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Disasters, natural or manmade, disrupt society and can expose people to public health emergencies. In preparation for impending natural disasters, national agencies, such as the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will situate supplies (emergency food and rations) close enough to locations facing potential impacts but farenough away not to be compromised in a disaster area. However, these are emergency supplies and are not designed to meet long-term needs or the needs of specific individuals. Private businesses within the disaster zone can also experience supply...
Posted on July 1, 2024
Contributor: Laureen Cantwell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Creation as Process, Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry
Informed decision-making about spatial data selection and reliability is a fundamental part of spatial literacy. The proliferation of spatial data on the internet and the large quantity of user-generated data increases thechances of integrating unreliable data into research. This chapter focuses on evaluating spatial data using the Currency, Reliability, Authority, and Purpose (CRAAP) test with additional focus on the importance of Margins of Error (MOE) in American Community Survey (ACS) data. Reviews have shown that the ACS MOE is often overlooked during research or...
Posted on June 28, 2024
Contributor: Laureen Cantwell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
Environmental health (EH) is the study of physical, chemical, and biological factors in the environment that affect human health. EH data include environmental exposures, health outcomes, and socioeconomic status (SES), which are often place-based or have geographic correlations. This chapter aims to develop students’ spatial literacy skills to address two EH themes—environmental disparities and exposure-health associations—with open online mapping tools. Environmental disparity studies address the disproportionate exposures among populations of low SES and of color. Students will...
Posted on June 27, 2024
Contributor: Laureen Cantwell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry
To visualize entities that could potentially address the unmet needs of at-risk and disadvantaged community members, a series of activities and exercises geared to participants with little programming or GIS experience were developed using geographic and population information. The learning activities and exercises progress from navigating an existing map to creating a map and uploading to harnessing freely available resources like US Census Bureau data to produce visualizations that link geographic and demographic information. Participants will apply these tools and resources to a specific...
Posted on June 26, 2024
Contributor: Dana Abbey
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Creation as Process
The two learning activities outlined in this PowerPoint will aid in developing students’ understanding of spatial epidemiology and the intersectionality of socio-economic and environmental factors. Task 1 involves a short presentation on the software SaTScan covering cluster analysis and including the data types needed for the analysis. Following this, students receive a scenario-based task using a pre-designed hypothetical dataset of the spread of a contagion in the UK. Students input the appropriate text files, developed from contagion datasets, into SaTScan to produce a cluster...
Posted on June 25, 2024
Contributor: Laureen Cantwell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation
Public health concerns are often multi-faceted, complex problems. Any exploratory analysis conducted to support public health concerns should be scalable to this multi-attribute nature. This activity pairs with a chapter focused on spatial clustering techniques for multivariate analysis, which can reveal the locations with unusually high or low occurrences of multiple diseases. We will use obesity and insufficient sleep, which often occur together, as conditions to analyze considering their serious impacts on public health. Once contributing factors are determined, policymakers can be...
Posted on June 25, 2024
Contributor: Laureen Cantwell
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Slide Deck
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation
Ready-made Canvas Module that explores one way of introducing students to the research process, providing them with the opportunity to practice planning and executing their research. Note: the last video will not show up because it is specific and accessible only to my institution. But it's just a 5-min library orientation video. Feel free to use/substitute a similar type of video that covers your library! Approx. Completion Time: ~45 min Help with importing objects from Canvas Commons: https://ittraining.iu.edu/help/import-from-canvas-commons/index.html
Posted on June 24, 2024
Contributor: Sarah Hood
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Learning Object, Tutorial
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual, Information Has Value, Research as Inquiry, Searching as Strategic Exploration
The lesson covers using PolicyMap and Social Explorer to visualize socioeconomic variables. These two mapping tools let learners view geographic distribution of variables (back ideas with data) and begin their exploration of spatial literacy. In addition, the visualizations can lead learners to question assumptions and examine the impact of social determinants of health among other issues. The lesson walks learners through using these tools to examine issues and combine a narrative and visualizations to write a policy report.
Posted on June 18, 2024
Contributor: Todd Quinn
Resource Type(s): Assignment Prompt
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Research as Inquiry, Scholarship as Conversation
This activity is faciliated for biology 1A students as a science literacy activity but it can be adapted to any discipline. Students are given a brief presentation on authority and objectivety. The slides has my notes. You can review them to see how I steer the conversation but it's completely up to you how you want to discuss certain points. Make any changes you'd like or add anything that is missing!After the presentation, students will be put into groups to work on an activity where they will have to evaluate the authority and objectivity of 3 different types of sources (scholarly article...
Posted on June 6, 2024
Contributor: Anna Yang
Resource Type(s): Lesson Plan
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Authority is Constructed and Contextual
This activity involves using Generative AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Pi.ai, to assist in brainstorming and refining research questions. Students will experiment with different prompts, and engage in a conversational approach with the AI to get the best, most useful results.This activity is intended to provide students with an introduction to effective GenAI prompt construction and does not explore the ethical issues of using this technology. Estimated Time: ~1 hour, give/take 15 minThis activity is structured into three main sections:Narrowing a Topic:...
Posted on May 29, 2024
Contributor: Sarah Hood
Resource Type(s): Activity, Assignment Prompt, Learning Object, Tutorial
Information Literacy Frame(s) Addressed: Information Creation as Process, Research as Inquiry