Abstract:

Although propaganda, false information, and misinformation are not new, fake news a term used to describe a combination of these concepts has garnered significant attention since the 2016 US presentational election. What makes fake news unique and differentiates it from the propaganda and misinformation of the past is the means by which it is transmitted. It is believed that fake news is largely conveyed vis-à-vis social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Although there is a consensus that fake news can have a real impact on the perceptions of the general public, little information exists about its impact on Faculty and students in a classroom context in higher education. In an effort to understand how the phenomenon of fake news was impacting Faculty and students, the researchers conducted a survey of Faculty at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and their attitudes towards fake news in the classroom. The survey focused on the problem and persistence of fake news within scholarly disciplines and higher education classrooms. Respondents were asked to define fake news, comment on the extent of its impact upon their discipline, and how they addressed it in their classes and taught it to their students. In addition, the researchers were also curious about how teaching faculty used the library at CSUN and Academic Librarians to teach their students about how to critically engage with and evaluate information. The following presentation will present the results of this survey and the resulting data analysis.

Keywords:

Fake news, higher education, propaganda, social media, information literacy.