Overview
Claims of misinformation and fake news frequently dominate media headlines- so how do we critically consume information in our current world? How can we produce information that is accurate and evidence-based? In this unit, you will build your media literacy skills to become a critical consumer and creator of information. You will reflect on how technology influences personal and professional information creation and consumption. You will learn how information is created, distorted, and shared in online environments and then interpret texts for information which could be misleading. By engaging with a range of contemporary topics you will build the skills you'll need to manage information on behalf of organisations. Finally, you will cumulate your learning by creating a media product suitable for disseminating accurate information in online media environments.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 2 - 2025
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Teaching Staff Evaluation
Significant changes in the social and legacy media landscape over the past 12 months result in a need to provide a thorough update of learning content
Review and update learning content and unit materials
Feedback from Student Evaluation Survey
While students appreciate the real-world applicability of the final assessment, the number of assessments can be confusing and time-consuming
Review the final assessment instructions and requirements
Feedback from Student Evaluation Survey
Students appreciated the incorporation of a trial which offered greater flexibility for students around assessment deadlines
Work with Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching and relevant university teams to review assessment extension policy.
- Reflect on how technology can influence personal information consumption
- Analyse information from the perspective of a content consumer, moderator and producer
- Use media literacy and critical thinking skills to assess how information can be created, shared and distorted
- Interpret texts for information which could misinform or mislead
- Create a media product which promotes accurate information dissemination in online environments.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 15% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||||
| 3 - Portfolio - 45% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||||
| 5 - Team Work | |||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Reflective Practice Assignment - 15% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Portfolio - 45% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- Adobe Creative Cloud Express (Free)
- Social Media
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
f.heaselgrave@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Module 1: Consuming Information Online
The Internet Never Lies?
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The amazing true story of how arguments are made
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Fake news is not fake news
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Conspiracy theories
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 2: Moderating Information Online
"New Research finds"...but does it really?
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Vacation Period
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The truth about Santa (Where does belief come from?)
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Debunking myths
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Whose job is it anyway?
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Module 3: Producing Information Online
'But won't someone think of the children?'
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Communication Law
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
The Dark Side of the Internet
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review Week
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Reflective Practice Assignment
Assessment 1 (15%, 750 words), Due week 4, Friday 8 August, 10pm
COMM11112 The Internet Never Lies? Social Media & Society is a media and information literacy unit which encourages you to consider how we critically consume and produce truthful information in our modern, social media dominated world. This assessment item will encourage you to become aware of your own media and information consumption habits, including what sources and types of information you are most frequently exposed to. You will then use that information to take practical steps towards expanding your sources of information.
Task Description
In this assessment, you will reflect on your own sources of information and media and then take steps towards expanding those sources.
Choose different points over the course of a week to keep a written record of where you get your information from, including government, media and industry sources, as well as from family and friends. Note down which topics you find information about (e.g. environment, politics, parenting), the sources you obtain this information from (e.g. ABC News, Queensland Health, family members) and the platforms you access (e.g. Facebook, TikTok, Instagram) to retrieve the information.
Once you have finished your week of observation and recorded your news consumption, you will investigate 2-3 things you can do to increase the range of information sources you access.
You will write a reflection of 750-words that summarises what you have observed about your information-seeking behaviour. Think about:
- Where do you get information from?
- Do you receive information from a broad range of sources?
- Are those sources reputable?
- Why do you seek information from those sources/platforms
Include some suggestions for how you can increase the range of sources used to obtain information. You will need to justify your choices and support them with reference to relevant readings and research.
Other Information
As hard as it can be, try to simply observe and note down the sources of information you consume during the week, not make changes to it. For example, if you don’t usually read the Financial Review over your morning Weetbix, this is not the week to begin! We are not here to judge you and your grades will not be impacted if you reflect on how you receive information from a limited range of sources. Avoid the temptation to ‘sound smarter’- focus on being truthful.
When writing about social media consumption, please try to be as specific as possible. Rather than ‘social media’, name the platform you are referring to- Facebook, Twitter/X, TikTok.
Use of first-person language (‘I, We’) is encouraged for this assessment.
Submission Instructions
This assessment will be submitted directly to Moodle. Submit your finished assessment as a single word or pdf file.
Use of generative AI
This is a self-reflective piece based on your own media consumption. It is not expected you will need to use AI to generate ideas, but it may be used for editing.
The AI Assessment scale tool used is level 2 - You may use Al for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
Week 4 Friday (8 Aug 2025) 10:00 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle
Vacation Week Friday (22 Aug 2025)
Feedback and grades returned via Moodle
A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of task, presentation & structure, quality of reflection and justification.
- Reflect on how technology can influence personal information consumption
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Written Assessment
News analysis (40% weighting, 1000 words). Due Friday 12 September, 10pm
Task Description
In this assessment, you are required to critically analyse the representation of scientific news in the news media by following the steps below:
- You will choose one media release from the unit Moodle page
- You will then find a news media article that covers the story presented in the media release AND find the original journal article relating to the scientific research quoted in the media release and news article
- You will write a critical analysis (1000 words) that explains how the research published in the journal article is represented and reported on in both the news article and the media release
- The analysis should focus on whether or not the research has been fairly, accurately and objectively represented in both texts (the media article and the media release)
- You should also highlight any differences in how the research has been communicated or framed in each media text compared to the key findings stated in the original journal article, using examples from the journal article to illustrate your answer
- You need to also indicate whether or not the research is peer-reviewed. More information about peer reviewed publications is provided in the weekly lesson content.
