Estimated In-Class Time 15 min
Estimated Pre-Class Time 20 min
Downloads Handout 6B-1
In-Class Procedure
Pre-Class Preparation

Using the same source used in Activity 6A, students work in groups to evaluate how much a source’s author and publisher affects its credibility and then discuss how they made their decisions. The instructor leads the discussion.

Other activities in this series: Activity 6A, Evaluating a Source’s Neighborhood on the Web; Activity 6C, Evaluating a Source’s Degree of Bias;  Activity 6D Evaluating a Source’s Recognition ; and Activity 6E Evaluating a Source’s Currency.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

  • Make inferences about a source’s credibility.
  • Evaluate a source’s credibility based on the source’s author and publisher.
  • Use Choosing & Using Sources.

Relevant Threshold Concepts

  • Authority is constructed and contextual.

Suggestions for Use

  • Whatever source a student evaluated in Activity 6A should be the one he/she evaluates for this activity.
  • This activity should be helpful in classes where students will be planning which kinds of sources they should consider for their research projects.
  • Consider preceding this activity with Activity 6A and following it with Activities 6C, 6D, and 6E.

Pre-Class Preparation

  • Review the handout for this activity.
  • Review In-Class Procedure below.
  • Read Choosing and Using Sources, Chapter 6, Evaluating Sources, “Author and Publisher,” which students will be referring to on their devices to make their evaluations.
  • Consider assigning students to read before class Choosing and Using Sources, Chapter 6, Evaluating Sources, “Author and Publisher,” which students will be referring to on their devices to make their evaluations.
  • Prepare to introduce the session, using your own remarks or In-Class Procedure below, if it is helpful.
  • Evaluate the credibility of the source’s author and publisher yourself.
  • Using In-Class Procedure, plan your discussion of the groups’ evaluations.
  • Print 1 copy per student and 1 for yourself of Handout 6B-1.
  • Make sure you have the “grades” students gave the source for Web neighborhood so you can re-display them today.
  • Download and perhaps print In-Class Procedure so you can take it with you to class.

In-Class Procedure

    1. While students work, draw this matrix with as many group columns as you need. (Group columns need to be wide enough for only 1 capital letter.) Fill in the “grades” for Web neighborhood that were posted last time.
    2. On the board, write the URL for the source you selected.
    3. Point to the source’s URL you put on the board and remind students that they have already evaluated this source’s neighborhood on the Web and how it contributes to or does not contribute to the source’s credibility. Today they will be evaluating the source’s author and publisher.
    4. Remind students that since there is no source that’s guaranteed to be 100% correct or true, we’re all required to make inferences as we evaluate the credibility of our sources. Inferences are educated guesses made after observations and investigation. We examine sources and infer how credible they are. If we infer they are credible enough for our purpose, we use them in our research projects. This means evaluating sources for research projects takes lots of critical thinking.
    5. Ask students to get into the same group they were in for Activity 6A. (If some students are absent, it will not matter.)
    6. Pass out Handout 6B-1 to every student.
    7. Suggest that if one or more group members did not bring an electronic device, those within the group who did should share their device(s).
    8. Tell students that they will have only about 5 minutes to do their evaluations after reading the handout, so they should get started quickly.
      Factor Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7
      Web Neighborhood
      Author and Publisher

       

    9. After about 5 minutes, ask any reporter who hasn’t reported his/her group’s grade to put it on the board.
    10. Once all groups’ author and publisher “grades” are on the board, compare the “grades” for the source across groups. Remind students of what the “grades” stand for (A=Very Acceptable, B= Good, but could be better, C= OK in a pinch, D= Marginal, and F= Unacceptable). Point out the variation or uniformity across groups. Ask some questions, such as what made any group member question the source’s credibility for author and publisher and subsequently give it a low “grade.” If two groups gave very different grades, ask group members to explain how that happened—did one group notice something that the other group did not? Or, maybe something both groups saw was more important to one group than the other?
    11. Let students know that evaluating a source will get faster and easier for them the more they do it. If you’re going to uses Activities 6C, 6D, and/or 6E, tell them that they will get more practice evaluating the other factors in this course.
    12. Before closing this activity, suggest that any students who haven’t recorded the URL for Choosing & Using Sources do so now. That way they can use that free ebook any time in the future when they need information about working with sources.
    13. If you are going to do Activities 6C, 6D, and/or 6E in upcoming classes with these students, take a photo of the grades on the board or otherwise record them so you’ll have them for a comparison of grades across factors.

    Relevant Choosing & Using Sources Chapters:

    Chapter 6, Evaluating Sources.