Interrogating Causation with Screencasts, a "Clickbait" News Activity, and Short Essays

Abstract

With this resource, students learn the fundamentals of causal inference and apply these skills to evaluate the outlandish claims found in many internet article headlines ("clickbait"). The resource has three parts. First, at home, students watch two screencast videos that explain confounding variables and reverse causation. The second part occurs in...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems

Resource Type(s):

Assessment, Assignment, Class Activity, Essay, Video

Class Level(s):

College 100

Class Size(s):

Small

Usage Notes

See attached document "Causation Resource - Instructor Guide" for the full usage notes as well as the in-class worksheet and the out-of-class essay prompts. See attached documents "Confounding Variables.mov" and "Reverse Causation.mov" for the before-class video lectures.

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Justify proposed mechanisms to explain a causal claim.
2. Come up with confounding variables that may undermine a causal claim.
3. Determine when reverse causation can(not) undermine a causal claim and, if applicable, explain why reverse causation might undermine the claim.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students demonstrate their mastery of Learning Goal #1 formally when they answer Question #1 (and potentially Question #4) in their essays. The attached rubric shows how I operationalize mastery.
2. Students demonstrate their mastery of Learning Goal #2 formally when they answer Question #2 (and potentially Question #4) in their essays. The attached rubric shows how I operationalize mastery.
3. Students demonstrate their mastery of Learning Goal #3 formally when they answer Question #3 (and potentially Question #4) in their essays. The attached rubric shows how I operationalize mastery.