Teaching Students How to Think about Information Versus Clicking for Answers

As a child I loved reading. It was a way to escape from my large nosy chaotic family of five brothers and sisters. Living as a third culture kid (TCK), I enjoyed reading stories, novels, and traveling to other countries, exploring their cultures, languages, histories, and traditions. It made the world feel both exciting and more connected to me. I remember walking into the small public library in my town and going directly to the card catalog to find books to read from the scholastic book club. Libraries offered respite from the summer heat, reading in peace, and a place to find out information about topics for school projects or research. The access to diverse resources allowed for me to know, wonder, think and learn about things in my world. It allowed me to question why a character made that decision, or why the author shared information on the background of a topic. Most importantly I was able to share and talk about my reading with my friends, teachers, and family. This critical thinking gave me advocacy and a voice on knowledge.

Recently I was observing some lower primary and early year's classrooms in an international school. As I observed the classroom, I was struck with number of posted student documents with pasted print outs of facts and pictures from a printer. It was obvious that students were using the web for answers. When I entered another classroom, I encountered more documentation with the same similar format regarding the line of inquiry students were learning. I was a bit perplexed that student writing and thinking was not evident. The information was factually generated, but there was no evidence of individual deductive thinking. This suggests that while the student could locate surface-level facts, they struggled to analyze, interpret, or draw their own conclusions based on the evidence—key components of higher-order thinking and epistemic literacy.

I came from a generation where libraries offered a primarily print-based world of books, shelves of indices, cabinets of microfilm, and card catalogs where books were listed. By the time I finished my master's degree in educational administration, everything changed in university and school libraries. Moving from print-based environment to a computer based environment.  Swanson and H. Jagman noted that "the graphical interface to the Internet—the World Wide Web—had not only arrived but was beginning to be recognized as the major disruptor it would ultimately become." The internet introduced in libraries and schools allowed for teachers and students to strengthen and empower their knowledge in academic learning, curated a range of high-quality resources and credible materials, fostered diverse cultures, ideologies, and disciplines, which helped students understand how knowledge is contextual and constructed. But I was a bit concerned that I saw a lot of research coming from the internet and not enough from physical books or library resources, which are also essential for developing deeper reading habits and critical evaluation skills. 

This had me thinking, what ways are educators helping students understand how knowledge is constructed and validated if they allow web-based answers? Where is the evidence of authentic constructed knowledge that is created through investigation, evidence gathering, and reasoning? How did we go from reading books, talking, thinking, and investigating about a line of inquiry to researching everything on the World Wide Web for answers? I don’t disagree the web is useful. The development of basic thinking skills is a foundational soft skill that is nurtured from the early years, beginning in kindergarten. This soft skill can be developed through book readings in class. Reading aloud and discussing books helps young students practice critical thinking, ask questions, make predictions, and reflect on characters' actions, all of which contribute to the development of foundational thinking skills. 

From the early years into primary and secondary school, teaching epistemic literacy equips students with the critical thinking skills needed to navigate the complexities of information in an age of misinformation. Teaching early years students about epistemic literacy, or how knowledge is constructed and validated, is crucial in the age of misinformation. The skill of teaching epistemic literacy involves teaching students about the nature of knowledge, how it is produced, and how to evaluate diverse sources of information. By developing their epistemic skills, students can become more critical and discerning consumers of information, better equipped to navigate the complexities of the digital age. It helps students understand the processes by which information becomes accepted as truth, rather than simply memorizing facts spit out from an AI or Search engine.

How Does One Imbed Epistemic Literacy?

Start by guiding students in understanding the nature of knowledge—what is valued and how it is constructed. Emphasize that knowledge is not passively received but actively built through inquiry, evidence collection, and critical reasoning. As educators, it is essential to model and support these processes in the classroom. The concept of evidence is central to the inquiry process, which begins with questions or problems. This leads to generating a hypotheses or predictions which is where evidence will be collected or analyzed to explore those questions which generated a hypothesis or prediction.

The next step would be learning how to explore diverse sources: This is where students are introduced to various sources of information. These sources can range from classroom themed books, libraries, local newspaper articles, documentaries, and interviews from experts. Teaching students about the credibility of sources, how to evaluate information, and how to analyze the message behind that information is at the heart of epistemic literacy. Teachers can integrate interdisciplinary resources into lessons across subject areas such as science, history, social studies, and language arts. Encouraging students to explore other sources like real-world examples, current events, and personal or local news stories helps with understanding how sources can investigate and gather evidence to support their questions and answers.

Incorporating these basic epistemic literacy strategies helps create a culture of inquiry, enabling educators to equip young students with the skills they need to navigate the digital age and become informed, responsible citizens. When teachers model critical thinking in the classroom, they foster an environment where students feel safe asking questions and challenging assumptions. This approach empowers students to seek out reliable sources, evaluate the credibility of information, and recognize how content can be manipulated to influence opinions, beliefs, and decision-making as they work to answer their own questions and solve problems. This approach not only strengthens academic learning but also prepares students to become thoughtful, informed citizens in an information-driven society.

As a teacher, principal, adjunct professor, or head of school teaching students how to think, not just what to think, we empower them to become lifelong learners, capable of navigating a complex world with confidence and curiosity. Epistemic literacy is the foundation for that journey.

At the International Educational Consultant (IEC), as we continue to explore and research ways to further develop critical thinking skills, it becomes clear that epistemic literacy is a cornerstone of meaningful education. Our team offers a personalized approach to supporting your organization in fostering a culture of epistemic literacy. Please do not hesitate to contact us—we look forward to hearing from you.