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Knowledge Dissemination Network

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About This MicroSim

This interactive MicroSim helps students compare different pathways of knowledge dissemination and evaluate how each pathway affects the reliability and accessibility of knowledge.. It supports the learning objectives in Chapter: Skepticism, Intellectual Virtues, and Knowledge Production.

How to Use

Use the interactive controls below the drawing area to explore the visualization. Hover over elements for additional information and click to see detailed descriptions.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/theory-of-knowledge/sims/knowledge-dissemination-network/main.html"
        height="450px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School / IB TOK)

Duration

15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Understanding of knowledge claims and how they differ from opinions
  • Basic awareness of how information travels through society (news, social media, word of mouth)
  • Familiarity with the concept of reliability in the context of sources

Learning Objectives

  • Compare the three dissemination pathways (Academic, Media, Informal) and analyze how each affects the reliability of knowledge as it spreads
  • Analyze how reliability degrades differently depending on the dissemination pathway

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Examine each of the three dissemination pathways in the network visualization. Click on or hover over each pathway (Academic, Media, Informal) to observe how knowledge flows from source to recipient. Note how many intermediary nodes exist in each pathway and how the reliability indicator changes at each step.
  2. Guided Practice (10 min): Animate the flow for each pathway and compare the reliability at the final node. Then consider a specific knowledge claim — for example, "a new vaccine is 95% effective." Trace how this claim would travel through each pathway: from peer-reviewed journal (Academic), through a news broadcast (Media), to a conversation between friends (Informal). For each pathway, identify where and why reliability might degrade.
  3. Assessment (5 min): Choose a knowledge claim you have encountered recently. Map its most likely dissemination pathway using the sim's framework. Write a brief analysis (3-4 sentences) explaining at which stage reliability was most at risk and what a responsible knower could do to verify the claim.

Assessment

  • Accurately distinguishes between the three dissemination pathways and their structural differences
  • Identifies specific points where reliability degrades and explains why
  • Proposes a concrete verification strategy appropriate to the pathway analyzed

Quiz

Test your understanding with this review question.

1. A scientific finding about climate change is published in a peer-reviewed journal, summarized by a news website, and then shared as a screenshot on social media with a misleading caption. At which stage does the most significant reliability degradation likely occur?

  1. During peer review, because reviewers may have biases
  2. When the news website summarizes the findings, because journalists may oversimplify
  3. When shared on social media with a misleading caption, because context and nuance are stripped away
  4. At the original research stage, because all research has limitations
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. While some reliability degradation can occur at every stage, the most significant drop happens when a finding is stripped of its original context and presented with a misleading framing on social media. The informal dissemination pathway lacks the editorial oversight of both academic peer review and professional journalism, making it the point of greatest vulnerability.

Concept Tested: Reliability degradation across dissemination pathways

References

  1. Kitcher, P. (2011). Science in a Democratic Society. Prometheus Books.
  2. Longino, H. E. (2002). The Fate of Knowledge. Princeton University Press.
  3. Vosoughi, S., Roy, D., & Aral, S. (2018). The spread of true and false news online. Science, 359(6380), 1146-1151.