ABSTRACT
How ca n w e prepar e student s t o make th e Interne t a lifelon g learnin g resource a s man y envision ? Becaus e o f it s scope , fexibility , an d accessibility, th e Interne t ha s clea r promis e fo r scienc e instruction . However, student s requir e ne w kind s o f suppor t i n makin g sens e of informatio n fro m th e Worl d Wid e Web , a s the y mus t recogniz e and interpre t “evidence ” fro m a wid e rang e o f ne w sources . Much o f the informatio n o n th e Interne t i s written b y amateu r author s with th e purpose of convincing readers, but they might be interpreted by students as established fact. Additionally, many Web sites are long and complex, so relevant science content is often diffcul t t o discern. How can we help students recognize the valid information from the invalid, or the credible sources from the noncredible ones? In this paper, we explore how students learn to ask critical questions that reveal the strengths and weaknesses of incomplete or conjectural information .
