Beyond the Headlines: Teaching Confirmation Bias in Media

When I was teaching middle school, I was fortunate to collaborate with several ELA teachers who welcomed me into their classes each week to integrate media literacy lessons. One of these lessons, inspired by KQED and PBS, features Host Myles Bess who breaks down research on why our brains can easily mistake fake news for real news. The lesson draws heavily on their “Above the Noise” videos and educational resources. One video, in particular, delves into cognitive bias and confirmation bias, exploring how these mental processes affect our perception of information. You can find the entire Educator Guide from KQED here.

KQED is a great resource for lessons and content on a variety of topics.  I recommend you take a look at what they have to offer.  The main education website can be found here.  Above the Noise is what of my favorite video series to use with students.  If it is a controversial topic there will be a video in the collection.  From the environment, criminal justice, and voting to name a few.  A list of all the topics in Above the Noise can be found here.

Using the Educator Guide, the video, and the Gorilla Experiment, I created a Hyperdoc for my students to complete. This approach was very successful. The benefits of using a Hyperdoc include:

• Students can work at their own pace
• Being online allowed me to focus on those students that needed help
• I was able to integrate audio recordings for text, video, and other resources, which allowed for increased processing time
• I also was able to provided a variety of accommodations for students’ needs

The Hyperdoc and two Google Forms, which you can copy using the links below, guide students through the content. I divided the Gorilla Experiment into two parts, integrating the videos into each Google Form. Additionally, I included a short podcast by Caitlin Dewey discussing the end of her “What Was Fake On The Internet This Week” column. This podcast highlights the rise of fake news and its impact on information sharing.

Feel free to use and adapt these resources for your own classes with credit given.

Resources

Confirmation Bias HyperDoc: Make a Copy
Google Form #1: Make a Copy
Google Form #2: Make a Copy
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