Image source: Jorge Chan 2009 from http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174
I want to begin by stating that I enjoyed this activity immensely! For many years I have been searching for the right way to describe the experience of observing a friend/family member/student read a news headline and then share this news with me as though it was absolute truth. A few years ago, the closest I came to explaining this process was through this PhD Comic (image above). I have used this comic as a cautionary tale about the credibility of our sources of information (especially internet sources). In this comic we see the results of a research project conducted at a university being distorted through various news outlets and eventually ending up as something that your grandmother is afraid of. In my teaching and personal experiences I have been shocked at how little people engage in critically evaluating the information they are exposed to and how willing they are to accept information provided by the media. When people share a popular news story with me I generally ask the same questions: What is the source of this information? Who is the author? Is the source credible? Is there any research supporting this claim? How was the research conducted? Are you sure the results of the research were reported accurately and honestly? You could say that I am a skeptic, but I honestly think we don’t take the time necessary to evaluate the information that we are exposed to, and we often lack the tools necessary for critical analysis.
I really appreciate Mike Caulfield’s book “Web Literacy for Student Fact Checkers”. I think this book is an excellent source/tool to help others develop some critical thinking skills around information they come across on the web. I have spent the most amount of time in the chapter on “reading laterally”. Sections 20-28 discusses: scholarly sources of information (i.e., publication authority, journal impact factor, checking author expertise, how to think about research, etc.). I am particularly interested in this information because in the LDRS 591 class on day 2 we discuss the topic of accessing and evaluating scholarly literature. We discuss the various genres of literature that are considered scholarly, and what purpose they serve. We also discuss how to critically evaluate the sources of information. I find that in general students are good at finding information about a topic, but they don’t always know what sources of information to utilize for scholarly writing, and they are less certain about how to evaluate the credibility of the source. I will definitely include information about the four moves and a habit (look for previous work, go upstream, read laterally, circle back and check your emotions) in the 591 course as an effective methodology to evaluate the credibility of information.