Fake News in Science and Education

Fake News in Science and Education
Author: Rolf Arnold
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2019-07-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1475850506

The debate over the facts is in full swing. Many people do not merely invent facts, but also feel the need to spread them. The lies and fake news that serve the cause of populism is rightly appalling. Deliberate disinformation has become a means of controlling politics and public opinion. The purpose of this book is to oppose this up-and-coming phenomenon of “weak thought.” It is a passionate plea for a new Age of Enlightenment. Scientists tend to be much more skeptical about “truths”. In the process of formulating evidenced-based reasoning, undisputed facts are not deliberately hidden, but put forwards for open debate. The free expression of opinion, a free press, and the freedom of research and teaching guarantee the discussion and debate needed to argue the factual evidence in a democracy. The effectiveness of education is an important issue to consider. Learning has always been a way to deal with uncertainty. An important aspect of education in our modern world is about preparing learners to deal with change. It is a kind of preparation for the insecurity of not knowing what is coming and an openness that threatens to withdraw the proven and the validated.

Misinformation and Fake News in Education

Misinformation and Fake News in Education
Author: Panayiota Kendeou
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2019-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 164113853X

Today, like no other time in our history, the threat of misinformation and disinformation is at an all-time high. This is also true in the field of Education. Misinformation refers to false information shared by a source who intends to inform, but is unaware that the information is false, such as when an educator who recommends the use of a learning strategy that is not actually beneficial. Disinformation is false information shared by a source who has the intent to deceive and is aware that the information is false, such as when a politician claim that high-stakes testing will fix K-12 education when in fact there is no evidence to support this practice. This book provides recent examples of how misinformation and disinformation manifest in the field of education and remedies. Section One, Susceptibility to Misinformation, focuses on factors that influence the endorsement and persistence of misinformation. This section will include chapters on: the appeal and persistence of “zombie concepts” in education; learner and message factors that underlie the adoption of misinformation in the context of the newly proposed Likelihood of Adoption Model; cognitive and motivational factors that contribute to misinformation revision failure; cognitive biases and bias transfer in criminal justice training; the influence of conspiratorial and political ideation on the use of misinformation; and, how educational culture and policy has historically given rise to quackery in education. Section Two, Practices in the Service of Reducing Misinformation in Education, focuses on practices aimed at reducing the impact of misinformation, and includes chapters on: misinformation in the education of children with ASD and its influence on educational and intervention practices; the promise of using dynamical systems and computational linguistics to model the spread of misinformation; systematic attempts to reduce misinformation in psychology and education both in and out of the classroom; and the potential perils of constructivism in the classroom, as well as the teaching of critical thinking. Each section has a discussion chapter that explicates emerging themes and lessons learned and fruitful avenues for future research.

The Psychology of Fake News

The Psychology of Fake News
Author: Rainer Greifeneder
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2020-08-13
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1000179052

This volume examines the phenomenon of fake news by bringing together leading experts from different fields within psychology and related areas, and explores what has become a prominent feature of public discourse since the first Brexit referendum and the 2016 US election campaign. Dealing with misinformation is important in many areas of daily life, including politics, the marketplace, health communication, journalism, education, and science. In a general climate where facts and misinformation blur, and are intentionally blurred, this book asks what determines whether people accept and share (mis)information, and what can be done to counter misinformation? All three of these aspects need to be understood in the context of online social networks, which have fundamentally changed the way information is produced, consumed, and transmitted. The contributions within this volume summarize the most up-to-date empirical findings, theories, and applications and discuss cutting-edge ideas and future directions of interventions to counter fake news. Also providing guidance on how to handle misinformation in an age of “alternative facts”, this is a fascinating and vital reading for students and academics in psychology, communication, and political science and for professionals including policy makers and journalists.

Data Science for Fake News

Data Science for Fake News
Author: Deepak P
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2021-04-29
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3030626962

This book provides an overview of fake news detection, both through a variety of tutorial-style survey articles that capture advancements in the field from various facets and in a somewhat unique direction through expert perspectives from various disciplines. The approach is based on the idea that advancing the frontier on data science approaches for fake news is an interdisciplinary effort, and that perspectives from domain experts are crucial to shape the next generation of methods and tools. The fake news challenge cuts across a number of data science subfields such as graph analytics, mining of spatio-temporal data, information retrieval, natural language processing, computer vision and image processing, to name a few. This book will present a number of tutorial-style surveys that summarize a range of recent work in the field. In a unique feature, this book includes perspective notes from experts in disciplines such as linguistics, anthropology, medicine and politics that will help to shape the next generation of data science research in fake news. The main target groups of this book are academic and industrial researchers working in the area of data science, and with interests in devising and applying data science technologies for fake news detection. For young researchers such as PhD students, a review of data science work on fake news is provided, equipping them with enough know-how to start engaging in research within the area. For experienced researchers, the detailed descriptions of approaches will enable them to take seasoned choices in identifying promising directions for future research.

Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online

Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online
Author: Chiluwa, Innocent E.
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 677
Release: 2019-06-28
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1522585370

The growing amount of false and misleading information on the internet has generated new concerns and quests for research regarding the study of deception and deception detection. Innovative methods that involve catching these fraudulent scams are constantly being perfected, but more material addressing these concerns is needed. The Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online provides broad perspectives, practices, and case studies on online deception. It also offers deception-detection methods on how to address the challenges of the various aspects of deceptive online communication and cyber fraud. While highlighting topics such as behavior analysis, cyber terrorism, and network security, this publication explores various aspects of deceptive behavior and deceptive communication on social media, as well as new methods examining the concepts of fake news and misinformation, character assassination, and political deception. This book is ideally designed for academicians, students, researchers, media specialists, and professionals involved in media and communications, cyber security, psychology, forensic linguistics, and information technology.

Science on the Ropes

Science on the Ropes
Author: Carlos Elías
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2019-05-15
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030129780

In this controversial essay, Carlos Elías addresses the worldwide phenomenon that is threatening the scientific and economic progress of Western countries. The rise and influence of magic and irrationality in the media, in social networks and at universities is a disturbing phenomenon: many Western students no longer want to pursue STEM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, and Math) careers. This lucid and well-written book addresses one of the key issues of public debate: the deteriorating state of science in Western countries and their governments, and its rise in Asian countries. The author compares two distinct models: the Spanish or Latin model, which closed the door on science with the Counter-Reformation, and that employed by a second group of countries where science was encouraged. Elías suggests that a similar development could now be taking place between Western countries (where the press, television and social science academics are becoming increasingly critical towards science) and Asia, where most prime ministers (and other politicians) are scientists or engineers. This book is intended for STEM educators (both at secondary schools and universities), scientists and academics interested in scientific culture in the era of fake news.

Disinformation in Open Online Media

Disinformation in Open Online Media
Author: Max van Duijn
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2020-10-20
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3030618412

Chapters “Identifying Political Sentiments on YouTube: A Systematic Comparison regarding the Accuracy of Recurrent Neural Network and Machine Learning Models”, “Do Online Trolling Strategies Differ in Political and Interest Forums: Early Results” and “Students Assessing Digital News and Misinformation” are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Research Anthology on Fake News, Political Warfare, and Combatting the Spread of Misinformation

Research Anthology on Fake News, Political Warfare, and Combatting the Spread of Misinformation
Author: Management Association, Information Resources
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 653
Release: 2020-10-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1799872920

With recent headlines around fake news from world leaders and around presidential elections, Twitter and other social media platforms being pressured to detect and label misinformation posted on their platforms, as well as misinformation around COVID-19 and its vaccine, the world has seen an increase in protests, policy changes, and even chaos surrounding this information. This spread of misinformation, when left unchecked, can turn fiction into fact and result in a mass misconception of the truth that shapes opinions, creates false narratives, and impacts multiple facets of society in potentially detrimental ways, indicating a need for the latest research on how the devastating impacts of this trend, how to discern facts from misinformation, as well as more information on technological advancements in fake news detection The Research Anthology on Fake News, Political Warfare, and Combatting the Spread of Misinformation is a compilation of the most comprehensive, previously published, and highly cited research from prestigious institutions including Columbia University and Stanford University, USA, which focuses on understanding fake news, how it spreads, its negative effects, and current solutions being investigated. While highlighting topics such as fake news, trending conspiracy theories, media distrust, political warfare, and detection methods, this book is ideally intended for practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the continuing surge of fake news and its, at times, dangerous results.

The Anatomy of Fake News

The Anatomy of Fake News
Author: Nolan Higdon
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0520975847

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, concerns about fake news have fostered calls for government regulation and industry intervention to mitigate the influence of false content. These proposals are hindered by a lack of consensus concerning the definition of fake news or its origins. Media scholar Nolan Higdon contends that expanded access to critical media literacy education, grounded in a comprehensive history of fake news, is a more promising solution to these issues. The Anatomy of Fake News offers the first historical examination of fake news that takes as its goal the effective teaching of critical news literacy in the United States. Higdon employs a critical-historical media ecosystems approach to identify the producers, themes, purposes, and influences of fake news. The findings are then incorporated into an invaluable fake news detection kit. This much-needed resource provides a rich history and a promising set of pedagogical strategies for mitigating the pernicious influence of fake news.