Covid Misinformation – Gut Instinct & Beliefs vs. Science & Critical Thinking

During Covid times generally people most recognise the need for support in developing clear thinking, science literacy, education, leadership and well being for society but some seem to avoid these factors and actively promote misinformation, why?

Underlying what we observe in the media, whether outright denial of science or science illiterate influencers in legacy or digital media, politics and fringe groups through to climate science denial, is then support for business demanding no constraints nor restrictions, acting through a libertarian prism of the right.

However, underlying this dynamic is something deeper, simpler and somewhat disturbing, the promotion and preservation of personal beliefs and ‘freedom’ over rational analysis, science and societal well-being i.e. business and political elites disregarding the social contract; pre-enlightenment values?

This is particularly influenced by the USA and longstanding networks of influence promoting radical right libertarian socio-economic ideology, Evangelical Christianity and/or white Christian nationalism, climate science denial and denigrating education or experts; the aim is to maintain a cohort of voters for conservative parties like the GOP, UK Tories and the Australian LNP who will not threaten the status quo.

US investigative journalists Jane Mayer touched upon these issues in her work ‘Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right’ and Nancy MacLean in ‘Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America’; machinations not visible or known to the public but used to manipulate opinions round science e.g. climate science and now Covid.

Following is a brief article from ANU the Australian National University discussing research into the symptoms of misinformation round Covid and who is susceptible.

Gut instinct could see you fall for COVID misinformation

30 AUGUST 2021

People who think based on their first instincts are more likely to believe and share COVID-19 misinformation, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU). 

The study compared intuitive thinkers, those who tend to make decisions on immediate instinct, with reflective thinkers, those who stop and reflect on the accuracy of information presented to them. 

As part of the study, 742 Australians were shown a mix of five already-debunked COVID-19 claims and five accurate statements from public health authorities.  The participants were then asked to complete a short test of their thinking style. 

Lead author, ANU PhD researcher Matthew Nurse, said Australians who provided intuitive yet false answers on the thinking style test were significantly worse at discerning between the accurate statements and the misinformation. 

“Viral misinformation about COVID-19 has spread just like the virus itself,” Mr Nurse said. 

“Knowing that a reliance on intuition might be at least partly responsible for the spread of COVID-19 misinformation gives science communicators important clues about how to respond to this challenge.  

“For example, simply reminding people to take their time and think through dodgy claims could help people reject misinformation and hopefully prevent them from following ineffective or dangerous advice. 

“Encouraging people to think twice before sharing might slow down the spread of false claims too.” 

The research has been published in the journal Memory and Cognition and aligns with similar research conducted in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. 

For more related blogs and articles click through links below:

Dark Money and the Washington Capitol Hill Riots

Radical Right Libertarian Economics or Social Populism?

Conspiracy of Denial – COVID-19 and Climate Science

Skills of Critical Thinking

Economic Research – No Negative Relationship with Immigration and Wages, Income or Employment

Many believe immigration can be equated with or blamed for increasing unemployment or low or stagnant wages and income; this question was addressed recently by an article in Inside Story.  However, there is no evidence locally in Australia nor globally in any credible finance, economic or social research, but in fact immigration has a positive effect on the economy.

If this is the case then why does this old nativist or eugenics based trope still exist in social narratives?

Radical right libertarian socio-economic ideology that drives much business, especially large corporate entities for their own benefit, but relying upon right wing parties, with consolidated legacy media and others to develop and shape conservative voter coalitions, in ageing electorates (who can be encouraged to view immigrants with antipathy).

In Europe it’s known as ‘pensioner populism’ for ageing monocultural electorates with a focus on immigration, Muslims, refugees, the ‘great replacement’, white Christian nationalism, terrorism etc. and the same taking locals’ employment opportunities while being dog whistled for lacking languages skills, technical skills, attitude etc.

Australia is similar, reminiscent of white Australia policy agitprop imported from the US via NewsCorp, GOP trained pollsters producing ‘wedge’ issues, Koch think tanks and with the addition of ‘population growth’ for fossil fuels sector to disrupt environmental regulations.

