Abstract

The growth of social media exposes university students to a multidimensional information environment containing substantial amounts of unverified, misleading, or inaccurate content. Developing students’ ability to independently orient their cognition and information-related behavior is therefore a shared responsibility of multiple stakeholders and educational activities within higher education institutions. Political theory courses can contribute to this process through their disciplinary knowledge, methodological foundations, and analysis of political and social issues, helping students process information proactively and on the basis of evidence. This article proposes the concept of “autonomous information navigation competence,” comprising five components: identification, verification, analysis, evaluation, and response. It also examines the contribution of political theory teaching to developing this competence and proposes approaches for integrating it into the teaching and learning process.

Keywords: Autonomous information navigation, critical thinking, political theory, social media, university students.