Lesson 8 Checking
Introduction
Checking has a different meaning for Literature and Journalism. For Literature, checking usually just mean proofreadings like grammar and punctuation. However, in Journalism, there is one important thing you must double-check. That is fact-checking. In the last lesson, you learned some tips about proofreading, and fact-checking. Now, you will have a discussion about facts and truth, with a chance to practice and an evaluation.
The Learning Objectives
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After this lesson, you will learn the checklist for proofreading.
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After this lesson, you will be able to do fact-checking.
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After this lesson, you will gain a deeper understanding of truth and facts.
The Checklist for Proofreading
Below is a general checklist to provide ideas about what to check.
Grammar
Tenses, subject-verb agreement, conjunctions, punctuation, clauses like relative clause and adjective clause, and so on.
Vocabulary
Order, spelling, word choice, repetition, terms and jargon (add explanation if needed).
Format
Page numbers, margins, citation.
Everyone has their own writing habits, which include good habits and bad habits. For example, some people are prone to make spelling mistakes, while some are more likely to make grammar mistakes in the subject-verb agreement. This means you can add the most common mistakes you make using the checklist based on your writing habits. If you can't speak out the mistakes you often make, you can first browse through articles, essays, or homework you have written before to learn about yourself and summarize your own checklist.
If you want more information about proofreading strategies, here is a video to watch.
In addition, I have a few useful tips for you.
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The first is to check only one problem at a time, such as browsing your article and checking only the spelling, then browsing the article to check only the tense and so on.
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Another technique is to read your article upside down to check grammar or vocabulary, because when you write, you are used to looking upright, and when you try to read upside down, it actually allows you to use another perspective or a logical way to spot problems.
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Read aloud to yourself or even better, to others. It can help you with checking word choice, repetition, fluency and order.
Fact-checking Tips
The spirit of fact-checking is "if your mom says she loves you, check it out". What I am trying to say is: do not believe or skip fact-checking so easily. Sometimes we do not bother to check because something seems to make sense.
There is a website sharing videos about how to be a better fact-checker. It introduces some tools you can use to do fact-checking, and shows you how to use them by viewing examples. Here is the link to the website.
Practice
Now it's time for you to try checking using the skills you just learned. Take out a prior report you wrote for this class and complete the proofreading and fact-checking.
Evaluation for this practice:
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Each improvement you made during the proofreading phrase, you earn 1 point.
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Each fake fact you find during the fact-checking phrase, you earn 5 points.
If you have more than 5 points: Well done! You got an A.
If you have 3-5 points: Good job! You got a B.
If you have 1-3 points: Not bad. You got a C.
If you have 0 point: Try to check it again.
Discussion
After the practice activity, let's participate in a discussion! In the discussion forum, you will share your opinions about the relationship between truth and facts.
Here are some questions that may help you with thinking: Are they the same thing? If not, what are the differences? Can you provide an example for each concept? Which one is easier to report and check as a writing journalist?
This is where you can post your ideas. Enjoy the discussion!
Summary
In this course, you learned how to check, proofread, and fact-check. In addition, you have gained an in-depth understanding of facts and truths through the interactions in the discussion forum.
Hope you learned something valuable from this lesson. Thank you all! Finally, what I need is for you to complete the final class evaluation below.
Final Class Evaluation
This is where you can provide your feedback, ideas and suggestions about this class so I can make future improvements.