Bust myths
A series of common beliefs — learners decide if each is a myth or a fact and learn the truth.
Based on: misconception-based learning (refutation). Wrong beliefs don't disappear when you just teach the right ones. They change when learners notice the belief, see it refuted and understand why it sounded true.
When to use it
No use case is built on this approach alone, but Health & safety and Change in the company include a myth-or-fact question. Use the full approach when a whole lesson should clear up beliefs:
- Common beliefs are wrong and lead to mistakes: health and safety, IT security, nutrition, money.
- There are rumours around a change in the company.
- You want a light, quick lesson that still corrects something important.
How the lesson flows
| # | Card | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Card — Myth or fact? | What the lesson clears up and why it matters. |
| 2 | Quiz — "First belief." | Options Myth and Fact; the comment gives the truth. |
| 3 | Card — The truth about it | What's really true and why people believe the myth. |
| 4–7 | Quiz + Card | The same for 2–4 more beliefs. |
| 8 | Card — What to remember | The facts in a short list. |
Example
IT security: "A padlock in the browser means the site is safe" — myth: it only means the connection is encrypted; phishing sites have padlocks too. "Your bank will never ask for your PIN by email" — fact.
Tips
- Use beliefs people really have. Ask the team or check the questions your help desk gets.
- Mix myths and facts so learners can't just answer "Myth" every time.
- On the truth card, say why the myth sounds believable. That's what makes it stop.
- Use the Yes / No quiz format for big two-button answers.
Where it comes from
In the 1970s and 80s, science education researchers kept finding the same thing: students passed exams but still believed what they had believed before. One example is that summer is warmer because the Earth is closer to the Sun. In 1982 George Posner, Kenneth Strike, Peter Hewson and William Gertzog described a theory of conceptual change. A wrong belief gives way only when people are dissatisfied with it and the new explanation is understandable, believable and useful.
From this came the refutation text, which names the myth, refutes it and explains the truth. Research has repeatedly shown that refutation texts correct wrong beliefs better than texts that only explain the right answer.
The same principles are now used in fighting misinformation. The Debunking Handbook (John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky, 2011, updated 2020) recommends a "truth sandwich": start with the fact, warn about the myth, explain why it's wrong, and end with the fact again.
Did you know?
- People used to worry about the backfire effect, the idea that repeating a myth while correcting it would make it stronger. Later, larger studies found that backfiring is rare and that correcting myths is generally worth it. Still, it's good practice to make the truth clearer than the myth.
- Explaining why the myth sounds believable matters. If people are only told "that's wrong", the gap in their explanation stays, and the myth often returns.
- A famous example of a stubborn myth is that we use only 10% of our brains. It has been refuted many times and is still widely believed.