Learning outcomes:
- Students will identify ways that sources differ in credibility, authority, and usefulness
- Students will brainstorm and apply criteria for selecting sources to meet different information needs
Resources:
5 Research Packets, including a copy each of 5 or 6 sources on a common topic (topic should be adapted for the assignment).
Sources could include a:
- Newspaper article
- Magazine article
- Social media post
- Wikipedia article
- Peer-reviewed research article
Copies of Discuss the Differences worksheet for each group
Time Needed:
20 minutes
Activities:
As a group, brainstorm ways that students decide if a source is credible or reliable. Point out that this decision-making is not just for academic sources, but for personal info-gathering as well (What to eat for for dinner? Which phone to buy when my contract runs out?, Which summer internship should I apply for?) This brainstorming could be done as a Think-Pair-Share with answers recorded on the board, or using an online brainstorming tool such as Padlet , Dotstorming (very similar to Padlet but with a voting component), or on a shared Google doc. Give students 2 minutes to brainstorm.
Divide students into groups of 4-5, and give each group a Research Packet. Put the following prompt on the board:
“Your group has been hired by UNC to sort through this Research Packet on [sample topic], and present the most accurate, up-to-date and reliable information from the sources to a group of visiting scholars. The scholars have broad general expertise in the sciences, but are not experts on this specific topic.”
Explain that students should review and talk about each source, and then arrange them on a continuum from least useful and reliable, to most useful and reliable. They can refer to the Discuss the Differences worksheet or the group’s brainstormed list of evaluation criteria if they get stuck. Give around 7 minutes (a timer on the board can help; provide a warning when there’s one minute left.)
Review how they decided to arrange the sources; which source did each group pick as most useful and reliable? Least? Ask the groups to explain their reasoning, or sources they struggled with.
Wrap up by drawing comparisons to evaluating and selecting sources for this assignment, as well as navigating the information they encounter throughout their day. If the ENGL105 instructor would like you to cover popular vs. scholarly sources, this would make an ideal segue!
Extension activity:
Give students a couple additional scenarios, either on the board or just out loud. For instance, if they were explaining [sample topic] to an elementary student, or to one of their grandparents, or to an over-scheduled businessperson, would they prioritize the sources differently? How and why?
Assessment:
- Students generate criteria as a group for deciding if a source is reliable and credible.
- Groups sort the sources into a continuum that makes sense for the information need, and can explain why they made their sorting decisions.