Misinformation and disinformation about science have reached alarming levels. Here, we summarize a recent expert report, "Science Education in an Age of Misinformation," that outlines what science education can do to address this problem and, given the urgency, has to do. We highlight the significance of teaching how the social practices…

Misinformation often continues to influence people's reasoning even after it has been corrected. Therefore, an important aim of applied cognition research is to identify effective measures to counter misinformation. One frequently recommended but hitherto insufficiently tested strategy is source discreditation, that is, attacking the credibility…

Background and Objectives: Short video platforms have become one of the most common methods for disseminating medical information on social media. We analysed gastrointestinal (GI)-related content on TikTok, focusing on the creators' background, patterns of content utilisation and overall content quality and understandability, using validated…

This study interviewed adolescents about their exposure to and perceptions of substance-related social media content and substance use prevention messages. Participants (analytic sample N = 30, age 14-18 years, in CA, USA, 40% male) were recruited from Instagram and Facebook for online semi-structured interviews. An interview transcript coding…

Images generated using artificial intelligence (AI) have become increasingly realistic, sparking discussions and fears about an impending "infodemic" where we can no longer trust what we see on the internet. In this preregistered study, we examine whether providing specific media literacy tips about how to spot AI-generated images can…

The efficacy of fake news corrections in improving memory and belief accuracy may depend on how often adults see false information before it is corrected. Two experiments tested the competing predictions that repeating fake news before corrections will either impair or improve memory and belief accuracy. These experiments also examined whether…

This study discusses the findings of a survey designed to capture students' allocations of credibility to online materials resembling social media posts. The survey respondents were 1,019 undergraduate students at a medium-sized Canadian university. The students came from a range of programs and years of study in those programs. The survey…

Misinformation exposure can cause inaccurate beliefs and memories. These unwanted outcomes can be mitigated when misinformation reminders--veracity-labeled statements that repeat earlier-read false information--appear before corrections with true information. The present experiment used eye tracking to examine the role of attention while encoding…

This paper catalogs previous articles in "American Biology Teacher" on various aspects of teaching about science misinformation and identifies which of the core concepts are addressed in each. A concise overview of relevant themes is provided, along with how the concepts align with the Next Generation Science Standards. This may serve as…

Students will analyze article excerpts that demonstrate how the opioid crisis was fueled by a five-sentence "letter to the editor" that was uncritically cited as "evidence" that opioid addiction was rare. Indirectly this activity demonstrates why ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence platforms should never be…

Media literacy has been gaining traction as a part of higher education curricula to support learning as educational institutions are recognizing the importance of developing students' media literacy skills. However, students' emotional reactions towards media literacy can be vastly different and, in turn, may impact their perception of truth and…

The rapid spread of health misinformation on social media poses significant challenges to public health crisis. Mpox misinformation has portrayed it as exclusively a sexually transmitted infection, resulting in misperceptions about infection risk and stigmatization of affected groups. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly impacted the field of education, particularly in health sciences, where tools such as ChatGPT are increasingly utilised. ChatGPT, powered by AI, presents both opportunities and challenges that warrant investigation. This qualitative study explored the perceptions, experiences, and expectations of…

In this paper, we engage with five Swedish universities' discursive articulation of, and responses to, an alleged post-truth crisis in communication, aimed at the public. Taking discourse theory as our point of departure, the aim is to analyse how universities are trying to maintain or restore trustworthiness against a backdrop of problems with…

The spread of fake news poses a global challenge to society, as this deliberately false information reduce trust in democracy, manipulate opinions, and negatively affect people's health. Educational research and practice must address this issue by developing and evaluating solutions to counter fake news. A promising approach in this regard is the…