Maseeh Mathematics + Statistics Colloquium Series

Speaker: Nina Unshelm, University of Würzburg

Title: Errors of Students’ Reasoning in the Context of Evaluating Media Claims

Abstract: The evaluation of media claims using mathematics and data is important, because of an increasing number and influence of mis- and disinformation today. However, results of public surveys lead to the assumption that the population has problems in evaluating media claims and accompanying reasoning processes. For this reason, we identify method-related and content-related errors, which occur in the reasoning processes in the context of evaluating media claims. Ten different errors are identified in a qualitative content analysis of answers from students of a German selective upper secondary school from year 9 and the corresponding year 10 working on evaluating media claims relating to sustainability topics. The existence of errors shows the necessity and importance of implementing the topics in school.

Biography: Nina Unshelm is a research assistant and PhD Student at the University of Würzburg, working at the Chair of Mathematics Education. She studied secondary school teaching with a focus on mathematics and chemistry. Her research interests include mathematics in the media, particularly the evaluation of media claims using mathematics and data and related reasoning processes, critical thinking, data literacy, as well as mathematics education with real-world connections and interdisciplinary learning.