Critical Thinking Credibility

Program Support Notes by: Reproducing these support notes Lisa Herd BA, B Teach (Hons) You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your Executive Producer: reference. Further copying or printing must be Simon Garner B.Ed, Dip reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act Management 1968.

For Teachers

Introduction

To be an informed and proactive participant in society, one must be a critical thinker. We should never accept what we are told without question. Critical thinkers need to be able to determine the credibility of evidence and arguments, but how does one determine credibility? This informative program is part of the Critical Thinking series. It introduces the learner to the key criteria for determining credibility. Motive, expertise and the ability to perceive are some of the criteria applied to numerous examples and an interesting historical case study. Experts including Dr. Roy van den Brink Budgen explain these concepts and challenge us to develop further our own critical thinking skills.

Timeline

00:00:00 00:10:21 Credibility of evidence – Key ideas

00:00:00 00:15:44 Case Study – Thompson and Bywaters – How credible do you think the evidence is?

00:00:00 00:13:24 Case Study – Analysis

00:00:00 00:00:00 Activities

Recommended Resources http://www.criticalthinking.org/ http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp http://assess-systems.com.au/ability/watson.php

2 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

Critical Thinking Credibility

Student Worksheet

Initiate Prior Learning

1. As a class, discuss how you know if something you have been told is true and reliable. Record the answers on the board.

2. Class Activity on Memory / Perception

Sit in a circle. Each person will need a pen and a piece of paper to write on.

The teacher displays 10 - 15 objects in the centre of the circle (e.g. a ball, pen, magazine cut out of someone‟s face, a chocolate bar, etc).

You have 30 seconds to try and memorise the objects.

Your teacher will then take the objects away and give you 2 minutes to record the objects you remember being on display. Try remembering as many items and details about them as possible.

Use this activity to discuss perception and how various people may view the same event but remember / forget different aspects and report the details differently. This means that although people may have a firsthand account of an event, their different perceptions may affect the credibility of their accounts. .

3. Class Activity- “Pass the Message”

Sit in a circle.

One person is to come up with a long sentence / a couple of short sentences.

The person is to whisper the sentence to the person to his/her right. In turn, each person whispers the sentence to the person on their right so it is passed around the circle. It is important that people pass on what they hear from memory and they are not reminded if they forget.

Ask the final person to say aloud what they heard. Usually, the wording and / or meaning of the sentence is changed as it is passed on.

Use this activity to discuss how word of mouth is not reliable evidence on its own. Critical thinkers conduct further investigations to see if what they hear is true.

3 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

Critical Thinking Credibility

Active Viewing Guide

1. What is credibility?

______

2. What are criteria?

______

3. What are the sub-criteria for motive?

______

4. What does „the ability to perceive‟ mean?

______

5. What are important factors for expertise?

______

6. What is the name of the expert who critically analyses the case study?

______

4 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

Critical Thinking Credibility

7. Which criterion does scientific evidence come under?

______

8. What is a deliberate bias?

______

9. If all the evidence is not there, what is looked for?

______

10. Do the criteria always work?

______

5 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

Critical Thinking Credibility

Extension Activities

1. In pairs, select a television or magazine advertisement and investigate the credibility of the product and its advertisement. You will need to conduct some research on the product. Use the criteria for judging credibility as a guide / structure for your research. Produce a report on your findings and present them, along with the advertisement, to your class.

2. Newspapers appear to present factual news. Why would a newspaper have motive bias?

3. Watch a current affairs program and select an item to critically analyse for credibility. What is the motive of this news item? What expertise is presented? Whose perceptions are presented? Whose perceptions are not presented? Overall, do you think this current affairs item is credible? Write a one page report explaining your findings.

4. Discuss the following statement in essay format. Nothing is totally credible.

5. Write a report explaining the core principles of credibility.

6. Think about a situation you have been in where you were not sure if the information / evidence you were presented with was credible (it could be something someone told you, an account of an event you heard about, some gossip, something you read in the newspaper, etc). How did not knowing the truth make you feel? What did you do?

6 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

Critical Thinking Credibility

Suggested Student Responses

Active Viewing Guide

1. What is credibility? Believability

2. What are criteria? Benchmarks against which we judge something.

3. What are the sub-criteria for motive? Bias Vested interest Neutrality Ability to perceive

4. What does „the ability to perceive‟ mean? It means actually being there yourself, seeing or hearing for yourself rather than relying on what you are told.

5. What are important factors for expertise? The expertise must be: Relevant Up to date Based on adequate knowledge and training

6. What is the name of the expert who critically analyses the case study? Dr Roy van den Brink Budgen

7. Which criterion does scientific evidence come under? Expertise

8. What is a deliberate bias? Vested interest

9. If all the evidence is not there, what is looked for? The most plausible outcome

10. Do the criteria always work? No, sometimes they clash with each other. They inform our decision.

7 © Video Education Australasia Pty Ltd 2011 Reproducing these support notes You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.