Other Information
You will need to use the university library database to find the journal article relating to the scientific research quoted in the news media article. The CQU Library has free access to journal articles, you will not be expected to purchase or otherwise source the article. The CQU library database will also help you to ascertain whether or not the academic journal is peer-reviewed.
You will need to include references from the unit’s reading list as well as finding your own supporting material.
Use of GenAI tools in this assessment
It is unlikely you will need to use Gen AI for this assessment but if you do, it is restricted to the assessment scale tool level 2 which stipulates:
You may use Al for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
Submission Instructions
This assessment will be submitted directly to Moodle. You are required to submit two items- your finished assessment and a copy of the marking rubric which shows where you have marked yourself against the criteria. You can choose to upload these as two individual word or pdf documents, or as a single combined word or pdf file. Submit your assessment by scrolling to the bottom of this page, clicking the 'Submit Assessment' button, and follow the steps.
Additional instructions about submitting your assessment is available on the Moodle Support for Students site, or by asking the unit coordinator.
Week 8 Friday (12 Sept 2025) 10:00 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle
Week 10 Friday (26 Sept 2025)
Feedback and grades returned via Moodle
A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of task, presentation & structure, analysis content and quality.
- Analyse information from the perspective of a content consumer, moderator and producer
- Use media literacy and critical thinking skills to assess how information can be created, shared and distorted
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
3 Portfolio
Fact Checking Challenge (45%, 2000 words), due Friday 10 October, 10pm
In this assessment, you will embark on a fact-checking challenge to separate truth from fiction in online environments. There are 3 components to this assessment: 1) A 1500-word fact-checking analysis of 5 online texts 2) The creation of a media product e.g. a social media post and 500-word reflection of the creative process involved in developing that product and 3) Submission of a self-assessed marking rubric.
For this task you will choose a current trending topic e.g. immigration, affordable housing, social media ban for under-16s, Ukraine-Russia conflict, and analyse how that topic is reported on in five (5) different online texts, for example, news articles, official statements, academic journals, YouTube videos, social media posts or blogsites.
You will identify and factcheck instances of misinformation or misleading content within those texts, including illogical fallacies, defamatory statements and other wide-ranging issues that you will investigate throughout the term, through research. You will be required to include links to your chosen texts as part of your overall portfolio.
Step-by-step instructions
- Choose a current topic or event on trending social media or in mainstream news media
- Find five (5) texts online e.g. ABC media article, The Conversation article, Nine News Facebook page, a government website, an industry report, Twitter/X post etc., about that topic to analyse
- Analyse the content of those texts for any dubious sources or unsupported claims, or any other information that could misinform or mislead readers, providing a 1500-word explanation of why and how these texts might be problematic. This analysis should be presented in a report format using appropriate headings to structure your work and should draw on scholarly and other credible references to assist with fact-checking your chosen texts
- Following your analysis, create a media product that contains accurate information about your topic that can be shared online e.g. a social media post, infographic, video, or any other relevant format for online distribution, that informs the public about the topic and encourages critical thinking among audiences.
- Your media product can be fun and engaging but needs to be accompanied by a short rationale (500 words) that outlines the decisions you made during the creative process. Questions you might want to consider include:
- Was it challenging to put together a piece that was both engaging for the audience, but also accurate? How did you address or overcome those challenges?
- Did you decide to include references in the visual piece? Why, or why not?
You will also be required to submit a self-assessed marking rubric (i.e. you have marked yourself against the marking criteria) to reflect that you have engaged with the requirements and attempted to critically evaluate yourself.
Additional Information
Allowing you a wide choice for your media product encourages you to be creative, build on your skill set and work with your existing strengths. As working professionals, you will likely be required to create visually-pleasing content for distribution on social media and web platforms, however, this is not a design unit and you are not expected to produce professional-quality material.
While you can choose to use any creative tools, we suggest trying Adobe Express (or a similar platform like Canva) for creating your visual material. Adapting an existing Adobe Express template is perfectly acceptable for this assessment.
If you choose to submit a video for your media product, your content should be less than 45 seconds.
Your report should be supported by a comprehensive reference list. You should use unit materials and readings along with your own research about the topic.
Use of GenAI tools
This assessment applies an AI Assessment scale tool of Level 2:
You may use Al for planning, idea development, and research. Your final submission should show how you have developed and refined these ideas. Any misuse or lack of disclosure regarding the use of AI tools will be considered a breach of academic integrity.
Submission Instructions
This assessment will be submitted to Moodle. Additional instructions about submitting your assessment is available on the unit Moodle site, or by asking the unit coordinator.
Week 12 Friday (10 Oct 2025) 10:00 pm AEST
Submit via Moodle
Exam Week Friday (24 Oct 2025)
Feedback and grades will be returned via Moodle
A full marking criteria will be provided on Moodle, however you will be assessed based on your attention to completion of requirements of task, presentation & structure, justification, and media product.
- Interpret texts for information which could misinform or mislead
- Create a media product which promotes accurate information dissemination in online environments.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
- Social Innovation
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
