In this assignment, students are given a range of newspaper article about science topics and work in pairs to find the original research article that the newspaper article is based on in the library databases. Students then assess when they might use an original research article vs when they might use a well-written newspaper article. After the activity, the librarian gave short lecture about online fact checking based on Mike Caulfield's excellent fast and frugal fact checking strategies. If time allows, students can do some of the activities that Caulfield lists in his textbook.

This 30-minute activity was a quick introduction to algorithmic bias and the importance of critically evaluating search engine results. Algorithms increasingly shape modern life and can perpetuate bias and discrimination. In pairs, students analyzed the results from Google Image searches and Google Autocomplete suggestions. This activity was based on “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism,” by Safiya Umoja Noble. This lesson plan was Part 1 of an hour-long workshop that also included a 30 minute Google Scholar activity.

A one-shot or seminar class on fake news tied to source evaluation. Examination of the factors at play in the creation of misinformation; insight into how to select sources; tools and strategies for evalutating content of stories, authors, and news outlets.

This is designed to introduce students to the wonderful world of periodicals, in their great variety, and to how they will appear in different databases. It also begins the work of building their skills at evaluating information sources, determining perspective.

This exercise was designed for 1st year writing students with several different goals in mind: • encourage deeper, closer reading; • introduce the concept that information sources have perspective; • develop vocabulary around describing information and perspective; • acquaint students with the many values/uses of subject encyclopedias; • practice topic narrowing using these types of encyclopedia articles.

This activity/assignment was designed for a first year composition course in collaboration with an English/Writing instructor. It could be used in an information literacy credit course, First Year Experience course, or in another discipline-specific context. The purpose of the lesson is to lay the foundation for students to be able to read scholarly work more effectively and critically.

Lesson plan for a 1-hour introductory Communication Studies theory class. Emphasis is on getting students to use the appropriate tool for their information need while considering indicators of authority. Collection of exercises requiring students to do the following: 1) look up background information on a communication theory; 2) chase down further readings; 3) find a scholarly article that applies a communication theory using the ComAbstracts database.

This resource and accompanying assignment focuses on evaluating news sources/claims and were used in an online information literacy class.

In this workshop, students learn about the driving forces behind fake news, reflect on how our opinions impact the way we evaluate information, and discuss and practice using criteria for evaluating news. The workshop includes a brief presentation on fake news and cognitive biases, reflection prompts for students to respond to, and an activity in which students work in groups to evaluate different news articles on a common topic.

A gallery walk is a silent, interactive exercise followed by small- or whole-group discussion. You can use this exercise to introduce students to new material, to review previously-introduced material, or to assess teaching and/or learning.

Students in an introductory Women's and Gender Studies course are required to critically analyze and edit an article in Wikipedia. Through class discussion and an active learning exercise, students begin to understand how and why women and many racial groups and individuals are underrepresented or systematically marginalized in Wikipedia. Students learn how to use the "Talk" tab to evaluate Wikipedia articles and learn about authority and power structures within that community.

This assignment is a non-partisan way to interrogate the way the 45th POTUS uses Twitter using the concepts of Metaphor and Enthymeme. The assignment could be altered to focus on any Twitter handle or trending hashtag. The teacher should give a short 15 minute introduction the concepts and then break students up into small groups to decipher Tweets. The last portion of class is for group presentation/discussion of students findings.

A 90 minute session with first year students in the School of Economics and Business Administration. Covered areas included overview of difficulties in searching and algorithm bias. Emphasis was on the importance to being critical consumers of information and understanding searches are not neutral.