Evidence Based Learning

Evidence-based Learning and Information Literacy: Actively Emphasizing the Evaluation of Sources to Enhance Student Work

FEBRUARY 4, 2011

Joe Eshleman, MLIS, Instruction LibrarianJohnson & Wales University Library, Charlotte, NC

Richard Moniz, MA, MLIS, EdD, Director of Library ServicesJohnson & Wales University Library, Charlotte, NCAdjunct Instructor, UNCG MLIS & Johnson & Wales University, History

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Johnson & Wales University

• Founded as a business college in 1914 in Providence, RI

• Not-for-profit, private institution• Colleges of Business, Hospitality, and Culinary

Arts supported by School of Arts & Sciences• Four Campuses: Providence, RI; Charlotte, NC;

Miami, FL; Denver, CO• Approximately 2,600 students at our Charlotte

campus (opened in 2004)• Co-Sponsor of the Lilly conference

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Session Objectives

• What’s the problem? • Share our

experience and findings regarding student exercises with source evaluation

• Discuss how you can implement our findings in your class

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What’s the

problem?

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Works Cited Page Example

“Vaccinations." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 29 Nov. 2005. Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vaccinations>.

"History of Vaccinations." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 30 Nov.2005.Wikipedia.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/history%20%of%20%vaccinations%20%>.

“The problem with vaccines." ehow website. 15 Nov. 2005 <http://ehow.com/vaccine_problem.doc>.

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“Eight out of ten (81%) students considered themselves expert or very skilled in searching the Internet effectively

and efficiently.”

“Eight out of ten (81%) students considered themselves expert or very skilled in searching the Internet effectively

and efficiently.”

How Students View their Own Technology Adoption and Information Literacy

The ECAR (EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research) Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2010

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Information Literacy: Evaluating Information

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Video from class

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AccuracyIs the information free of errors and do you see that the information is cited?

AuthorityIs there a way for you to tell who created this information? Can you contact the

person?

Currency When was this information created? Is there more current information available

for your topic?

ObjectivityHow would you define the purpose for the creation of this information? Do you

think the author has any biases? What would they be?

RelevanceIs the information you found the best match-up for your information need? Why?

What are we doing to give the students the tools they need to evaluate sources?

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What are we doing to give each student the tools they need to evaluate sources?

• Individual evaluation assignment

• Librarian provides formative assessment and feedback directly to the students

In this assignment you are required to write a paper on a topic which

presents itself as a having scientific evidence but which may need

further investigation. Is there any SCIENTIFIC evidence supporting or

refuting this material?

As part of your research, you will need two sources to support the

information you present. You will need to e-mail one of the resources

(or a link to it) plus the following evaluation information to the

Instruction Librarian.

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*Primary versus Secondary Source? Why?


AccuracyIs the information free of errors and do you see that the information is cited?

AuthorityIs there a way for you to tell who created this information? Can you contact the

person?

Currency When was this information created? Is there more current information available for

your topic? How does currency apply to primary sources?

ObjectivityHow would you define the purpose for the creation of this information? Do you think the author has any biases? What would they be? How does objectivity apply

when viewing historical events from primary sources?

RelevanceIs the information you found the best match-up for your information need? Why?

How can instructors help students to evaluate sources?-History Class Example

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*A well researched business plan

AccuracyIs your information free of errors and is your information cited?

AuthorityIs there a way for you to show that you created this information? Did you supply

contact information?

Currency When was this information created? Is there more current information available for

your topic? How does currency apply to business plans?

ObjectivityHow would you define the purpose for the creation of this information? Do you have

any biases? What would they be?

RelevanceIs the information you are creating the best match-up for your audience’s

information need? Why?

How can instructors help students to evaluate sources?-Business Class Example

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Instructor (Brian Mooney) Feedback

"After this instruction and exercise, students demonstrated overall a more critical attitude. It was brought home to them that they needed to

become skeptical consumers in an age of abundant, readily-accessible information."

"After this instruction and exercise, students demonstrated overall a more critical attitude. It was brought home to them that they needed to

become skeptical consumers in an age of abundant, readily-accessible information."

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Student Feedback

Thank you! You really taught me something. Before the

presentation and this assignment I didn't know what to look for when evaluating a website.

Thank you! You really taught me something. Before the

presentation and this assignment I didn't know what to look for when evaluating a website.

Thank you for your constructive

criticism.

Thank you for taking the time to do this

and for the information about the

sources

Thank you so so so very much for explaining to me

how to do the sourcing. I will

gladly email you if I need anymore

help with the paper.

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Theory

Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development:

“…defined as including higher cognitive functions that are about to mature or develop, the ZPD is determined by the cognitive tasks the learner can complete in collaboration with an adult ...” (Gredler, 2002, p. 2660)

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Individual Student Feedback

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ACRL Standards

“The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.”

– Association of College & Research Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education

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NEASC Standards

“The institution ensures that students use information resources and information technology as an integral part of their education. The institution provides appropriate orientation and training for use of these resources, as well as instruction and support in information literacy and information technology appropriate to the degree level and field of study.”

- New England Association of Schools & Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (SACS equivalent)

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What have we done in the past to address the problem (other ways to integrate this

into your class)?

• Group Exercises

• Clickers

(individual)

• Clickers (game

show)

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Reflection

Questions?

Other Ideas/Thoughts?

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References/Suggested Readings

Association of College & Research Libraries. (2000). Information literacy competency standards for higher education, Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/informationliteracycompetency.htm.

Beck, S. E. (1997). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Or, why it’s a good idea to evaluate web sources. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html.

Burkhardt, J., MacDonald, M. C., and Rathemacher, A. J. (2010). Teaching information literacy: 50 standards-based exercises for college students. Chicago: ALA.

Gredler, M. E. (2002). Vygotsky, Lev (1896–1934). Encyclopedia of Education. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

Jackson, B., & Jamieson, K. Unspun: Finding facts in a world of disinformation. New York: Random House, 2007.

Kapoun, J. (1998). Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: A guide for library instruction. C & RL News, 59(7).

Kolowich, S. (September 29, 2010). Searching for better research habits. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/09/29/search.

Kortum P., Edwards, C., & Richards-Kortum, R. (2008). The impact of inaccurate Internet health information in a secondary school learning environment. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 10(2), e17.

Lesley University. (2005). Evaluating web sites: Criteria for the classroom. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html.

Moniz, R., Eshleman, J., Mooney, B., Jewell, D., & Tran, C. (2010). The impact of information literacy-related instruction in the science classroom: Clickers versus nonclickers. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 17(4), 349-364.

New England Association of Schools and Colleges. (2010). Commission on Institutions of Higher Education: Standards of Accreditation. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://cihe.neasc.org/standards_policies/standards/standards_html_version

New York University Libraries. Nursing resources: A self-paced tutorial and refresher. Retrieved December 15, 2010, from http://library.nyu.edu/research/subjects/health/tutorial/index.html.

Sittler, R. L. and Cook, D. (Eds.) (2009). The library instruction cookbook. Chicago: ACRL.