Another issue used to nudge voters away from serious or substantive policies and issues under the guise of US ‘freedom and liberty’ for top corporate players.  This has been achieved or helped by business or economic journalists lacking higher education skills (and resources) to report, investigate and analyse workplace issues well, and further, lacking skills of science or social science research, academic integrity, data or statistics etc. hence, easily gamed to unwittingly promote old tropes dressed up as new rope, or informed ‘research’.   Examples have been the media promoting the idea that not only immigration is bad for wages but superannuation too, being presented as an ‘or’ proposition, possibly by retail banking interests.

From Inside Story:

‘Does immigration mean lower wages?

Despite the popularly held belief, there is no evidence that immigration reduces wages in Australia

Adam Triggs 20 July 2021

The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia has walked into a minefield. In a speech to the Economic Society of Australia, Philip Lowe pondered why wages growth has been so low despite a tightening labour market. One of the factors that helps explain this phenomenon, he said, is Australia’s relatively high rate of immigration pre-Covid. Several economists were quick to agree with him.

There’s just one small problem with this hypothesis: it’s baseless. Countless studies have looked at the relationship between immigration and wages, and all have reached the same conclusion: that either there is no relationship between immigration and wages, or immigration increases wages rather than reduces them. This raises an awkward question: why are so many economists willing to abandon their own discipline’s research, not to mention their discipline’s mantra of evidence-based policymaking, by making this assertion?

Some economists argue that immigration and wages are related for the same reasons that one in three members of the public believe the same thing: it seems intuitive, is politically convenient, and aligns with the simple model in most people’s heads about how the labour market works. The model goes something like this. Wages are a price that, like any price, is determined by the competing forces of demand and supply. The demand for workers comes from businesses who want to hire people to work, and the supply of workers comes from the people who want to work for those businesses.

This simple model of the labour market would suggest that an increase in demand for workers (with supply unchanged) will push wages up. Conversely, if the supply of workers goes up (with demand unchanged), then wages will go down. Given that immigration increases the supply of workers, this simple model concludes that immigration will mean lower wages.

But is this true? What many economists seem to have forgotten is that developing a theoretical model is only the first step in a proper economic analysis. The next step is to interrogate the data to see if your model is correct. Luckily, countless studies have done just that.

The ANU’s Robert Breunig, Nathan Deutscher and Hang Thi To used immigrant supply changes in skill groups, defined by education and experience, to explore the impact of immigration on the labour market. Controlling for the impact of experience and education on labour market outcomes, they found almost no evidence that immigration harms the labour market outcomes of those born in Australia.

The results from a study by Daniel Crown, Alessandra Faggian and Jonathan Corcoran went further. They found that the skilled visa program in Australia actually increases the wages of those born in Australia, finding no evidence of negative effects on the wages of either high-skilled or low-skilled workers.

Modelling by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia using Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirmed these results. It found that temporary skilled migration has been an overwhelming net positive for the Australian economy, enabling skills shortages to be filled and contributing to the transfer of new knowledge and experience to workers born in Australia.

So, why is it that the simple labour market model in most people’s heads doesn’t stack up in reality? There’s a clue in the adjective: the model is simple. Very simple. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that the labour market in the real world is much more complex than the hypothetical market for widgets taught in high school economics.

Labour demand isn’t homogeneous, and workers aren’t commodities. Labour demand consists of millions of different businesses of different sizes in different industries in different sectors, all of them demanding different workers. Labour supply consists of millions of workers who are infinitely varied in their skills, their qualifications, their experience, their intelligence, their emotional intelligence and their personality, to say nothing of the sorts of jobs they are seeking.

A simple aggregated demand–supply model might work fine when thinking about the price of a commodity with zero product differentiation, but it struggles in markets with lots of product differentiation and complexity — and the labour market has plenty of both.

