scholarly journals Source discernment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Unger ◽  
Miritt Zisser
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
White Paper ◽  
First Year ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Information Materials ◽  
First Year Student

Is source discernment at the root of all information literacy? In today’s media landscape, finding information is easy. Finding information that is scientifically correct and trustworthy is much more difficult. An added problem for students today is that all this available information come in similar formats. When all information is presented as a pdf on the screen, how do you know what you´re reading? How is a first year student with no previous academic experience really supposed to discern between a scholarly article, a book chapter, a conference article, a white paper, a popular science article, a scientific report and a doctoral thesis? And yet the ability to do so is fundamental for the information evaluation process. If you are not sure what you are reading, how are you supposed to be able to evaluate the quality of the information?   In 2019 we switched our approach to information literacy teaching to start with identifying different sources of information and then teach reference writing and information searching from this angle. Preliminary results from student assignments and feedback from teachers show that this seems to improve the quality of the sources the students use in their work as well as their ability to write correct references.   We would like to discuss this with colleagues from other universities with similar or other experiences. The questions we would like to focus on are:  How a first year student with no previous academic experience is really supposed to discern between different types of scholarly and non-scholarly information materials and how we as library instructors can help our students with this?  What are the experience of other librarians and are there any good examples of strategies or classroom exercises?

scholarly journals Source discernment – the root of all information literacy?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Unger ◽  
Magdalena Svanberg ◽  
Miritt Zisser
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
White Paper ◽  
First Year ◽  
Academic Experience ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
First Year Student

Is source discernment at the root of all information literacy? In today’s media landscape, finding information is easy. Finding information that is scientifically correct and trustworthy is much more difficult. An added problem for students today is that all this available information come in similar formats. When all information is presented as a pdf on your screen, how do you know what you ́re reading? How is a first year student with no previous academic experience really supposed to discern between a scholarly article, a book chapter, a conference article, a white paper, a popular science article, a scientific report and a doctoral thesis? And yet the ability to do so is fundamental for the information evaluation process. If you are not sure what you are reading, how can you evaluate the quality of the information? To ease our students’way into academic writing we now start our information literacy teaching with identifying different sources of information. Reference writing and information searching are then taught from this angle. Student assignments and feedback from teachers show that this seems to improve the quality of the sources the students use in their work as well as their ability to write correct references. We would like to discuss this with colleagues from other universities with similar or other experiences. The questions we would like to focus on are: How a first year student with no previous academic experience is really supposed to discern between different types of scholarly and non-scholarly information materials and how we as library instructors can help our students with this? What are the experience of other librarians and are there any good examples of strategies or classroom exercises?

scholarly journals Impact of Assignment Prompt on Information Literacy Performance in First-year Student Writing

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sara Lowe ◽  
Sean M. Stone ◽  
Char Booth ◽  
Natalie Tagge
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
First Year ◽  
Literacy Performance ◽  
First Year Student

scholarly journals The eARTISTS Media and Information Literacy Model for Managing Access to Quality Information

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
Jagtar Singh ◽  
Alton Grizzle
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Quality Information ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Commercial Media ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Quality Decision ◽  
Information Providers

Information is necessary for eliminating uncertainty and facilitating decision-making. Quality of decisions depends upon the quality of information available to the stakeholders. But to manage access to quality information, information seekers have to depend upon different sources of information, media, and other information providers. Unfortunately, the commercial media is controlled by corporate tycoons, governments, politicians and various non-government organisations (NGOs). These information providers have some motive behind the stories flashed by them. Hence, media and information literacy (MIL) skills are necessary for ascertaining truth behind the story. Earlier, information literacy and media literacy were used as separate concepts but now UNESCO is using (MIL) as a composite concept, appreciating the symbiosis between media and information. This article gives an overview of a few MIL related developments and describes the e-ARTISTS MIL Model developed by Jagtar Singh and Alton Grizzle. Differentiating the e-ARTISTS Model from the Big6 Model and the Empowering 8 Model of Information Literacy, it justifies the need for e-ARTISTS MIL Model for managing timely access to quality information for facilitating quality decision-making.

Using Pseudoscience to Improve Introductory Psychology Students’ Information Literacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Lawson ◽  
Maria Brown
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Introductory Courses ◽  
Quality Of Information

We developed an assignment that required introductory psychology students to read and evaluate the quality of several sources of information about the causal link between vaccines and autism. To evaluate the effects of this assignment, students in several different introductory courses completed a pretest and posttest in which they evaluated the quality of information from a website promoting a pseudoscientific therapy. Students who completed the assignment decreased their ratings of the quality of the information from the website (from pretest to posttest), were better able to identify specific problems with the information, and were less likely to recommend the therapy to a friend. Students who did not complete the assignment exhibited no changes in the dependent measures.

scholarly journals A Novel Assessment Tool for Quantitative Evaluation of Science Literature Search Performance: Application to First-Year and Senior Undergraduate Biology Majors

