By Lisa W. Kay, Eastern Kentucky University
Information
Out of concern for students’ ability to evaluate information, a team of statistics faculty has been working to create a module on statistics and data integrity. Students need to be able to recognize well done, legitimate research or journalism; recognize fake news; recognize satirical websites; and evaluate everything in between. There are methods available online, such as the CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose). The team of faculty came up with SCAM: Sources, Conditions, Accuracy, and Motive. The PowerPoint presentation that faculty members have been using, examples from a question bank that is under development, and some assessment results will be described. The use of the data and statistics integrity module in two different interdisciplinary honors courses will also be discussed; in one of the courses, the author teamed up with two librarians to present a comprehensive lesson, which included an activity, on evaluating information.