Preparation

The exercise unit focuses on individual aspects of representation as well as the interpretation of information. There are various suggestions for the individual topics. The teacher should familiarise himself with the contents in advance and select the topics that are suitable for his group of participants. 

If all topics are to be covered, the required teaching time may well extend to 2 x 45 minutes. 

Method / Process description

In this exercise, learners are asked to consider the following topics: 

• How the type of reporting transports opinions (influence through reporting).
• How quickly false conclusions are drawn (correlation vs. causality).
• How each one of us can be influenced or deceived even unconsciously. (Understanding about one's own perception)

Part 1 Influence through reporting

In the first part of the exercise, learners should become aware of how the type of reporting influences the image conveyed to the recipient. 

• Different perspectives
  • The website Allsides.com compares reporting in different media with a corresponding political slant. 
  • The site is only available in English and is very focused on the USA. Nevertheless, it is suitable as a basis for discussion about the political colouring of media and the effect of different interpretations of individual events.
  • https://www.allsides.com/
• The nature of reporting
  • The learners should look at the different types of reporting.
  • It is a good idea to take a closer look at the coverage of a certain topic on different websites and to compare them. The idea is to compare the websites of public service organisations, private news portals, tabloid magazines and other media sites. 
  • News programmes from individual television stations can also be compared according to criteria such as presentation, tone, reporting, etc.).
  • Alternatively, the comparison can be extended to print media or as homework over several days or weeks, e.g. to follow the coverage of a specific topic.
  • Reference questions:
    • What is the presentation of the information? (sober/factual or rather gaudy?)
    • Which headline is used? (rather objective or lurid?)
    • How is the text written and does it take a stand? 
  • Alternatively, websites such as https://bildblog.de/  or https://www.kobuk.at/  can be considered. 
• Task Photo Alley 
  • Objective: The learners playfully try out different perspectives on their surroundings (school building, city, ...) and realise how much creative power the photographer has with regard to the representation of seemingly objective facts and that many things can also be viewed differently. 
  • Task: Photographs (3-5 each) are to be taken of the respective location. The learners are divided into groups and each group is assigned a perspective. The task is to make the place look like the chosen motifs and details. It is important that the groups do not know each other's tasks.
  • After all the groups are together again, the results are presented and the groups are given the task of guessing the scenarios of the other groups. 
  • Example of possible scenarios: The rooms of the educational institute should be staged so that they look like...
    • a high-tech educational institution
    • a run-down building
    • a museum
    • a sustainable business in the countryside
    • ....

The topic can be explored in more depth via the exercises on the website http://ethicalmediatraining.eu/ . 

Part2 Correlation vs. causality

Opinions and world views are also formed through the interpretation of facts. Especially alleged proofs of conspiracy theories are based on misinterpretations of different information. People like to compare different facts with each other and create a logical link. 

This exercise uses examples to show how easy it is to draw false conclusions through causal connections. The teacher introduces the individual examples and discusses possible interpretations in a short discussion. 

• Example1: There is a positive correlation between the amount of ice cream sold and the number of sunburns. So the more ice cream is sold, the more people have sunburns.
  • Wrong interpretation: There are more sunburns BECAUSE more ice cream is sold. 
  • The number of sunburns is influenced by solar radiation. This in turn leads to an increased outdoor temperature. In summer it is warmer outside and people buy more ice cream than when it is cold. At the same time, they also stay outside more often and longer, which in turn leads to more sunburns. This means that the variables "ice cream" and "sunburns" correlate with each other, but there is no causal cause-effect relationship between them.
• Example2: There is a correlation between the number of storks in a region and the number of births. Why? 
  • Here it has been observed that in regions with fewer storks, fewer children are born. Again, it is of course nonsense to assume that fewer children are born somewhere BECAUSE there are fewer storks there. Instead, it is the case that in urban, industrialised areas there are both fewer storks and fewer children tend to be born than in the countryside. So here too we have a correlation, but caused by a third variable (in this case: the degree of industrialisation of the region), and where one must not conclude causality.
  • (Source: https://studyflix.de/statistik/korrelation-und-kausalitat-2216)
• Example3: Per capita chicken consumption and US crude oil imports are clearly correlated? (see picture)
  • Possible explanation? Causality would mean: Per capita consumption of chicken influences crude oil imports.
    • The more chicken one consumes,
    • the more weight you gain,
    • the less you want to exercise,
    • the more you use the car or the bus,
    • the more demand there is for gasoline.
    • the more crude oil has to be imported?
  • Source: https://www.uni-due.de/dataedu/korrelation-vs-kausalitat/

Mehr Bilder vermeintlicher Zusammenhänge gibt es auf der Webseite https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

Part 3 Understanding their own perceptions

The learners should become aware of how they are subject to their own perception. 

Two videos can be used to illustrate this. At the end of each video there should be a short discussion. The question here is "To what extent can the content of the video be transferred to the way we absorb information?" 

• Video: Monkeybusiness 
  • The task is set at the beginning of the video: How many times do the players with white T-shirts pass the ball? 
  • The video plays until minute 0:45.
  • After that, the learners are asked who all has seen the gorilla and the video is played again. 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux1cL7tHjlI
• Video: The art of Misdirection (8:47)
  • In his Ted Talk, Apollo Robbins talks about the art of misdirection. 
  • The video is wonderful as a gap filler, introduction or conclusion to the teaching unit.
  • It is important to watch the video to the end. 
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZGY0wPAnus 

Download material

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References

Exercises on the topic of "Media Bias" on http://ethicalmediatraining.eu/

• BIAS AND PREJUDICE (deutsch, english, spanish)
• UNDERSTANDING AND PRODUCING MEDIA (deutsch, english, spanish)

#Createyourweb - Project of the Kinderschutzbund Landesverband Thüringen e.V -

• Ideas & instructions for pedagogical work on the topics of Hate Speech, Fake News, Big Data and Utopia/Dystopia of a Digital Future (in deutsch). Target group children, although some of the methods can also be used in adult and vocational education in a modified form.