TEACHING PRACTICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING IN A SOCIETY MARKED BY DIGITAL MISINFORMATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63330/aurumpub.072-002Keywords:
Critical Thinking, Digital Misinformation, Media Literacy, Teaching PracticesAbstract
The widespread circulation of digital misinformation has become a significant challenge for education, particularly because students are increasingly exposed to information whose credibility, accuracy, and intentions may be difficult to determine. In this context, the development of critical thinking becomes essential for enabling learners to question information, evaluate evidence, verify sources, and make informed decisions. This study aimed to analyze teaching practices described in the scientific literature that contribute to the development of critical thinking in a society marked by digital misinformation. A qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive literature review was conducted based on 16 scientific articles published in academic journals between 2016 and 2026, all written in English and identified through Google Scholar. The selected publications were examined through thematic analysis, considering their objectives, theoretical perspectives, pedagogical approaches, and contributions to the critical evaluation of digital information. The results indicate that the development of critical thinking is closely associated with media literacy, information literacy, source verification, argumentation, inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning, collaborative learning, fact-checking, lateral reading, civic online reasoning, and preventive strategies such as inoculation and prebunking. The literature also indicates that digital competence cannot be limited to the operational use of technological resources, as students require cognitive, analytical, reflective, and ethical abilities to evaluate the information they encounter. The findings further suggest that teaching practices are more effective when implemented systematically, contextualized through authentic digital content, and supported by intentional teacher mediation. It is concluded that education plays a fundamental role in strengthening students’ capacity to critically engage with digital information and respond more responsibly to misinformation. The study contributes to the field by organizing relevant pedagogical strategies and emphasizing the importance of integrating critical thinking with digital, media, and information literacy in educational contexts.
Downloads
References
ADDY, Jamie M. The art of the real: Fact checking as information literacy instruction [A arte do real: checagem de fatos como ensino de competência informacional]. Reference Services Review, v. 48, n. 1, p. 19-31, 2020.
ANGELELLI, Claudia Viviana et al. Developing critical thinking skills through gamification [Desenvolvimento de habilidades de pensamento crítico por meio da gamificação]. Thinking Skills and Creativity, v. 49, p. 101354, 2023.
BAŞ, Muhammet; BOLAT, Yavuz. The impact of cognitive competence on critical thinking skills: An educational science study with school counsellors [O impacto da competência cognitiva nas habilidades de pensamento crítico: um estudo em ciências da educação com orientadores escolares]. Education Quarterly Reviews, v. 5, 2022.
BREAKSTONE, Joel et al. Students’ civic online reasoning: A national portrait [Raciocínio cívico on-line dos estudantes: um panorama nacional]. Educational Researcher, v. 50, n. 8, p. 505-515, 2021.
CHO, HyunYi; CARPENTER, Christopher J.; LI, Wenbo. Media literacy interventions: meta-analytic review of 40 years of research [Intervenções em literacia midiática: revisão meta-analítica de 40 anos de pesquisa]. Human Communication Research, v. 51, n. 2, p. 57-79, 2025.
DAME, Theodora. Combating fake news, disinformation, and misinformation: Experimental evidence for media literacy education [Combate às notícias falsas, à desinformação e à informação incorreta: evidências experimentais para a educação em literacia midiática]. Cogent Arts & Humanities, v. 9, n. 1, p. 2037229, 2022.
DURAN, Meltem; DÖKME, Ilbilge. The effect of the inquiry-based learning approach on student's critical-thinking skills [O efeito da abordagem de aprendizagem baseada em investigação nas habilidades de pensamento crítico dos estudantes]. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, v. 12, n. 12, 2016.
FADILLA, Niki et al. Effect of problem-based learning on critical thinking skills [Efeito da aprendizagem baseada em problemas nas habilidades de pensamento crítico]. In: Journal of Physics: Conference Series. IOP Publishing, 2021. p. 012060.
GILLIES, Robyn M. Cooperative learning: Review of research and practice [Aprendizagem cooperativa: revisão da pesquisa e da prática]. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), v. 41, n. 3, p. 39-54, 2016.
GIRI, Vetti; PAILY, M. U. Effect of Scientific Argumentation on the Development of Critical Thinking: V. Giri, MU Paily [Efeito da argumentação científica no desenvolvimento do pensamento crítico: V. Giri, M. U. Paily]. Science & Education, v. 29, n. 3, p. 673-690, 2020.
HOLINCHECK, Nancy; GALANTI, Terrie M.; TREFIL, James. Assessing the development of digital scientific literacy with a computational evidence-based reasoning tool [Avaliação do desenvolvimento da literacia científica digital com uma ferramenta computacional de raciocínio baseado em evidências]. Journal of Educational Computing Research, v. 60, n. 7, p. 1796-1817, 2022.
HSU, Pi-Chun; CHEN, Ru-Si. Occupational prestige and teacher empowerment for preschool teachers: A moderated mediation of digital critical literacy and teacher alienation [Prestígio ocupacional e empoderamento docente de professores da educação infantil: uma mediação moderada da literacia digital crítica e da alienação docente]. International Journal of Educational Development, v. 123, p. 103594, 2026.
ROOZENBEEK, Jon; LINDEN, Sander Van Der; NYGREN, Thomas. Prebunking interventions based on “inoculation” theory can reduce susceptibility to misinformation across cultures [Intervenções de prebunking baseadas na teoria da “inoculação” podem reduzir a suscetibilidade à desinformação em diferentes culturas]. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review, v. 1, n. 2, 2020.
SHABANI, Ali; KESHAVARZ, Hamid. Media literacy and the credibility evaluation of social media information: students’ use of Instagram, WhatsApp and Telegram [Literacia midiática e avaliação da credibilidade das informações nas redes sociais: o uso do Instagram, WhatsApp e Telegram pelos estudantes]. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, v. 71, n. 6-7, p. 413-431, 2022.
SMITH, Kristy; PARKER, Lana. Reconfiguring Literacies in the Age of Misinformation and Disinformation [Reconfiguração das literacias na era da informação incorreta e da desinformação]. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, v. 17, n. 2, p. n2, 2021.
WINEBURG, Sam; MCGREW, Sarah. Lateral reading and the nature of expertise: Reading less and learning more when evaluating digital information [Leitura lateral e a natureza da expertise: ler menos e aprender mais ao avaliar informações digitais]. Teachers College Record, v. 121, n. 11, p. 1-40, 2019.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