It gets worse. Even if this simple labour market model were useful for thinking about immigration, those who are using the model aren’t even applying it consistently. The argument that immigration pushes wages down by increasing labour supply only holds if labour demand remains unchanged. This is a bizarre assumption when it comes to immigration because immigrants don’t just add to labour supply, they also add to labour demand. Immigrants use their wages to buy goods and services and do so at the same rate as the broader population.

Immigrants are also more likely to start businesses than people born in Australia, meaning that immigrants increase labour demand both directly (by creating jobs) and indirectly (by increasing demand for goods and services, which stimulates employment).

There is similarly no evidence that immigrants are competing with young Australians for scarce jobs. If immigrants and young Australians were competing, we would expect to see wages declining in those jobs as a result of immigration. The evidence shows this is not the case.

The economists who blame immigrants for low wages seem to have forgotten one of the most basic tenets of macroeconomics: that my spending is your income and your spending is my income. They also forget that, in the long run, wages are determined by productivity — something that research shows is boosted by immigration not reduced by it. This is an unsurprising result. Australia’s skilled migration program brings in more skilled workers, raising the marginal productivity of labour and thus pushing up wages for everyone.

In sum, it’s little wonder these studies contradict the simple labour market model in most people’s heads: the model is flawed in its simplicity, immigration increases both the demand-side and the supply-side of the labour market, and immigration raises productivity — the long-run driver of wages — rather than reduces it. Blaming immigration for low wages may be intuitive or politically convenient, but it’s a baseless proposition.’ 

For blogs and articles related to economics and immigration click through the following.

Expert Analysis of Australia’s Populist Immigration and Population Growth Obsessions.

Adam Smith – Classical Liberal Economics or Conservative Calvinist Christianity or White Christian Nationalism?

Radical Right Libertarian Economics or Social Populism?

Malthus on Population Growth, Economy, Environment, White Nationalism and Eugenics.

Population Growth or Decline?

Since the 1970s, and earlier with Malthus and eugenics movement, we have been presented with the threat of catastrophic population growth due to fertility rates in the less developed world, then due to ‘immigration‘ from the less developed world when in fact we are facing population decline from mid century; contrary to UN Population Division data which inflates future headline growth?

This ‘misunderstanding’ has been highlighted by science journalist Fred Pearce in ‘The Coming Population Crash: and Our Planet’s Surprising Future’; Hans Rosling in ‘Don’t panic the truth about population’; Prof. Wolfgang Lutz of Vienna’s IIASA and Sanjeev Sanyal demographer at Deutsche Bank.

Global Population Growth or Decline? (Image copyright Pexels.com)

‘Book review: ‘Empty Planet‘ explores the world’s next biggest population threat

Humanity is facing an imminent catastrophe, Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson assert in their new book

The central assertion Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson make in Empty Planet is one that readers of the daily news or regular government reports will find deeply counter intuitive. According to all that received wisdom, there is a worldwide population crisis, with humans reproducing at ever-increasing rates, rapidly eating up all the world’s resources and driving the engines of runaway climate change.

Stripped of modern trappings such as greenhouse gases and industrial meat farming, this is fairly close to the old vision of 18th-century scholar and theorist Thomas Malthus. He declared back in 1798 that in conditions of economic and cultural stability, the human population would continue to increase, even to the point where it chokes resources and overburdens the Earth itself.

Such a view has been the standard for centuries, and some of its proponents have made quite tidy sums writing books about the doom it foretells, most notably Paul Ehrlich. His 1968 bestseller The Population Bomb warned of imminent, widespread famines as the result of human overpopulation.

Bricker and Ibbitson say such books and the thinking behind them are “completely and utterly wrong”. They agree with Malthus, Ehrlich and company that humanity is indeed facing an imminent population catastrophe – but the problem won’t be overpopulation. “The great defining event of the 21st century – one of the great defining events in human history – will occur in three decades, give or take, when the global population begins to decline,” they write. “Once that decline begins, it will never end.”

The authors know they’re working against not only popular perception, but also raw numbers. They point out that the United Nations predicts the human population to hit 11 billion in the 21st century, up from the nearly eight billion on Earth today, an increase from five billion since 1950.