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Blank ◽  
Karen J. McGaughey ◽  
Elena L. Keeling ◽  
Kristen L. Thorp ◽  
Conor C. Shannon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
First Year ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Literature Searching ◽  
Biology Majors

Expertise in searching and evaluating scientific literature is a requisite skill of trained scientists and science students, yet information literacy instruction varies greatly among institutions and programs. To ensure that science students acquire information literacy skills, robust methods of assessment are needed. Here, we describe a novel tool for longitudinal, crossover assessment of literature-searching skills in science students and apply it to a cross-sectional assessment of literature-searching performance in 145 first-year and 43 senior biology majors. Subjects were given an open-ended prompt requiring them to find multiple sources of information addressing a particular scientific topic. A blinded scorer used a rubric to score the resources identified by the subjects and generate numerical scores for source quality, source relevance, and citation quality. Two versions of the assessment prompt were given to facilitate eventual longitudinal study of individual students in a crossover design. Seniors were significantly more likely to find relevant, peer-reviewed journal articles, provide appropriate citations, and provide correct answers to other questions about scientific literature. This assessment tool accommodates large numbers of students and can be modified easily for use in other disciplines or at other levels of education.

scholarly journals Analiza możliwości wykorzystania poszerzonej rzeczywistości do prezentacji projektów studenckich na przykładzie projektów z pierwszego roku

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-143
Author(s):  
Wojciech Sumlet
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
First Year ◽  
Housing Environment ◽  
Application Potential ◽  
Student Projects ◽  
First Year Student

Analysis of the application potential of augmented reality to present student projects on the example of first-year student assignments This paper discusses the experiences of the Housing Environment Amendment Laboratory of the CUT FA in the area of generating visualisations in an augmented reality (AR) environment, based on module assignments prepared by students. The objective of the study was to verify the quality of the application of the tool for the purposes of evaluating student projects. As a part of the study, AR visualisations of five selected student projects were developed and compared with the original project sheets prepared by students. As a result, the author obtained material for discussion on the potential of the technology and the conditions of its use in education.

scholarly journals The Quality Of Solutions To Open Ended Problem Solving Activities And Its Relation To First Year Student Team Effectiveness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Moore ◽  
Heidi Diefes-Dux ◽  
P.K. Imbrie
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Team ◽  
First Year Student

scholarly journals First-year Student Essays Shed Light on their Experience of ACRL Framework Threshold Concepts

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 168-170
Author(s):  
Heather MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
First Year ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Seeking Help ◽  
Call Number ◽  
First Year Student

A Review of: Dempsey, P. R., & Jagman, H. (2016). I felt like such a freshman: First-year students crossing the library threshold. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(1), 89-107. https:doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0011 Abstract Objective – To synthesize student narratives on searching for an item in the library and to identify information literacy threshold concepts students encountered during their searching. Design – Constant comparative analysis. Setting – Academic library at an urban American university. Subjects – A sample of 97 1-to-2 page ungraded first year student essays. Methods – A library assignment was developed for first year students in a required academic skills course. Students wrote the essay for peer mentors. After completing the essay, students were asked if they wanted to participate in the study. For the assignment, students were asked to find a library item of interest and write a reflective essay on the process. Essays were analyzed using NVIVO software. The researchers developed codes independently, then came together to review, discuss and recode the essays. Using the constant comparison method, themes were identified from the coding. Narrative analysis was used to understand the coding in the context of the students’ experiences.  Main Results – The authors outlined various search paths that the students described in their essays. The main emotional responses in the essays were surprise, confusion, and excitement. Three ACRL Framework IL concepts were identified in the analysis: Scholarship as Conversation, Searching as Strategic Exploration, and Research as Inquiry. Scholarship as a Conversation was exemplified through students’ selection of a library item. Students chose topics that were of academic interest or associated with personal identity. In the essays, students explained their connection to the item they found, making the connection to the ongoing scholarly conversation. Searching as Strategic Exploration was expressed through student descriptions of connecting the call number to the subject classifications. Some students sailed through, whereas others encountered challenges. Some found that previous library mental models failed, found the catalogue overwhelming, or thought the organization of material was at fault rather than their own skills. Some students described how they overcame their challenges. Students also discussed balancing self-reliance and seeking help when searching for an item. This related to the ACRL frames of Research as Inquiry and Searching as Strategic Exploration. Attitudes on seeking help ranged from complete reliance to anxiety. Conclusion – This library assignment offered students the opportunity to pursue their own interests and goals. It also encouraged exploration, problem-solving, and reflection. The assignment design allowed students to grapple with information literacy threshold concepts in a safe and independent environment, demonstrating learning and engagement with academia.

In Their Own Words: Using First-Year Student Research Journals to Guide Information Literacy Instruction

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenda M. Insua ◽  
Catherine Lantz ◽  
Annie Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Information Literacy ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Research ◽  
Information Literacy Instruction ◽  
First Year Student
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