IN-PERSON Prague Research & Teaching Conference

Abstract

Literature clearly shows that critical thinking is a protective skill against negative phenomena in traditional media (Blair, 2021) and in social media, such as fake news, predatory content, targeted propaganda, and advertising (Cheng, 2022; Orhan, 2023). New generations are growing up with online technologies as a natural part of their environment, which permeates all aspects of their lives. Media literacy and critical thinking are not part of traditional curricula (Maksl et al., 2015), nor are they taught from an early age, when today’s children begin using online devices—raising the question of whether these skilles can be developed in higher-education students, or later in adulthood. The European Commission has listed critical thinking among the key competences that should be developed at all levels of education (European Commission, 2024) as part of a global sustainable development. Given the growing influence of social media, non-human accounts, and accounts aimed at commercial, social, or political goals, the support of critical thinking in education is more important than ever, as biases and distortions in online content can reinforce one another (Olteanu et al., 2019). Research is needed to examine how critical thinking develops in students of social sciences academic programs using media content as a teaching tool or focusing on digital content creation to influence prospective customers, practices which may hinder the development of critical thinking. This project investigates the teaching practices used in certain classes at a Czech University that can, explicitly or implicitly, increase students’ critical thinking using class observations, semi-structured interviews with students and educators, and critical thinking assessment tests.