But Bricker and Ibbitson say that population growth rates have declined slightly in the 21st century, particularly in what they refer to as the richest places on the planet. Japan, Korea, Spain, Italy, much of Europe – all such places are facing long-term reproduction rates that won’t come close to sustaining their current population levels. And they claim this same levelling and then downward trend will be seen in places such as China, Brazil, Indonesia and even such fertility hot zones as India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The main reason Bricker and Ibbitson cite for their certainty about all this is that the floor of the world’s basic prosperity is steadily rising. Two things happen as a result: an increasing number of women in developing countries are gaining more education and more control over reproduction, and an increasing number of couples are therefore either postponing having children of their own or having far fewer children than their ancestors did.

Empty Planet makes the case that this change is not only inevitable but already well under way, and that it will be permanent: humanity will simply go into terminal decline, no asteroid or other global catastrophe required. As mentioned, readers have heard such alarming claims before – Ehrlich, for instance, was certain the human population would reach its breaking point in the 1970s.’

 

For more articles and blogs on population decline, population growth and immigration click through.

 

TAE40116 Certificate IV Training Assessment Package – ASQA Review Submission

Submission for TAE40116 Training Package Review

 

Written by Andrew Smith; submitted 3 April 2018

Introduction

There has been much discussion amongst training practitioners about the updated TAE Training Package.  One of the main issues has been the perception that it has been designed for quality administration and assessment while neglecting quality of actual training delivery and learning.

TAE40116 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment – ASQA Review (Image copyright ASQA)

This has been experienced by the writer currently upgrading BSZ to TAE via a registered training organisation (RTO) by distance learning; PO Box with ‘assessors’ and ‘trainers’ based offshore.  Further, the delivery is based upon basic pedagogy of presentation of content, regurgitation of content according to instructions while seemingly unable to offer explanations or insight for trainees, especially delivery and learning skills based upon andragogy.

 

What is the TAE Training Package?

 

Description

 

This qualification reflects the roles of individuals delivering training and assessment services in the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

This qualification (or the skill sets derived from units of competency within it) is also suitable preparation for those engaged in the delivery of training and assessment of competence in a workplace context, as a component of a structured VET program.

The volume of learning of a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is typically six months to two years. (Department of Education & Training 2018).

At face value the TAE40116 appears to be a relevant and practical qualification for vocational education and training to deliver accredited training packages, assure quality with a focus upon assessment.  However, there have been many criticisms of the package from practitioners, industry and other stakeholders, why?

Issues with TAE Training Package and Delivery

 

According to the Resources Training Council

 

It has become a qualification for the training industry, not industry that trains. They do not understand workplaces where training and more importantly the outcomes (assessment) must be fit for purpose to achieve what VET is all about.  VET should be about producing safe, proficient (productive) workers and providing an opportunity for learning to be built on as people move along their chosen career path (Munro 2017).

 

From an experienced VET training practitioner

 

To improve assessment practices of RTOs and improve skills and knowledge of trainers and assessors we need to:

• Update our regulatory framework and move to a real outcome-based regulation, where relevant industry stakeholders have a say in the registration/re-registration process
• Support the National Regulator in building the required capabilities to assess compliance in a diverse and complex environment
• Ensure the National Regulator provides an even-playing-field to RTOs
• Identify the different issues within the assessment system, and consequently identify gaps in current workforce skills (in all AQF levels not only entry level) and update the TAE training package accordingly (Castillo 2016).

 

Research criticisms have included: one size fits all approach whether novice trainer or an already well experienced and/or qualified trainer or teacher, trainer assessor expertise or skills, questions over subsequent assessment outcomes, lack of depth related to training and learning delivery, no clear development pathway and the skill outcomes from the TAE for practitioners to deliver (Clayton 2009).

