bias

Submitted by Andrea Brooks on October 14th, 2024
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Short Description: 

Two librarians at NKU developed an Informed Voting workshop to help students navigate information during the 2024 election season. Attendees were provided a worksheet to learn about the candidates/issues on their ballot and dig into one issue/race to investigate during the workshop.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Voting Workshop Plandisplayed 574 times36.13 KB
Voting Workshop Slidesdisplayed 637 times2.95 MB
Voter Workshop Worksheetdisplayed 576 times25.1 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
Locate voter information to identify who and what is on their ballot
Use relevant and credible news sources to make informed voting decisions

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This was a workshop designed for our campus community and open for anyone, though marketing targeted the student population. We are also considering how to offer this workshop as an option for a class.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Brooks, Andrea. "Voter Workshop." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2024. https://projectcora.org/assignment/voter-workshop.
Submitted by Carolyn Caffrey on August 6th, 2024
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Short Description: 

This is part of an introductory first-year class to the university where students are introduced to the library and asked to think critically about how information is organized using the framework of critical cataloging. After watching a short video on the idea of classification and its problems with fixing identity categories, students analyze and categorize selected book from the collection, and then reflect on how knowledge is organized and their choices as authors.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
ENG 107 cataloging worksheet.docxdisplayed 822 times11.75 KB
AttachmentSize
ENG 107 cataloging worksheet.docxdisplayed 738 times11.75 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Discuss how communities and identities are celebrated and marginalized in library collections
  • Reflect on knowledge organization and how it compares to their own authorial choices

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This is an introductory English Composition course that is entirely first-year students over the summer session before they begin their first year of college. Students in this class write a "definitional essay" where they define a word used in a community they belong to that others may not know (e.g. an ethnic/cultural identity, a community based on a hobby, any other discourse community). They are also writing about campus services for a public audience of other first year students (including critiques).

As students are working on the definitional essay they discuss authorial choices and identity extensively. Students then watch a general library video, "Queering Classification," which discusses Sandy Berman and Emily Drabinski's queer cataloging and how library classification is not neutral. After watching the video students tour the library space and the librarians lead the students who work individually or in small groups to categorize and assign keywords to a cart of curated materials. After students work independently on the worksheet for ~15 minutes the librarian leads a small group discussion on neutrality and the challenges in organizing knowledge. The session ends with concluding questions and reflection on the choices they make as authors, which communities they are addressing, and how identity shifts. The entire activity is ~40 minutes.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

Selecting engaging books is key for this activity! A popular title among students was a graphic novel on cooking (is it cooking, is it comics, etc.) and a book about food justice and African American Activism.

Suggested Citation: 
Caffrey, Carolyn . "Thinking critically about knowledge organization." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2024. https://projectcora.org/assignment/thinking-critically-about-knowledge-organization.
Submitted by Kelleen Maluski on February 28th, 2022
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Short Description: 

This lesson was created to help further discuss issues surrounding plagiarism after a quick introduction at orientation. It was created for pharmacy PhD students but I do believe it could be useful for many learner types. A large focus on this lesson was why it is important not to plagiarize with emphasis on oppression through traditional citation and review practices. Inspiration and/or content obtained from: Conner-Gaten, Aisha. "Politics of Citation Discussion Activity." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://www.projectcora.org/assignment/politics-citation-discussion-activity.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson and activity outlinesdisplayed 801 times66.89 KB
Presentationdisplayed 860 times1 MB
Parts of the article that we readdisplayed 774 times75.46 KB
Activity where learners answered questions about the articledisplayed 721 times59.19 KB
2nd Activity where learners had to track down original researchdisplayed 703 times43.76 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  1. Students will understand the impact of plagiarism and why citing is important

  2. Students will reflect on oppression as perpetrated through traditional, textual citation and review practice

  3. Students will identify definitions of erasure and punitive and opportunistic plagiarism 

  4. Students will develop a strategy for citing

Discipline: 
Health

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Maluski, Kelleen. "Advanced Avoiding Plagiarism." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2022. https://projectcora.org/assignment/advanced-avoiding-plagiarism.
Submitted by Evelyn Hudson on May 5th, 2021
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Short Description: 

In this hands on activity, students will find and compare/contrast news stories on a single current event/topical discussion to learn the importance of lateral reading and understand how bias can influence information production. 

