US">It is important to develop a critical perspective in terms of interpreting the messages to be given to the individuals through media and questioning the authenticity and content of these messages. It is therefore necessary to train the individuals called media literate who can critically perceive and evaluate the information conveyed through the media to increase the positive effects of the media and to reduce their negative effects as much as possible. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of the pre-service teachers’ critical thinking disposition on their media literacy. The study employed the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research methods. In order to collect data, a personal information form, the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, and the Media Literacy Level Determination Scale were used as the data collection tools. As a result of the study, the critical thinking disposition of the pre-service teachers was found to be medium and their media literacy was found to be high. The critical thinking disposition was found to be varying significantly depending on their gender and grade level; their media literacy was found to be varying depending on grade level but not on gender. There is a positive but low relationship between critical thinking disposition and media literacy and critical thinking is a significant predictor of media literacy.</span>

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Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc11040138 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 138

Author(s):

Raluca Buturoiu ◽

Georgiana Udrea ◽

Denisa-Adriana Oprea ◽

Nicoleta Corbu

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Critical Thinking ◽

News Media ◽

Perceived Usefulness ◽

Conspiracy Theories ◽

Critical Thinking Disposition ◽

News Consumption ◽

The Media ◽

Thinking Disposition

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Activities Supporting the Development of Media Literacy in European and Slovak Context

Current Issues of Mass Communication ◽

10.17721/2312-5160.2014.16.5-15 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 5-15

Author(s):

Dana Petranova ◽

Norbert Vrabec ◽

Slava Mazakova

Keyword(s):

Critical Thinking ◽

Media Literacy ◽

Literacy Development ◽

Professional Training ◽

Media Education ◽

European Policy ◽

European Context ◽

Life Long Learning ◽

The Media

The development of media competence and critical thinking towards media is an integral part of the European policy in the sphere of education and professional training. The issues of media education and media literacy are reflected in several consecutive documents that decisively influenced the development of research in this area. The submitted study presents the analysis of the current European trends and the prospects of media literacy development. The possibilities of raising the media competencies in the process of life-long learning is considered. The Slovak dimension of education and research in the area of media education is presented. The main aim of the study is to analyze the current conditions, projects and possibilities for the media literacy development in the Slovak and European context.

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