Although science literacy is a very important subject, this course was flawed in several ways, and I would not recommend it to anyone. It seems like it was hastily thrown together without much review. The structure lacked cohesion and lessons seemed to jump around without much connection between each section. The presenters were condescending. There were several grammatical and spelling errors in the quizzes. And, although I appreciate giving indigenous scientists a voice, and indeed would like to see it happen more, they were not included in a way that made sense. Rather it seemed like they were included haphazardly to make sure the course checked off the diversity box. It has a lot of potential, but it has not met it.

Excellent course for the science-minded and those who aren't. The course study is definitely needed to help navigate the tsunami of info that can so easily drown us all.

Well written & concise. Great information & aids development of thinking processes to be able to start critically evaluating scientific literature from all sources.

It was a really good course for people who want to learn to be sceptic about what they hear on the News and Social Media, and to take everything with a grain of salt. I think this will really help me while I try to gain a good understanding about the sciences. I hope you like it too!

Quirky content, long-winded, grammatical flaws in the wuizzes that makes some wuestions hard to understand. Intention and necessity of course are good, but execution is moderate (and level for beginners).

This course was a very well-delivered collection of scientific principles and critical thinking skills. It comes at a very pertinent time when the world is dealing with more uncertainty than ever, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. I believe that the spread of misinformation is a "great filter" for the human race, and will limit us from achieving our potential if we do not take an active role in quashing it. The presentation of the course varied, with videos, readings, assignments and quizzes. I felt this kept the content engaging and fit very well with the take-away lessons of forming your own conclusions through evidence-based thinking. I have a degree in science, and am passionate about the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, but this course has made me want to do more to help foster critical thinking and promote open data for a brighter future. Thanks to Claire, Rachel, and their guests for putting this together.

I enjoyed the pace of the course. The use of different type of media, evaluation tools and enthusiasm shown in the videos kept me challenged and involved. When I found myself challenged with the readings and content I knew that I would come out the other end of the lesson with the concepts in place. How? Because the design of the evaluations was built that way.

The relevance of the course with current issues made me think about interactions with science, social media and personalities around me. I practiced different scenarios using the skills I had obtained while interacting with the people around me.

I appreciated the positivity, enthusiasm, energy and depth of the course. I have recommended it to friends and family as a way to help navigate the current mire of our world.

Many thanks for your expertise and commitment to spreading the science.

RL Fisk

I found the weekly work quite heavy , particularly Module 5, as I work during the day and I am quite elderly. However, I enjoyed the course immensely and recommend it to those engaged in science or interested in science. Although I worked in clinical laboratories four decades ago before changing careers, and had a science background, it was great to refresh and relearn statistical concepts and become more familiar with the role of both traditional media and social media in the communication of science today. I am a great fan of Open Access publications as well and hope that Open Access will become ever more popular and acceptable as the scientific world evolves in the 21st Century. A sincere thank you to the course presenters.

This course really helped me to enhance my critical thinking skills and continue to be skeptical with every information that I read or watch on the news or social media. I will use my learnings to spread it to the youth. THANK YOU!

The videos and PDF's were great and well presented. I really enjoyed and felt supportive of the content. My only problem with the course was the wording of the quizzes. It was hard to tell what answer was expected on some of the questions.

While the material is vital, especially in this age of misinformation the way it's been packaged, the way it's not been updated or checked to see if links are working or if pdfs are readable makes this a hard-to-recommend course.

The video's from the University of Alberta are fantastic. Many of the other videos could be skipped. The quizzes require reworking to ensure the relevant information happens before the quiz (not the pre-reflection quizzes). The drag-and-drop activities while interesting are often too convoluted to be of any value.

There was bias towards COVID and Climate change statements that supported what the teachers wanted taught. Statements presented about masks has now been thrown out in the real world. COVID had the largest amount of fake studies accepted ever. Over 300 accepted studies on COVID were deleted from database in one day. Scientists in large numbers faked studies to get COVID money. The US government is going after the US Sugeon general for faking mask information.

I really appreciated how the course included thoughts and perspectives and insights into how traditions and indigenous knowledge or wisdom can be helpful to science and how they can hold some scientific value and significance. On the other hand, quizzes and tests were in most cases poorly constructed, and the students would be presented with subjective questions that being subjective just simply can't be graded, and the "correct" answers were forced and arbitrary in some cases.

Awesome course for those in the scientific field, as well as those looking to analyze scientific literature more critically. It can be an intimidating step to take, I find that even in the field, I always think that scientists with published papers do everything 100% - but learning these critical thinking skills and knowing which factors to pay attention to (methods, statistics, representation of info, etc) can really humanize the work and allow common citizens to have a better grasp on the media that they are consuming. The instructors are great - humorous and knowledgeable, and while the readings and assignments are long, they really do the equivalent of a 400-500 level university course in teaching you to differentiate good science from bad.

Excellent course. Very informative. Provides the basic tools required to evaluate the veracity of health and science articles in print and online media. Stimulates much thought re the importance and relevance of good science esp in this covid/ fake news world we are confronted with on a daily basis. The course identifies and emphasizes the impeccable nature of good science practices and its importance in combating the endless stream of misinformation . The course will consolidate or initiate a faith in science for the believers and non believers alike. A very relevant course for these Covid times

Really enjoyed doing this course and found it very informative. The format was great, videos, drag and drop, quizzes, etc. I found that self learning this on the internet that I really appreciated the ability to be able to do tasks over again to correct any errors. It allowed me learn more fully. I also really enjoyed the First Nations input. I would have liked a little more. In any case, with all of the information and craziness out there I feel a little more grounded in how to approach it all. Thank you so much. Peace and grace to you all.

I enjoyed the breadth and scope of the course very much! The examples were real world and "up to the second". A review of spelling and punctuation in the feedback comments and exercise instructions for the drag and drop exercises is warranted. It should also be made clear when multiple choices are acceptable (and expected) in the multiple choice quiz questions. This will reduce test frustration.

I have recommended this course as a primer for paramedics interested in getting involved with research. Well done!

You may think that you are a logical and skeptical person and can see through much of the bias and rhetoric that comes at you, but take this course. You will be surprised at how much you have taken for granted from all the information bombarding you on a daily basis.

There are some great pointers for developing better methods to evaluate information and new sources for more disciplined and objective references presented in this course. Sign up! You will not be disapointed.

Very well put together course for all learners.

Knowing how to critical think is a lost art. This course should be provided over and over to capture more people. I agree with others in that the drag and drop exercises were somewhat tedious. But they were beneficial in the end. Thank you for this free course. I learned a lot.

I have learned so much, and really challenged myself, so thank you! I will look at things differently from now on, and feel more powerful in my choices and interpretations in the future. I believe every human should take this course, especially the ones with no or little formal science education prior (like me!).

THANK YOU!