Assignment
Research Wizards
The most powerful wizards have gathered to battle one another. Only one will win. Wizards must use reliable sources to research incantations for the battle, or their spells will fizzle. Truly wise wizards must learn to tell the difference.
Research Wizards is an information literacy card game designed to teach students ages 12+ about source evaluation. Research Wizards corresponds to the Frame Authority Is Constructed and Contextual, from the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Players will discuss and challenge the relative value of various sources, each representing a different suit in the game. The game includes four major actions/phases: Parley, when players discuss and decide for themselves the relative value of each suit; Battle, which includes competition, player actions, and Challenges; Vengeance, for eliminated players to impact and speed up the remainder of the game; and Victory.
The Research Wizards website contains free game files, player directions, and printing tips for librarians and teachers who wish to use the game in their classrooms. The website includes an editable, Microsoft Publisher version of the game. Noncommercial use of the game is free for educational purposes with attribution to the author. Librarians and teachers are encouraged to adapt the game as needed for their subject areas, student needs, and as the sources in the game evolve over time. Adaptations must be shared under the same terms.
Players: 3-5 per deck
Play Time: 20-30 minutes, plus discussion
Research Wizards by Lauren deLaubell is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 Player directions | 1.02 MB |
 Card deckdisplayed 2 times | 2.41 MB |
| Printing tipsdisplayed 3 times | 26.71 KB |
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- Wizards will define a variety of traditional and emerging information formats.
- Wizards will compare a variety of information formats and discuss their relative reliability.
- Wizards will explore the variation in quality found within specific categories of information (e.g., the wildcard of using resources located by or generated with artificial intelligence).
Information Literacy concepts:
Individual or Group:
Ability Level:
It is recommended to review directions out loud with students, with pauses for students to sort their decks and conduct the Parley phase of play. To contextualize and reinforce learning, it is recommended to conclude the game with discussion questions; sample questions are provided at the bottom of the player directions file but may be adjusted as needed.
