This week, the Illinois Civics Hub was delighted to welcome back a fan-favorite, Dr. Joel Breakstone, Director of the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) to discuss their new initiative around Civic Online Reasoning in Science. This webinar aligned perfectly with current and societal events in the news with President Biden’s attendance at an international climate change conference and COVID-19 vaccines being approved for children aged 5-12.

Scientific misinformation abounds online. Dr. Breakstone shared research and resources to help educators improve students’ ability to evaluate scientific information on the internet and incorporate Civic Online Reasoning in the classroom where students ask:

• Who’s behind the information?
• What’s the evidence?
• What do other sources say?

If you missed this or any of the previous webinars, visit the ICH Webinar Archives to design your own on-demand PD. For those interested in news literacy, last month’s webinar with the News Literacy Project on Avoiding the Rabbit Hole: Teaching Concepts in Conspiratorial Thinking without Perpetuating It might be of interest to you.

SHEG is a valued civic learning partner of the Illinois Civics Hub and was featured earlier this year in a webinar on Civic Online Reasoning Across the Curriculum that highlighted how SHEG worked with teachers at Neuqua Valley High School, an Illinois Democracy School, to provide scaffolded supports for teachers across grade-levels to lay a foundation for civic online reasoning skills through freshman social studies and science courses.

For more tools to help students to be wise consumers and producers of information, visit the Illinois Civics Hub Media Literacy Toolkit for resources from SHEG and other civics learning partners.

The Illinois Civics Hub and Democracy Schools Network host free after-school PD with our civic learning partners from the Civic education Research Group, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Teach Different, and more. A description for each webinar and information to register for professional development credits is available on the Illinois Civics Hub Professional Development Calendar.