Learning Outcomes: 
  • Students will be able to find a variety of resources relating to a topic
  • Students will learn to evaluate credibility of information and information creators
  • Students will learn to read laterally relating to current events

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Hudson, Evelyn. "OMG, Laterally!: Objective media gathering and lateral reading Activity." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2021. https://projectcora.org/assignment/omg-laterally-objective-media-gathering-and-lateral-reading-activity.
Submitted by Keely Kiczenski on December 10th, 2020
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Short Description: 

This lesson is intended as a one hour, single-session overview of one aspect of information literacy: evaluating the trustworthiness of resources, particularly online. The lesson is designed for a group of 10-25 adults in a public or academic library, or is also suitable for high school students. Instructor will teach students how to investigate a source and apply three small but powerful information literacy tools to evaluation: SIFT, PIE, and SMELL.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Information Literacy Lesson Plan with Appendix.pdfdisplayed 3444 times263.93 KB
IL Lesson Plan Appendix (separate).pdfdisplayed 2104 times163.28 KB
Information Literacy Lesson Plan.docxdisplayed 1032 times56.03 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • The student will be able to distinguish between standard evaluative criteria and apply appropriate criteria to an information source to determine its quality and relevance. 
  • The student will be able to detect misinformation and defend the credibility of a source by using relevant evaluative criteria and verifying claims externally.
  • Students will be able to locate a variety of sources about a topic and discern which would be most useful in fulfilling their information need.

 

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 
Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Kiczenski, Keely. "Who Can I Trust? – Questions to Ask When Evaluating Information Sources (featuring SIFT, PIE, and SMELL methods)." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/who-can-i-trust-%E2%80%93-questions-ask-when-evaluating-information-sources-featuring-sift-pie.
Submitted by Liz Bellamy on June 11th, 2020
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Short Description: 

When writing a research paper, it can be easy to overlook the human side of scholarship – how being cited in a study (or not) can have real, material consequences, and how social structures can systematically exclude certain people from scholarship. This activity and lesson explores these ideas and gives students strategies for making their literature reviews more inclusive.

All told, this lesson takes about 50 minutes to an hour -- 20-30 minutes for the readings and pre-workshop activity, and 30 minutes of discussion. 

AttachmentSize
Inclusive citations outline and lesson plan.docxdisplayed 1305 times20.47 KB
Learning Outcomes: 
  • Students will be able to articular some of the material consequences of citation practices in scholarly and research fields.
  • Students will be able to identify baseline strategies for practicing inclusive citation in their fields of study.
  • Students will be able to consider alternative sources of authority in their fields of study.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This flipped-classroom workshop was first implemented in an extracurricular summer undergraduate workshop series. It was one of many topics offered in the series, and meant to complement topics such as "Finding Full-Text Articles" and "Writing a Literature Review." The workshop has been held virtually over Blackboard and Zoom, though it can certainly be adapted to an in-person setting. 

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 

Readings:

1: Maha Bali, Inclusive Citation: How Diverse Are Your References?

2: Rachel Pells, Understanding the Extent of Gender Gap in Citation 

Activity:

1. After finishing the readings, complete the following activity analyzing the citation practices of a research paper of your  choice. Choose either:

  1. your own literature review up to this point, or
  2. a scholarly article you’re considering for your literature review.

Your task is to briefly analyze the gender dynamics of your chosen research paper's works cited page (up to 20 sources, max). Based on what you can infer of the genders of the authors cited, what do you notice? Is there a balance or imbalance of gender among the authors cited? 

2. Respond to this discussion board post with what you noticed during your analysis and what any gender gap or lack thereof says to you about whose voices are valued in your field. 

Instructor's note: In order to remain manageable, this activity asked students to make assumptions about gender based on superficial characteristics and sort those genders largely into a binary. Some brief classroom time was spent unpacking how, in reality, gender is a complex spectrum. 

Suggested Citation: 
Bellamy, Liz . "Whose Shoulders Are You Standing On? Inclusive Citation Practices in Literature Reviews." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2020. https://projectcora.org/assignment/whose-shoulders-are-you-standing-inclusive-citation-practices-literature-reviews.
Submitted by Lindsay Davis on July 12th, 2019
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Short Description: 

A "jigsaw lite" activity to help students recognize that the information tools and systems they use in their everyday and academic lives are not neutral as existing power structures are reflected in the creation, organization, and access of information. Students work in small groups to read an assigned article about bias in a tool, source type, or system and answer questions to share with the larger class.

Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to recognize that search tools and systems reflect power structures of race, gender, sexuality, class, etc.

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

This lesson and activity was designed for an upper-division Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES) course, CRES 101 Race and the Media. While students didn’t need to include outside research for their media analysis assignment, due to the theme of the class, the graduate assistant and I felt that adding this layer of complexity would further contribute to students’ understanding of bias in knowledge creation, which is a unit covered in the course. After introducing the lesson using Polkinghorne's visualization and sharing the PBS NewsHour video, I divided students into six groups of five students. Each group read their assigned article, discussed and answered the discussion questions, and then reported what they learned to the class. While I link the articles on the online class guide, I also bring enough printed copies of the articles. For printing, I have found that it is easier to copy-paste the text of the articles into Microsoft Word / Google Docs. Although I included a handout with the discussion questions here in Project CORA, in class, I actually display the questions on the online class guide and have students write their answers on a large sticky note, which I provide, along with markers.

Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 

You may need to ask probing questions when students report their findings to the class. It can be helpful to remind students that not everyone has read the same article, so they need to provide enough information for classmates to understand the gist of the article. Though the general discussion questions allow for quick facilitation, which is helpful when swapping out articles for newer ones, you may want to develop more specific questions for each article. More targeted questions can help students focus on the most relevant parts of the reading. The articles will age quickly, so it's important to be on the lookout for short articles related to these issues. I have found that articles that fit on two pages in Microsoft Word / Google Docs work best for students to be able to read in class. True jigsaws can be challenging for a variety of instruction types, which is why I opted for in-person class reading in which students stayed in their groups and reported out their answers and thoughts to their classmates. This also helps combat anxiety students may feel about reading in a timed setting as they have others in their group who can help answer questions if they don't quite finish the article. There are many ways this lesson and activity can be adapted; it could work very well in a flipped setting, for example.

Suggested Citation: 
Davis, Lindsay. "Bias in Your Search Results." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2019. https://projectcora.org/assignment/bias-your-search-results.
Submitted by Alexandria Chisholm on December 6th, 2018
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Short Description: 

This workshop delivers an action-oriented introduction to personal data privacy designed for new college students. The session is designed to reveal the systems in place to collect and analyze online behavioral data, and to unveil the real-world consequences of online profiling in contexts like sentiment shaping, consumer preferences, employment, healthcare, personal finance, and law enforcement. In lieu of a prescriptive approach, students analyze case studies to observe how online behaviors impact real-world opportunities and reflect on the benefits and risks of technology use to develop purposeful online behaviors and habits that align with their individual values. Developing knowledge practices regarding privacy and the commodification of personal information and embodying the core library values of privacy and intellectual freedom, the workshop promotes a proactive rather than reactive approach and presents a spectrum of privacy preferences across a range of contexts in order to respect students’ autonomy and agency in personal technology use.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
PersonalDataPlan_PennStateBerks.pdfdisplayed 1184 times622.24 KB
PrivacyWorkshopLessonPlan_Chisholm_Hartman-Caverly.pdfdisplayed 715 times189.3 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to: 1. recognize how their personal data and metadata are collected, along with the potential implications of such data collection 2. assess how their data is shared and make informed, intentional choices to safeguard their privacy 3. identify privacy issues facing our society 4. describe the positive case for privacy as a human right fundamental to individual well-being

Discipline: 
Multidisciplinary

Information Literacy concepts:

Individual or Group:

Collaborators: 
Suggested Citation: 
Chisholm, Alexandria. "Privacy Workshop." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2018. https://projectcora.org/assignment/privacy-workshop.
Submitted by Sara Davidson Squibb on May 9th, 2017
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Short Description: 

As part of a larger news evaluation campaign, Sara Davidson Squibb and colleagues (Lindsay Davis, Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco and Elizabeth Salmon) created a jigsaw lesson to use with introductory writing courses. Students were asked to evaluate an article’s content, tone, and purpose in a large group before they discussed the article in the context of two other articles on the same topic in a smaller group. After these group discussions, the library instructor revealed the source of each news article and highlighted resources and strategies for learning more about news sources. Through the lesson, students were able to focus more on content, corroboration, and source knowledge (rather than a mere checklist) to make decisions about an article’s bias and level of accuracy. All four instruction librarians taught this lesson to multiple sections of introductory writing courses. Though the librarians started with an original set of three articles on the topic of health care enrollment, we also identified two other sets of materials that were targeted to the course content of specific introductory writing sections.

Attachments: 
AttachmentSize
Lesson Plan Outlinedisplayed 1735 times137.09 KB
Student Worksheetdisplayed 1101 times80.77 KB
Presentation Slidesdisplayed 1436 times1.27 MB
Article A redacted - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 793 times134.71 KB
Article A - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 767 times144.05 KB
Article B redacted - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 706 times138.14 KB
Article B - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 771 times140.93 KB
Article C redacted - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 820 times166.21 KB
Article C - HealthCare Enrollmentdisplayed 706 times170.04 KB
Learning Outcomes: 

Students will be able to …
• make an initial determination of an article’s accuracy and bias based on an evaluation of content, purpose, and tone.
• discover the importance of corroborating information.
• identify resources that can reveal more information about a new source’s perspective.
• recognize that many factors may be considered when evaluating a news source.

Individual or Group:

Course Context (e.g. how it was implemented or integrated): 

Librarians contacted instructors of introductory writing classes and offered this one-shot lesson on news evaluation. Instructors provided class lists, and librarians made three student groups (A, B, C), matching each student with one article (Article A, etc.). Librarians provided redacted news articles, which instructors assigned to students to read prior to the library session.

Additional Instructor Resources (e.g. in-class activities, worksheets, scaffolding applications, supplemental modules, further readings, etc.): 
Potential Pitfalls and Teaching Tips: 
Suggested Citation: 
Davidson Squibb, Sara . "News Evaluation – Beyond the Checklist." CORA (Community of Online Research Assignments), 2017. https://projectcora.org/assignment/news-evaluation-%E2%80%93-beyond-checklist.