Along with the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been a global threat for public health, the unconfirmed information about the pandemic in circulation has become another threat. Hence, it has become important to improve public understanding of science with a focus on explaining the nature of uncertainty in science and its impacts. The goal of the present study was to explore pre-service teachers’ analysis of claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic throughout an 8-week online implementation of a pre-service teachers’ analysis task, focus group interviews, and instructor’s feedback to this analysis in a course focusing on critical and analytical thinking. In order to achieve this purpose, the researchers used the claims that contain fallacies, conspiracy theories, and scientific arguments related to the COVID-19 pandemic as an assessment tool. The researchers developed and used a rubric consisting of the high, moderate, and low levels of analysis in three different categories including evaluation of claims, demarcation of fallacies and conspiracy theories from scientific arguments, and judgment of the credibility of sources. The findings indicate that the participants analyzed the claims rarely at a high level before the focus group interviews. However, after the focus group interviews, almost every participant’s analysis scores of evaluation, demarcation, and judgment increased. The results also revealed their commitment to various fallacies and conspiracy theories while arguing the claims. Concluding remarks are made for the further implications of teaching critical evaluation of claims based on evidence.

中文翻译：

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职前教师对在线课程中有关 COVID-19 的说法的分析

随着新冠肺炎 (COVID-19) 疫情的爆发对全球公共卫生构成威胁，有关大流行病的未经证实的信息正在传播，也成为另一个威胁。因此，提高公众对科学的理解变得很重要，重点是解释科学不确定性的本质及其影响。本研究的目的是通过为期 8 周的在线实施职前教师分析任务、焦点小组访谈以及教师对此的反馈，探索职前教师对与 COVID-19 大流行相关的索赔的分析。分析课程侧重于批判性和分析性思维。为了实现这一目的，研究人员使用了与COVID-19大流行相关的包含谬误、阴谋论和科学论据的说法作为评估工具。研究人员开发并使用了一个由高、中​​、低三个不同类别的分析组成的评分标准，包括对主张的评估、从科学论证中区分谬误和阴谋论以及对来源可信度的判断。研究结果表明，参与者在焦点小组访谈之前很少对这些主张进行高水平的分析。然而，在焦点小组访谈之后，几乎每个参与者的评价、界定和判断的分析得分都有所上升。结果还揭示了他们在争论主张时对各种谬论和阴谋论的承诺。最后对基于证据的主张进行批判性评估教学的进一步影响进行了总结。