Pre-service teachers evaluating online texts about learning styles : there is room for improvement in justifying the credibility

Abstract

Teachers’ abilities to critically evaluate the credibility of online information are fundamental when they educate critical online readers. This study examined pre-service teachers’ abilities to evaluate and justify the credibility of online texts on learning styles. Pre-service teachers (N = 169) read and evaluated two more and two less credible online texts on learning styles in a web-based environment. Most pre-service teachers were able to differentiate the more credible texts from the less credible ones but struggled with justifying the credibility. Pre-service teachers’ inaccurate prior beliefs about learning styles impeded questioning the less credible texts. Implications for teacher education are discussed.