After having read the Data as Sources section, Chapter 2 of Choosing & Using Sources, and been assigned to write a few sentences about either the most surprising part, confusing part, or part that sounds most difficult, students discuss what they wrote as their instructor asks follow up questions and untangles the confusing and difficult parts.
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Use what they know about their own thinking to prepare to find, evaluate, and cite data as sources.
Relevant Threshold Concepts
- Authority is constructed and contextual.
- Research as inquiry.
- Information creation as a process.
Suggestions for Use
- This activity should help students who will be using data as sources with their class assignments or other research projects.
- This metacognitive activity is intended to help students think about their own thinking as a way to prepare to find, evaluate, and use data as sources.
- The requirement that students write about the section ahead of time should help increase their ability to talk about the section in class.
- The activity is expandable if you have the time for it. Spending more time will mean more students are heard.
Pre-Class Preparation
- Read the section called Data as Sources in Chapter 2 of Choosing & Using Sources.
- Assign students to read the section called Data as Sources in Chapter 2 of Choosing & Using Sources.
- Also assign students to write a few sentences about either the most surprising, confusing, or difficult part of the section. Tell them that it’s important that they read and think about data as sources because you will expect them to discuss it in the next class.
- Review In-Class Procedure below.
- Prepare to introduce the session, using your own remarks or In-Class Procedure, if it is helpful.
- Consider what will be helpful to you if students are reluctant to talk during the class discussion. Remember that all students should be able to indicate what seems most difficult to them, even if they know they can do that task.
- Download and perhaps print In-Class Procedure so you can take it with you to class.
In-Class Procedure
- Write this list on the board:
- Most surprising,
- Most confusing,
- Most difficult to do.
- Ask whether anyone found anything in the Data as Sources section surprising. If so, ask what and why they found it surprising. Accept all responses, including those that don’t have to do with how to use data as sources in their assignments. For instance, a student might have found it surprising that some birds in Australia start fires to drive out prey, which is mentioned in the Activity that follows Evaluating Data as Sources in the section. Ask follow up questions as appropriate.
- Ask students what was the most confusing part of the section they read. Ask follow up questions as appropriate, particularly those that help you understand their specific misunderstandings. Help them understand what they found confusing.
- Ask students what sounds like it will be the most difficult task in the section they read. Ask follow up questions as appropriate. Ask students to think back and consider whether they have ever done anything similar to that task. Encourage them to think broadly—what they’ve done outside the classroom counts, too. Give them time to think, but you may have to remind them if you know of a similar assignment or task. If they remember something, ask what about that earlier task or experience could help them now. If they haven’t done a similar task, ask them how they can prepare for the difficult task they have now. Point out any resources that may be available or something you are willing to do to be helpful.
- After 15 minutes, conclude the discussion by thanking students for their input and by mentioning to them that thinking about their own thinking, as they have done here, will pay off as they do the task. Tell them that what they have been doing is called metacognition—thinking about thinking.
- Collect their written sentences so that everyone will feel heard, even if you don’t intend to give a grade for the assignment.
Relevant Choosing & Using Sources Chapters:
Chapter 2, Types of Sources.
