General Education Information Literacy at Millersville University

Use this video to encourage students to think critically about the information they encounter in print and online. Students will become familiar with strategies for evaluating sources based on these criteria: authority, accuracy, currency, relevance, and objectivity.

Chapter from Introduction to College Research that describes the SIFT method for source evaluation.

This tutorial will help students identify the characteristics and purpose of misinformation as well as its effect on their personal and academic lives.

This tutorial will introduce students to the practice of lateral reading. Students will learn how to evaluate online materials by digging deeper into the origins and motives behind sites. Students will also have the opportunity to practice lateral reading on their own through a guided activity.

This quiz corresponds with the multimedia on fake news and misinformation.

This quiz tests students on concepts covered in "Video Tutorial: Understanding Misinformation"

Link goes to example assignment provided by University of Texas

An annotated bibliography activity requires students to properly cite a set of sources (which can either be selected by the instructor or by the students) and then produce relevant annotations for each entry. These annotations might focus on the content or argument of a source, source methodology, source credibility, the potential uses of a source in constructing an argument, and more. With an annotated bibliography, the final product on its own addresses several outcomes. However, with well-designed and intentional checkpoints and assessments along the way, it can address all of them to some extent.

Link goes to example assignment provided by University of Texas

Use this tutorial to introduce students to the practice of differentiating between dominant theories and perspectives that are underrepresented in scholarly and everyday sources. The goal of the lesson is to encourage students to seek out multiple relevant and credible perspectives in order to develop a nuanced understanding of the issues that are important to them.

Academic research can be difficult, but you’re not alone! Research is a conversation between many different “voices” that each contribute a unique perspective on a topic. There are many ways that you can use that conversation to help improve your understanding of a topic and discover what you have to say about it.

Inform Your Thinking videos are licensed by Oklahoma State University Libraries under a Creative Commons 4.0 CC BY-NC Attribution-Non Commercial license. 

Throughout this tutorial we'll explore: (1) The legal protections put in place to maintain the value of information, (2) The dimensions in which information has value, including information as a commodity and information as a means of education and influence, (3) The ways YOU can responsibly manage your information.

Use a reflection paper or online discussion that asks students to consider the questions:

•  What perspectives are missing or underrepresented from the scholarly conversation in your discipline? (be sure to consider many dimensions of diversity including gender, ethnicity, race, ability, socioeconomic status)
•  Why might those perspectives be missing or underrepresented?
•  What is the potential impact of those missing voices on the scholarly conversation?
•  What are some ways the you can counteract these potential impacts?

This video introduces the idea of bias and prejudice and the importance of awareness of one’s own bias and the bias of others when evaluating sources and situations, and responding to arguments.

This video builds on the introduction to bias video by discussing specific types of bias such as social bias, confirmation bias, and communal reinforcement.

This quiz corresponds with the video on bias.