Purpose of this section
These resources can be incorporated into a lesson plan focused on helping students to understand which information source will best suit their chosen topics and assignment.
Classroom Learning Activities
- This lesson plan from CORA uses socratic questioning to teach students how to identify the types of information needed, when and why.
- This classroom activity walks students through critically evaluating a wikipedia article.
- Information FlowchartThis chart was created by Mel Jensen in 2018 and can be used in an introductory level course. It explains the flow of information -- from general to specific.
- Explanation for Information FlowchartContext for using the Information Flowchart. Mel Jensen. 2018.
Resources For Your Classroom Presentations
The resources in this section can be easily added to a classroom presentation. They include short videos and infographics.
- Infographic for understanding source typesQuantifies the factors to consider when choosing between sources (incl. publication time, degree of scrutiny, author expertise, etc.)
- Infographic for types of Info and Where to LookOffers several recommended places to search when looking for primary/secondary and background information
- Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Sources in the Health Sciences3.5 minute video
- Anatomy of a Scholarly ArticleThis 4.5 minute video explains the differences between scholarly and popular articles, and the defining features of scholarly articles that are helpful for research projects.
- Peer Review in 3 minutes3 minute NCSU video on understanding what scholarly and peer review means.
Resources for CANVAS or Course Guides
The resources in this section are supplementary materials that include self-directed learning modules, longer videos, and library guides. They can be incorporated into your presentations or used as reference materials for students pre/post class.
- Choosing Your Evidence Online ModuleThis Choosing Your Evidence online module walks users through the steps needed to match evidence to the question. Though geared toward evidence based medicine, the process translates to other disciplines too.
- Difference between Google Scholar and Web of ScienceThis CUL libguide presents a nice chart that highlights the differences between Google Scholar and Web of Science, though most features of WoS apply to other databases too.
- Primary, Secondary and Tertiary SourcesCUL libguide that explains what are they and where to find them!
- Primary SourcesA CUL libguide on finding primary sources from different countries and why they matter.
- PubMed vs Web of Science vs Google ScholarMSU Libguide
- Wikipedia handoutExplains how to track the evolution and evaluate the credibility of a Wikipedia article. Created by WikiEd Foundation.
- Checklist of Criteria: Recognizing Scholarly, Popular, News and MoreCUL Libguide with tabs devoted to Scholarly, News, Popular and Tabloid information sources.