As people rely more and more on social media to get their news, the filter bubble becomes increasingly problematic. In this workshop, students learn how to evaluate whether a news site is reliable. This group activity takes about 30 minutes and can be used for many different audiences by adjusting the examples used.

There is a large body of research on corporate ownership and control of traditional media, such as print, television, and radio. Comparatively, research about corporate control of what we see online is underdeveloped, yet search engines are often the first place students uncritically look for research as opposed to the library website, catalogs, and discovery services. Dr. Safiya Noble shows that Google image searches for black women often perpetuate and reinforce dominant narratives involving racism and misogyny. As Google is often seen as neutral, such search results are presented as “natural,” the way things are, when in fact they are the products of capitalism, hegemonic patriarchy, and white supremacy. Interrogating results such as these is one goal of this lesson plan, along with getting students to think critically about, to problematize, the everyday tools used in the research process and to explore links between capitalism and racism, misogyny, and homophobia.

This lesson introduces undergraduates to personal digital archiving (PDA) as an instructional bridge to research data management. PDA is the study of how people organize, maintain, use and share personal digital information in their daily lives. PDA skills closely parallel research data management skills, with the added benefit of being directly relevant to undergraduate students, most of whom manage complex personal digital content on a daily basis. By teaching PDA, librarians encourage authentic learning experiences that immediately resonate with students' day-to-day activities. Teaching PDA builds a foundation of knowledge that not only helps students manage their personal digital materials, but can be translated into research data management skills that will enhance students' academic and professional careers. This lesson was developed by Sara Mannheimer and Ryer Banta and is licensed CC-BY 4.0.

This group activity can be used in a variety of disciplines and contexts. Pass the Problem aims to have students provide feedback to other students on database and keyword selection. By having students critique each other it works to build critical self-reflection during the research process (it's also pretty fun!).

This assignment was created for an introductory nutrition course for health related science majors and nonmajors to meet the Information Literacy Flag criteria for the core standards at Loyola Marymount University. The assignment focuses on the evaluation of a primary and secondary source on a specific topic to assess the similarities and differences between the sources of information. The primary goal of the assignment is for a pair of students to select a current popular press article that references a recent scientific journal article. The students then procure a copy of the scientific journal article. Using a formatted questionnaire, the students evaluate characteristics and information from the popular press article and then characteristics and information from the journal article, then compare and contrast the two information sources.

Using ProQuest SIRS Issues Researcher or similar database, groups of students work together to find and read four informative magazine articles representing a variety of opinions on a topic. For each magazine article they write an MLA citation. In an oral presentation of less than three minutes per group, they summarize the controversy without giving their own opinions and explain why they chose the four articles. Students are told to be prepared to answer questions about their topic and why they selected each of the four articles. Students are given basic instruction on writing an MLA citation and using a database.

Students will learn to identify where they might find school and community data; practice accessing this data; and create a school community data profile. Students will also be introduced to some of the problems of bias when looking at school and community data. For part one, student will find data for the high school they attended and the community they grew up in. In part two, students will collect the same data for a school in the community they will be working in over the course of the quarter.

Students write to communicate and their writing, when citing sources, must communicate what they understand of others’ writings. By asking students to write with the purpose of summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting a selected article to their classmate, they will experience what you experience when you read their writing. They will understand the purpose and mechanics of using sources in their writing. Activity is highly adaptable and suitable for independent readers high school and above. Activity can be modified for lower level learners. Additionally, .doc and .pdf versions of worksheets are attached so instructors can feel free to alter. Activity steps: * Distribute Source Notes worksheet to students. * Give students 10 min to re-read their source and to complete one summarize/ paraphrase/ quote exercise. * Students will exchange Source Notes with partner (Student B). * Without consulting Student A, Student B will tell the class what they understand about Student A’s topic. * Student A will self-assess, answering what they could have done better to communicate in writing. (Example sources are provided as PDF if students' actual sources are unavailable. Instructors are free to use their own example sources - those provided are included for inspiration or adoption.)

A brief two page handout on how to read abstracts for scholarly journals for lower division undergraduates in particular. Examples include one from social sciences and one from humanities.

This workshop provides an introduction to creating infographics using Piktochart and includes advice on selecting a design, incorporating data, and structuring a story.