Media Literacy, Critical Thinking and the Working Adult- Applying the Stanford Media Literacy Study to an Adult Population: Key findings and Implications.

The subject of the Stanford Media Literacy Study was “traditional” students, who are young, full-time students engaged in classroom instruction.  There has been no similar examination of media literacy and evaluation  for working adults or adults without college education, allowing a gap in our understanding as to how information and media  literacy instruction can play a role in developing real world critical evaluation skills.  Particularly for non-traditional students and working adults. Presented will be results from original research that applied  5 sections of the Stanford Media Literacy Study specifically to a sample population of non-traditional college students enrolled as new students at North Park University’s School for Professional Studies.   These findings provide key insight into what skills this particular demographic group already have, are developing or are lacking with regard to their appreciation of the value of information sources found on the internet.  This analysis would give educators and trainers needed insight into vital questions concerning adult critical thinking and information literacy:  Are adult students similarly lacking in source evaluation skills, or are they innately better at critical thinking than their traditional undergraduate peers by virtue of greater real world experience?  Could adult students benefit from formal instruction on how to navigate an evolving information landscape?  Answers to these questions will help academic librarians and instructional designers create instruction that would aid this population in development of analysis skills to help them succeed in immediate academic objectives, but also to enhance critical thinking for all future intellectual and social interactions.