Epistemic Vigilance

Project Manager: Claire LeBovidge (cleb@upenn.edu)

Project Description: This project is designed to help students navigate scientific misinformation encountered in everyday life. Students and teachers engage in a classroom activity where they examine four different sources addressing energy drinks and their effects on mental health. Students develop shared class criteria of credible source characteristics and apply these criteria to analyze each source. The activity also introduces key concepts such as review studies, confirmation bias, and cherry-picking. Following class discussions about scientific practices (e.g., the peer review process and synthesizing evidence), students revisit their evaluations of sources. Ultimately, this project aims to enhance students' ability to critically assess scientific claims and sources, while also increasing their awareness of how personal biases and socioemotional factors can influence their judgment.