Monday, February 6, 2012

Weaving: Evaluating Sources Checklist

As I look at my different sources for the books I'm researching, I made myself a checklist:

____source provided a specific example of a challenge
____source gave both sides of the challenge
____source included quotations from people involved
____source included the author's opinion

Some of my sources simply gave a one-sided story.  For example, rightwingwatch.com gave a quote from the Christian Coalition and used this quote to characterize "right wingers" concerns with Twilight.  I went to some other sources and still want to see if I can find a quote from the author.  

Evaluation is an important part of media literacy.  Simply surfing through information doesn't really require too many skills; it's the ability to, as McKenzie's Research Cycle puts it, "sort and sift" through information.  Can we categorize and prioritize information?  This is something I just do automatically and simply expect students to do as well.  =) Well, I guess that's why I'm doing this project. =)

1 comment:

  1. Josh,
    I like the checklist you created. I think this is a great way to narrow your sources. There are many great resources yet, like questions, not all can be used due time, space and topic.

    In "Twenty-first Century Literacy and Technology in K-8 Classrooms the authors focus on an assignment that required the student "to collect and analyze unique data, thereby creating her own content" (Brown, Bryan, & Brown). Helping students learn how to "categorize and prioritize information" will lead them to a greater understanding of how to create their own content instead of regurgitating what has already been established.

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