03/25/2023
We are drowning in misinformation. Yet information informs our decisions and actions, so believing something that isn’t true can have real consequences. How do we know what’s reliable?
As a science educator, my primary goals are to teach students the essential skills of critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy. Helping them understand the process of science and how to draw reasonable conclusions from the available evidence can empower them to make better decisions and protect them from being fooled or harmed.
These skills are difficult to master, so I created a toolkit that provides a structured and systematic way to evaluate claims. The toolkit is summarized by the (hopefully memorable!) acronym FLOATER, which stands for Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative explanations, Tentative, Evidence, and Replicability.
Think of FLOATER as a life-saving device. By using the seven rules in the toolkit we can protect ourselves from drowning in a sea of bad claims.
There is more to FLOATER than can be included in this post. So please visit my website for more, and feel free to share with whomever might benefit from it.
-Skeptical Inquirer: skepticalinquirer.org/2022/02/a-life-preserver-for-staying-afloat-in-a-sea-of-misinformation/
-Thinking Is Power: thinkingispower.com/floater-a-tool-kit-for-evaluating-claims/
-News Literacy Project Checkology lesson: thinkingispower.com/evaluating-science-based-claims/
-Skeptical Inquirer Presents lecture: thinkingispower.com/thinking-is-power-on-skeptical-inquirer-presents/
