A course on misinformation helps build students’ media literacy skills and practical application to their majors. PeopleImages / iStock/Getty Images
News, Student Success, The College Experience
May 16, 2025 Teaching Students to Identify and Attack Misinformation
An interdisciplinary course at the University of Southern California teaches engineering students research skills and information literacy.
By Ashley Mowreader
Nearly three in four college students say they have somewhat high or very high media literacy skills (72 percent), according to a 2025 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab. Students are less likely to consider their peers media literate; three in five respondents said they have at least somewhat high levels of concern about the spread of misinformation among their classmates.
When asked how colleges and universities could help improve students’ media literacy skills, a majority of Student Voice respondents indicated they want digital resources on increasing media literacy or media literacy–related content and training embedded into the curriculum.
A recently developed course at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering teaches students information literacy principles to help them develop tools to mitigate the harms of online misinformation.