The focus of criticism has been directed at sub-optimal education and training pedagogy (learning theory for children and young adults or novices) of both the TAE and practitioners for quality delivery, learning and trainee assessment outcomes.  These revolved round, preparedness of trainers to train, opportunity to learn content knowledge, delivery quality, learning the practice of good teaching or training, learning from experts, then more about planning and assessment (Ibid.)

The latter issue of assessment has been raised within sectors whether validation between providers, or simply better understanding of assessment by practitioners (Halliday-Wynes & Misko 2013)

Further, expert input often hints at what is lacking by focusing upon learning theory or ‘pedagogy’ for children and youth, as opposed to ‘andragogy’ for youth and adults.  The latter would be exemplified by self-directed learning or training, responsibility, experience, motivation to learn and preference for real tasks and problem solving (Educators’ Technology 2013); supported by well skilled trainers.

 

Training Delivery and Learning Quality

 

However, delivery of some TAEs has more to do with education and training or ‘pedagogy’ influence from two generations ago manifested in trainer or teacher directed, or top down.  This assumes trainees have no relevant knowledge or practical input to offer, focus upon systems, processes and assessment round any given package, but not delivery i.e. developing quality training and learning skills.  Additionally, very content driven for good reason, however, it is presented or instructed (not elicited) then regurgitated or replicated for satisfying requirements for assessment, then assumed optimal for the workplace?

The significant size of the VET sector requires standard packages, systems, processes and assessment to be compliant and manageable.  However, the risk is that system quality may be based upon indirect top down paper-based systems and processes of (quality) compliance that are reactive when issues emerge, if discovered.  For example, sub-optimal training and learning, versus proactive measures through more intrusive evaluation of actual training delivery quality or bottom up informing.

Quality maybe improved by intrusive quality assessment through mystery shopping on any given TAE course, dynamic (publicised opportunities) for feedback from trainees and clients, evaluation of specific programs and trainers or evidence of dynamic quality evaluation of skills versus merely possessing a TAE qualification or ‘ticket’.

 

References:

 

Castillo, A 2016, Newly endorsed Certificate IV in Training and Assessment – Same Issues, LinkedIn Pulse, viewed 22 March 2018, < https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/newly-endorsed-certificate-iv-training-assessment-amaro-castillo/ >

 

Clayton, B 2009, Practitioner experiences and expectations with the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAA40104): A discussion of the issues, NCVER Melbourne, viewed 22 March 2018, < https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/file/0023/4658/nr08504r.pdf >

 

Department of Education & Training 2018, MySkills: Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, viewed 22 March 2018, < https://www.myskills.gov.au/courses/details?Code=TAE40116 >

 

Educators’ Technology 2013, AWESOME CHART ON “PEDAGOGY VS ANDRAGOGY”, viewed 1 April 2018, < http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/05/awesome-chart-on-pedagogy-vs-andragogy.html >

 

Halliday-Wynes, S & Misko, J 2013, Assessment issues in VET: minimising the level of risk, NCVER, viewed 22 March 2018, < http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/801600/AssessmentIssuesInVET_MinimisingTheLevelOfRisk.pdf >

 

Munro, J 2017, The TAE debacle – a resources sector view, Resources Training Council, viewed 31 January 2018, < http://www.resourcestraining.org.au/news/the-tae-debacle/ >

International Education Marketing – 4P Products 7P Services and Word of Mouth

4Ps for Products to the 7Ps for Services

and WOM Word of Mouth

 

While many focus upon the promotional aspect of the 4Ps model of ‘product, price, place and promotion’, research has emphasised that education marketing must use ‘7Ps’, not just ‘4 or 5Ps’.  This would also include people, facilities and processes, thus broadening any analysis and perceptions of the market (Ivy, 2008).

Services Digital or e-Marketing Strategy in International Education (Image copyright Pexels)

Further, the ‘7Ps’ model was developed to account for differences in service industries versus sub-optimal ‘4Ps’ model for physical goods (Rafiq & Ahmed, 1995).  The ‘People’ and ‘Process’ are very relevant for this research, as they focus upon need to communicate openly with target market through skilled personnel, while viewing marketing, communication and sales as a process, not an instantaneous purchasing event e.g. buying a consumer product or staple (Acutt, 2015).

