lis 568

Website Evaluation Skills for First-Time Community College Students : 

Website Evaluation Skills for First-Time Community College Students Mike Hesson ( mhesson@uw.edu / mhesson@oc.ctc.edu ) LIS 568 – Assignment 6

Lesson Context : 

Lesson Context Setting – Facilities: Small Seattle-area Community College (pop. avg. 7-8000 headcount with 4000 Full-Time Enrolled.) Library has a 30-seat “learning lab” with PC’s running Microsoft XP & Office (including IE), a teaching station, data/ viewscreen projector, in-room speakers, and a printer. Instructor will have e-reserve and hard-copies of the article used in Assignment #3.

Lesson Context : 

Lesson Context Setting – Population / Audience: Usually “Digital Natives” – have been using computers & the internet since adolescence. Almost always prefer to conduct research for school assignments online. Search-engines are first resource used in research. Frequently unaware of the information-resources their library offers (even online.)

Lesson Context : 

Lesson Context Content: The course is designed as a “learning community”: a team-taught environment combining the following two courses – GEN-S 110 – Research in the Information Age: “This course is an introduction to academic research skills and is designed for students from all programs. Emphasis on proficiency at using various electronic databases, including those available on the library’s information networks, the online catalog, and the World Wide Web, as well as other standard research tools and retrieval techniques. The principles and skills learned can be applied through college, as well as for lifelong learning” (Mercer, 144). ENGL& 102 – Composition II (aka. Argument): “A continuation of ENGL& 101 with emphasis on argumentation, research, and documentation.” (OC English Department, 141). This unit and the accompanying assignment are driven by the course-assignment from ENGL& 102. Links will be provided for the actual assignment prompt later on in the presentation.

Information Literacy : 

Information Literacy Audience: please refer back to Context/ Setting/ Audience (slide 4) for population specifics in relation to general characteristics. IL & Audience: The majority of the audience prefer speed & ease of access of information over quality (if they can even define “quality” in this academic context), tend to believe that everything found on the ‘Web has equal merit, and are unfamiliar with A) scholarly sources & the publication process, and B) which sources are appropriate for (Community-) College-level work vs. High-School level work.

Content / Information Literacy Objectives : 

Content / Information Literacy Objectives Both English Composition and IL are well-served by ACRL’s Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Standard 3 works for both fields Standard 4 outcomes can be related to Composition: The homework and Assignment both require students to write about their analysis, organize it in a coherent fashion, and back their assertions with facts. Standard 2 outcomes fall on the IL side of the line, and the objectives of both 2 & 3 are the outcomes for this particular unit: Students will be able to analyze websites by various characteristics for veracity, currency, honesty, and intent. Students will apply critical thinking in determining the validity of a website and its information, and in their search for author web-sites.

Activities: Introduction / Icebreaker : 

Activities: Introduction / Icebreaker Does anyone know who this woman is? Who do you think she might be? What do you think she does for a living? For those of you who know who she is, have you visited her website? Would anyone like to volunteer to tell the class who she is?

Activities: Skills 1 & 2 : 

Activities: Skills 1 & 2 Skill 1: Analysis of website construction, currency, updates & authorship. Skill 2: Analysis of site information for factuality, specificity, intended audience & creator’s authority Lecture with PowerPoint presentation / examples Websites for Discussion: Skill / Task 1 Skill / Task 2 Discussion Skill 1: design / layout / construction of site Skill 2: browse other parts of Hamilton’s site & comment on “informationally” interesting characteristics.

Activities: Skill 3 : 

Activities: Skill 3 Skill 3: Analysis of the purpose / intent of the website Websites (1): comparison of .org & .com Lecture with PowerPoint presentation / examples Online demonstration of Google search demonstrating fan-sites. Presentation of Assignment # 3 prompt Homework Assignment: a short write-up of what sites they found with the class activity. Class activity: students do individual searches on one author listed on the assignment prompt.

Activities: Conclusion : 

Activities: Conclusion Talking Points (as I dislike scripts…) There’s a multiplicity of reasons to analyze websites for veracity, currency, honesty and intent. These range from the purely academic (i.e.: Assignment 3) to things that could impact your life. How websites are constructed, maintained/ updated, what information they present, how that information is presented, and who authored that information all have clues embedded in them that can provide you with information as to whether or not the information you obtain is genuine and/ or accurate, and to what purpose the information was provided. When in doubt, be skeptical. Question & answer session. As an aid to help the Library folks (“and I’m one of them, we’re here to help you”) with assesment, please complete the totally anonymous survey that should pop up on your screen now.

Evaluation : 

Evaluation In addition to some additional evaluation provided by the homework (which, in Composition, works strongly in addressing errors and making specific suggestions for improvement), the instructor(s) conduct formative evaluation by monitoring both evaluation and discussion. In an ideal world, a survey pops up on the monitors for students to complete. A rubric dealing with the five levels of competency (exceeds expectations, meets expectations, adequate, needs improvement & inadequate) will be used in assessing the homework.

Fin. : 

Fin. Thank you for your time & attention~! I welcome your comments. If you have anything that you don’t want to post to the board, I’m most easily reached at mhesson@oc.ctc.edu .

Works Cited : 

Works Cited ACRL. "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." ALA.com, American Library Association ( May 2007). 2 February 2008. <http://www.ala.org//ala/acrl/acrlstandards/ALA_print_layout_1_185693_185693.cfm> Ashe, James Casey. "Information Habits of Community College Students: A Literature Survey." Community and Junior College Libraries 11.4 (2003): Barnes, Kassandra, et. al. “Teaching and Learning with the Net Generation”. Innovate Online 3.4 April/May 2007. Accessed 01 June 2008: <http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=382> Eisenberg, Michael B., et. al. Information Literacy: essential skills for the information age. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. Grassian, Esther and Kaplowitz, Joan. Information Literacy Instruction: theory and practice. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2001. Olympic College Catalog 2008-2009. Olympic College Communications Department. Bremerton, WA: self-published. April 2008. pp. 21,141, &144 Robinson, Ashley and Nelson, Elizabeth. “Plug-Ins for Critical Media Literacy: a collaborative program”. Online 26.4 (2002): pp. 29-32