Authority is Constructed and Contextual

ISTC 301/501: Integrating Instructional Technology

As part of a collaboration with Claire Holmes and Lisa Sweeney at Towson University's Albert S. Cook Library, I infused our lesson plan for ISTC 301/501 with ACRL Framework Concepts. The original lesson plan was conceived of by Holmes and Sweeney as a way to integreate information literacy instruction concepts for teachers into ISTC 301 and SPED 413 in our College of Education. The attached slides illustrate one way to include information literacy instruction, the ACRL Framework, and teaching standards in college-level instruction. The aim for this lesson plan was to encourage College of Education students to include information literacy instruction in their lesson plans at the k-12 level so that students matriculating from their schools would be familiar with these crucial theories before arriving in higher education or the workplace.The lesson was structured as follows:Introduce digital citizenship and information literacy conceptsModel lesson planning using library resourcesCreate lesson plans using Common Core State StandardsStudents were encouraged to reflect on their own experiences as researchers, apply their learned research skills to their k-12 classrooms, use library resources to enhance their lesson plan creation, create a lesson plan in smaller groups to share with the classroom, incorporate lexile levels from multiple grade levels, and use open-source lesson plan materials focused on information literacy.Discussions about "Scholarship as a Conversation" and "Searching as Strategic Exploration" were included to highlight the importance of authority and of using sources from a variety of locations. 

Resource Type(s):

Discipline(s): 
Education

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License CC-BY-NC-SA

Outcomes, Performance Indicators, and Dispositions

This document lists the outcomes, performance indicators, and dispositions developed for the Threshold Achievement Test for Information Literacy (TATIL). This test has four modules inspired by the six frames of the Framework: Evaluating Process & Authority; Strategic Searching; Research & Scholarship; and The Value of Information. 

Resource Type(s):

Discipline(s): 
Not Discipline Specific
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Evaluating Online Sources Activity

This is an activity we use in our Freshman-level writing class information literacy instruction one-shots. The activity presents four online resources and asks students to use the "Evaluating Online Sources" rubric to evaluate their assigned resource. Students vote using an online form on whether they would use a resource in their paper and then the instructor discusses each resource in depth with input from the group that evaluated it. Instructor will ask students to describe their resource and answer the questions asked by the rubric and then discuss the suitability of the resource. Exercise takes ~20 minutes.

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Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

Discipline(s): 
Not Discipline Specific

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Questions for Understanding Information Artifacts

This resource introduces students to rubrics for evaluating information, including SCARAB, CRAAP, and Reuters Source Guide. Furthermore, it provides a framework of questions to ask about a piece of information under consideration. 
Discipline(s): 
Interdisciplinary
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Discussion Activity for Visual Literacy

This exercise asks students to respond to two videos, sharing with their classmates what feelings and ideas the images and music evoke in them.  The first video is an ExxonMobil commercial and the other is a humorous critique of advertising stock footage.  Be warned that the critique does contain one mild swear word.

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Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

Discipline(s): 
Not Discipline Specific
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution License CC-BY

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources: a Brief Introduction

This libguide will help students distinguoish between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. It includes examples and links to other libraries that provide clear instruction on the matter.

Resource Type(s):

Discipline(s): 
Not Discipline Specific
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Evaluating Online Information

This learning object is a visual rubric that students can use to evaluate materials they have found online including news, scholarly sources, and web content. It can be used as a handout or online image. A link to the Google Drawings version is also available if you'd like to remix this material with your own colors and branding or make edits. Choose File>Make a Copy to create your own editable version. This learning object is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. 

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Discipline(s): 
Not Discipline Specific

Type of Institution:

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-NonCommercial License CC-BY-NC

Fake News, Bias, Framed News, False Balance and What to Do about It

This reading provides a broad overview of the topic of "fake news" and discusses the inherent difficulty of "fixing" the problem.

Resource Type(s):

Discipline(s): 
Interdisciplinary
License Assigned: 
All Rights Reserved

Avoiding Information Malpractice

This handout lists different ways that information may be incorrectly or unethically presented to audiences and offers suggestions for correctly using information.

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Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed:

Discipline(s): 
Interdisciplinary
License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-ShareAlike License CC-BY-SA

Directed Research Scavenger Hunt

This exercise gives students a model for approaching a research task, beginning with general information and ending with more in-depth sources. Discussion can focus on research as inquiry, research as strategic exploration, and the context and construction of authority. Students are required to cite their sources using both MLA and APA.

Resource Type(s):

License Assigned: 
CC Attribution-ShareAlike License CC-BY-SA

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