Critically Evaluating Non-Scholarly Sources Through Team-Based Learning

Non-scholarly sources of information (e.g., non-peer-reviewed popular press and mass media articles) have been shown to shape individual opinions about global climate change (GCC) and subsequently reinforce those opinions by isolating individuals from dissenting viewpoints. The diversity of non-scholarly material surrounding the public GCC debate provides an opportunity to critically evaluate these sources and demonstrate to students the dangers of citing non-scholarly sources. In this chapter’s activity, students will be assigned readings as homework, answer questions about the readings individually and with a small team, and then work with their teams to understand broader issues raised by the readings. After completing this activity, students should be able to (1) know that non-scholarly sources need to be critically evaluated because they may not be reliable, (2) recognize that all sources of information are potentially biased, and (3) discuss, in a general sense, how and why GCC science can be misreported and/or misconstrued by non-scholarly sources.