Short Description:
This resource and accompanying assignment focuses on evaluating news sources/claims and were used in an online information literacy class.
Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to critically evaluate information sources using a number of factors, including the creator’s authority and perspective, the intended audience, the accuracy of the content, the context of the information need, and one's own perspective in interpreting the information
Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated):
Setting: Online, 8-week information literacy course. This three-credit course is typically taught as a 16-week semester offering, but was altered for a summer 2017 session.
Context: As part of a larger module on evaluating information, students are presented with multiple resources/readings related to news sources, perspective of news sources, fake news/misinformation, and tips for evaluating claims. This particular assignment had students view a Prezi presentation titled Fact Checking Pro and then complete a LibWizard that presented multiple claims related to coffee/caffeine consumption. For each claim, students ranked the quality of the headline’s claim on a sclae of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), and provided an explanation for their choice. Students also had to describe the steps they took to fact check the claim.
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.):
See provided links
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips:
It may be beneficial to provide more prompts in the LibWizard to gauge student fact-checking efforts. Some students were very detailed; others were not. Additionally, it would be interesting and maybe more interactive for the students if they could somehow see how their peers had rated the source. I’m not sure how to do this in the LibWizard, but there may be some other way to make this happen. In a face-to-face setting, this would be easier to accomplish