 

There have been criticisms of this ‘7Ps’ model as being out of date, highlighting the need for new conceptual foundations and marketing methodologies representing today and tomorrow’s world (Konstantinides, 2010).  With e-marketing, digital or internet-based marketing coming to the fore, there needs to be more analysis of consumer behaviour regarding brand experience, information search, brand familiarity and customer satisfaction, both rational and emotional (Ha & Perks, 2005).

 

More recent research suggests that the ‘complex’ student decision making process is viewed as rational economic action when in fact much is emotional and relies upon peers, influencers and related WOM to assess overall or general quality, plus more practical concerns such as immigration and visa (Nedbalová et al, 2014).  How does a student or family access WOM based information and advice from peers and influencers leading to a study decision, possibly through student feedback and analysis?

 

Why is WOM Word of Mouth Important?

 

WOM is important in all communications, and for consumers to participate in social learning through WOM communication, the preference for many if not most (Campbell, 2013).  WOM is related intimately with personal and cultural factors, with informal accepted as a significant communication channel of influence (Kotler & Keller, 2012).

 

Social networks and WOM rely upon users and friends’ reviews and comments, plus helping to generate positive and negative WOM, with ‘trust’ being very important (Barreda et al., 2015).  WOM is also an essential element of digital or e-Marketing and SM, if not the most important, with a need to encourage interactivity and engagement amongst the target market about a product (Whitler, 2014).

 

WOM can now be carried further by social media, be leveraged for better marketing and communications, and it cannot be ignored, especially if negative.  WOM carried digitally across borders amongst friends who may be informed significantly by personal or national culture considerations, whether differences or similarities.

 

Therefore, logically consideration may need to be given to cultural dimensions of marketing and impacts on strategy, differences or similarities? This will lead onto investigation of cultural dimensions and e-Consumer Behaviour – What do they do?

 

Reference List:

 

Acutt, M. (2015) The Marketing Mix 4P’s and 7P’s Explained.  Available at: http://marketingmix.co.uk/ (Accessed on: 17 May 2017).

 

Barreda, A. A., Bilgihan, A., & Kageyama, Y. (2015). The role of trust in creating positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions: The case of online social networks. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 14(1), 16-36.

 

Campbell A. (2013) ‘Word-of-Mouth Communication and Percolation in Social Networks’. The American Economic Review. 103(6) pp. 2466-2498 Published by: American Economic Association. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.103.6.2466 (Accessed on: 16/12/2016).

 

Ha, H. & Perks, H. (2005) ‘Effects of consumer perceptions of brand experience on the web: Brand familiarity, satisfaction and brand trust’. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 4(6) pp. 438–452.  Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cb.29/abstract (Accessed on: 18/11/2016).

 

Ivy J. (2008) ‘A new higher education marketing mix: the 7Ps for MBA marketing’. International Journal of Educational Management. 22(4) pp. 288 – 299 Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513540810875635 (Accessed: 18/11/2016).

 

Konstantinides, E. (2006) ‘The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century Marketing’.  Journal of Marketing Management. 22(3-4) pp. 407-438. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/1 0.1 362/026725706776861 190 (Accessed: 16/12/2016).

 

Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2012) Marketing Management. (14th Ed.) Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education – Prentice Hall.

 

Nedbalová E., Greenacre L. & Schulz J (2014) ‘UK higher education viewed through the marketization and marketing lenses’. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education. 24(2) pp. 178-195. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841241.2014.973472  (Accessed on: 21/12/2016).

 

Rafiq, M. & Ahmed, P. (1995) ‘Using the 7Ps as a generic marketing mix: an exploratory survey of UK and European marketing academics’. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 13(9) pp. 4-15.

 

Whitler, K. (2014) Why word of mouth marketing is the most important social media.  Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2014/07/17/why-word-of-mouth-marketing-is-the-most-important-social-media/#2f76616d54a8 (Accessed: 10/05/2017).