We missed a full recording when the class met on Tuesday and reviewed the fact-checking assignment. I was unable to record some of the same points later that day. However, the main topics were completing the source evaluation on the knowledge paper and discussing your first class survey.

We reviewed the source-evaluation component because students sometimes forget that step in the assignment. Each step, identifying facts and opinions, checking the information, and evaluating the sources, is a third of that grade. When it comes to source evaluation, you are expected to evaluate each source clearly using the methods in the course guide. As suggested in the example and instructions for Blog Post 7, when evaluating an individual source you should address each part of the relevant evaluation method clearly and explicitly and provide a clear overall evaluation of that source.

You should repeat this process for each source in your classmate’s paper.  The 5 W’s is effective for websites and general sources of information, CRAAP works well for academic sources, and the Fake News test works well for news sources. You do not need to evaluate any sources you use to check uncited information. You do not need to evaluate a news source that is simply used to assert the newsworthiness of a topic instead of supporting specific information about the topic. And, when trying to spot fake news, you can simply:

1. Consider the source
2. Do a quick author check
3. Check the Date
4. Check your biases
5. Check a few sources in the article
6. Ensure it is not intended as satire

Getting additional information on the whole story and extensively consulting other sources or a fact-checking site can be extremely helpful when evaluating one individual story. However, it is not necessary for this assignment.

We also discussed the initial course survey. Thanks so much to those who participated. Any extra credit you earn during the semester will be added to your official course grade at the end of the semester. Each survey is worth one half-point extra credit, and you will also be able to provide official class feedback to the university for an additional point of extra credit.

When I discussed the qualitative results with Dr. A, my co-researcher in Teaching Innovations and Learning Technologies, your concern about the course workload stood out. At this point in the semester, it is difficult to make major changes or extensively revamp the course. However, when you do the next Knowledge Paper in early November, I will shorten the minimum length by a page and require only two subtopics. I know that may not seem like it will help a lot, but I hope it provides some relief.

Additionally, I shared an Activities by Module report with students in Zoom. It shows the estimates that I made on how long these assignments should take. I encourage you to reply to this post with feedback on that report. Did I underestimate or overestimate anything? For most of the activities, I tried to be generous with the time allotted.

While the Tuesday recording was paused, I reviewed the first and current modules with those who attended. We discussed how some modules had more overall time allotted within the module because the activity or assignment is actually meant to be accomplished in a different module. You can see this in Module 2, which includes the process of gathering information for each of your beat stories even though you only had to gather information for your second story in that module.

You might also notice that in the current module, number four, there is an hour set aside for the Blog 7 post and eight hours each set aside for both peer reviews or fact-checks. However, your second peer review is much later in the semester. And, while your post may take longer than an hour, the bigger question is whether or not nine hours is enough time to complete the post, due Tuesday, and the full peer review, due October 20.

As you review this material and complete the current module, I look forward to meeting with each of you to discuss your progress at this point in the semester and clarify any issues or provide specific feedback on your articles.