1) Number of participants?

Works well with a group of 10+ students.

2) Who was the audience for the class/workshop/activity?

First Year Writing class.

3) Describe your experience planning with the instructor.

The professor wanted me to discuss the different types of sources students might stumble upon while they did their research and the “appropriateness” of a source. Some of the students had notions of topics, but nothing concrete.

4) What were your goals for the class/workshop/activity?

My goal was for students to be able to discuss what criteria they use and why, when finding and evaluating sources. My hope from this activity is that they will reflect on their choices and realize that a lot of the sources they find have value, but they have to figure out if they have value for their own specific research paper/project.

5) Describe the session(s) and the logistics of any hands-on activities.

A) First, I talk to students about how they feel about the research process so far. This activity is not something I spring on them. If they have an assignment, we usually talk about the assignment and what sources are required.

B) Second, I ask them to complete part one of a worksheet:

What criteria do you use when evaluating sources?

Think Pair Share:

• Write down 3 or 4 criteria on your own.
• Turn to the person next to you, discuss the evaluation criteria. Edit your criteria as you need to.
• Share with the class.

C) Third, I tell students to go to a google site I’ve created and follow the directions.

Go to: tiny.cc/QBTeaches

• Take one minute, quickly evaluate and rank each source from most credible to least credible.
• With 2-3 min, turn to the person next to you, share your criteria with each other, then share your ranked list. If they are different, come up with an agreed upon new list.

D) Finally, Group Discussion. Discuss criteria and rankings.

• What are some of the good things about these sources?
• Would anyone revise their list? Why or why not?
• Discuss point of view, relevance to topic, source/author credibility, bias, currency.

I like the students to write down their evaluation criteria and I like to ask them why they have chosen those particular ones. It’s always interesting to see why students choose what they do.

6) What went well? What might you do differently next time?

This activity usually goes well and good conversations tend to come of it. Depending on how the students participate, this whole activity can take 20+ minutes. I usually leave this so that it’s the last activity we do.

I would like to try out the same activity with a different topic, different sources, or a different concept. I wonder if this type of activity would be well suited for other concepts.