In this article, we trace the throughline of conspiracy thinking from QAnon to Pastel Q to conspirituality (a term that combines "conspiracy" + "spirituality"). We also explore how many in the wellness community have monetized conspirituality, using conspiracy theories about health, vaccines, COVID-19, and more to connect with…

Recent surveys suggest that the anti-Asian attacks that began during the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to occur. One of the ways school leaders can respond to this problem is by implementing ethnic studies courses. Unfortunately, organizers of social movements sometimes thwart efforts to increase ethnic studies courses, claiming that this type of…

After millions of American schoolchildren fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic, some states and school districts are looking at year-round school calendars as a way to recoup lost learning. Typically, year-round calendars don't increase learning time but rather spread school days more equally across 12 months, with a shorter summer vacation…

In a high-risk environment, such as during an epidemic, people are exposed to a large amount of information, both accurate and inaccurate. Following exposure, they typically discuss the information with each other. Here, we assess the effects of such conversations on beliefs. A sample of 126 M-Turk participants rated the accuracy of a set of…

Misinformation related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has the potential to suppress preventive behaviors that mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Early research on the behavioral consequences of COVID-19 misinformation is mixed, and most rely on cross-sectional data. We examined whether believing in COVID-19 misinformation at one time point…

Misinformation has been a pressing issue since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening our ability to effectively act on the crisis. Nevertheless, little is known about the actual effects of fake news on behavioural intentions. Does exposure to or belief in misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines affect people's intentions to receive…

People are motivated to maintain consistency between importantly held identities, preferences, and judgments. In political contexts, motivated reasoning can help explain a wide range of political phenomena, including extremism, polarization, and misperceptions. However, recent findings in psychology have challenged this account. These perspectives…

The COVID-19 public health emergency has been characterized by an abundance of data in the form of numbers and charts. Although these data are readily available, there have been challenges associated with their interpretation--exacerbated by generally low numeracy rates. Consequently, people may underestimate the speed at which the disease spreads…

As part of a design-based research effort into disrupting the spread of COVID-19 misinformation, we have iteratively designed, developed, and evaluated a learning intervention intended for public audiences. In this paper we describe the design principles we created to guide our applied research into education on the topic of online misinformation.…

The government's policy of helping pupils and students 'catch up' with 'lost learning' misconceives learning, and endorses pedagogical approaches based on this misconception. Whether or not to learn lies with the learner, so teaching is more properly understood as an act of faith in people rather than of delivery to them. Such a view has…

Conspiracy theory (CT) beliefs have become an important policy-relevant research area since the events of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing interest has been directed towards strategies that might reduce people's susceptibility to conspiratorial beliefs. In this study, we examined whether encouraging a stronger orientation towards critical…

This article outlines the results from the research on primary and secondary school pupils' conceptualisation of microorganisms. It has been observed from the past few decades that one conceptual model is dominant, in which microorganisms are considered harmful, disease-causing and living in dirty environments. These misconceptions are only likely…

Objective: To explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 in university affiliates to inform future COVID-19 policies and practices. Participants: Undergraduate students, graduate students and university employees at a large public university. Methods: Semi-structured focus groups and interviews were conducted between…

As a Canadian mathematics educator, I have a vested interest in Canadian mathematics education matters. After all, to me, Canadian mathematics education matters. Knowing this little factoid, imagine my horror when it recently dawned on me that, no matter where I looked during this COVID-19 pandemic, all I saw was flippant treatment towards the…

We discuss a case study on how misinformation regarding COVID-19 health outcomes can arise due to confounding. Data from the UK on mortality rates suggest that people who have some level of vaccination and contract the Delta variant of COVID are twice as likely to die than those who are unvaccinated. Age, however, a confounding variable, when…