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The worksheet, activity, slides, and library instruction session outline for this assignment are a methodology for integrating information literacy and library research into testimonio writing in a first-year undergraduate Introduction to Higher Education (IHE) course in the College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. In the testimonio, students reflect upon and write about their educational experiences while integrating academic sources into their work.
Posted on December 1, 2023
Contributor: Kimberly Y. Franklin
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Lesson Plan, Slide Deck, Worksheet
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation, Searching as Strategic Exploration
This lesson plan introduces students to lateral reading techniques using the SIFT method. Designed and implemented for a political science introduction to international relations course, this can easily be adapted to other media literacy contexts. Students will practice lateral reading with sample news articles. Worksheets, slides, and sample articles are linked in the lesson plan. Alternative news articles can be substituted.
Posted on April 19, 2023
Contributor: Ruth Castillo
Resource Type(s): Activity, Lesson Plan
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Information Has Value
Beginning college students often make assumptions that scholarly sources are inherently bias-free. Students may also hold the belief that if they find a source through a library database, it is automatically a useful and neutral viewpoint on a topic. These mindsets can limit students’ motivation to apply evaluation strategies beyond establishing credibility based on the author’s credentials.This lesson plan introduces the concept of positionality statements to help students understand that scholars do not leave their identities and life experiences behind when they conduct research. Students...
Posted on January 19, 2023
Contributor: Lauren Wallis
Resource Type(s): Activity, Lesson Plan
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process
The goal of this activity is to help students develop a broader understanding how authority is determined and what types of sources are considered appropriate in different contexts. It is also intended to help address some of the misconceptions that students have related to the source evaluation process.
Posted on November 10, 2022
Contributor: Jane Hammons
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
The goal of this activity is to help students start to think critically about the evaluation strategies that they have learned and whether they support the effective evaluation of information. Students will learn about the lateral reading strategy for evaluation and compare it to their existing evaluation process.
Posted on November 9, 2022
Contributor: Jane Hammons
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
This activity is designed to help students understand the difference between background sources and scholarly sources. Students will read a quick overview of the key differences between these source types, and then they will be asked to classify five sample sources. For each source, they will make an initial judgment based on a screenshot and then take a closer look at the full source to see if their gut instinct was correct. Correct answers and explanations are provided for each source.This activity is suitable for in-person, synchronous online, and asynchronous online instruction. It is...
Posted on April 29, 2022
Contributor: Elisabeth White
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process
Goal: The primary goal of the activity or assignment is for students to develop an increased understanding of the peer review process and how it is connected to the authority or credibility of different information sources. Students will also be encouraged to consider some of the criticisms that have been raised about the process and consider alternatives for determining authoritative sources within a field or discipline.Learning Outcomes:Explain the basic process of scholarly peer reviewExplore how the peer review process is used to identify or establish authoritative or credible works...
Posted on April 20, 2022
Contributor: Jane Hammons
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Information Has Value
In this assignment, students will consider how the format of the information product can impact what they are able to convey related to a topic and how their information may be received and valued. Students will investigate a topic or question and share their response in multiple formats. Formats could range from a more traditional research paper or poster to blogs, infographic, video, or even a series of Tweets. Students will be required to consider how the format(s) they have selected might impact what they can or should share and how their message may be received.
Posted on April 12, 2022
Contributor: Jane Hammons
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process
This activity is intended to help students understand the types of sources that are most commonly cited in research in a specific discipline or field. Students will review the citations from multiple relevant journal articles to identify the types of sources that are often cited. They will also be encouraged to consider why certain types of sources may be more cited than others, and what may be missing by relying primarily on certain types of sources. In addition, students will get practice in identifying the appropriate citation format for different types of sources.
Posted on April 12, 2022
Contributor: Jane Hammons
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process
The purpose of this activity is to recognize how a quote can be taken out of context in subtle (and overt) ways. The goal is to locate a quote within a news article and trace it through multiple layers of context to discover how journalists’ interpretations of quotes impact our understanding of actual events and news.
Posted on February 14, 2022
Contributor: Elizabeth Kamper
Resource Type(s): Activity
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Information Has Value