What did the UK Undercover Voters project tell us?
I can explain why the UK Undercover Voters project was carried out and what its conclusions were.
What did the UK Undercover Voters project tell us?
I can explain why the UK Undercover Voters project was carried out and what its conclusions were.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The UK Undercover Voters project explored how algorithms target political content based on online profiles.
- Targeted content may influence voting by reinforcing existing beliefs, spreading misinformation & shaping opinion.
- Algorithms can create echo chambers, limiting exposure to diverse viewpoints & making critical thinking challenging.
- Misinformation and disinformation tailored to personal beliefs could affect voting behavior.
Keywords
Investigate - to look into something carefully to learn more about it and find out the facts
Targeted - directed at a specific person or group
Algorithms - set of instructions or steps that a computer follows to solve a problem or make decisions
Common misconception
Algorithms only show people what they want to see, they don’t really affect how people vote.
Algorithms can reinforce existing beliefs and limit exposure to different views. The UK Undercover Voters project showed that targeted content could influence opinions and spread misinformation, which could affect voting behaviour.
To help you plan your year 10 citizenship lesson on: What did the UK Undercover Voters project tell us?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 10 citizenship lesson on: What did the UK Undercover Voters project tell us?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 citizenship lessons from the How is social media changing our view of democracy? unit, dive into the full secondary citizenship curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
manipulating a video clip or image to create new deceptive content
stimulates and mimic human conversation with internet users
phone call using an autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message
Exit quiz
6 Questions
strong messages about leaving the EU
mixed political messages, some fact-based and some opinion based
climate-focused policies and sustainable promises