Electromagnetism Students' Perception of Fake Physics Videos in the Context of Rural Education

Abstract

This paper analyzes the perception of students enrolled in the Electromagnetism course when exposed to viral videos containing pseudoscientific content related to physical phenomena. The qualitative study involved nine students from a public higher education institution, who investigated misleading videos widely shared on social media. The activity encouraged the confrontation between deceptive information and the scientific concepts learned in class, fostering critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and awareness of the societal impacts of misinformation. The findings show that guided analysis of digital content can strengthen scientific literacy and help develop more reflective, discerning students prepared to navigate the digital world.