April 2009
 

Preparing for Future Classes: Assessing Online Sources

Introduction

Now is the perfect time to begin thinking about preparations for future classes. As we reach the end of the semester, take time to reflect over what went well and what could be modified for future classes. Making notes now while your teaching experiences are fresh will help you more in the future than trying to recollect what happened in the fall!

In order to help you prepare for future classes as well as prepare your students for their end of the semester papers and projects, the TA project would like to continue the theme of assessing online sources that began with our October 2008 article, Wikipedia.org as an Educational Exercise. This article also connects to this month’s other article on academic integrity.

Academic Integrity and the use of Online Sources

As students use more online sources, it is our responsibility to teach them to evaluate those sources. This lesson was easier in the days when books and peer reviewed journals were the first place to go for information. Using the Rutgers Interim Academic Integrity Policy is the first step, but each instructor will have specific needs and requirements. The following will give you some ideas that you can introduce in your class; whether you add a section to your syllabus, add something to your assignment/lab sheets, or if you discuss the matter with your students.

Some faculty members prohibit the use of online sources entirely. This may be appropriate, depending on the course. But teaching your students to assess the sources is a lesson that can be tied to learning critical thinking skills that they can use in other portions of your class (and their education more broadly).

You may want to require students to clear all web citations with you. A shortened form of what is discussed below that you can require students to fill out and attach to a copy of the source. That way, students begin to think about the source itself before unthinkingly adding it to their paper/assignment/lab report. This form can ask for a few minor details (what kind of website, author, date of ‘publication’ and the date they accessed the material, and a short justification for using the site rather than a book or peer reviewed article) or ask them to go into more detail.

Assessing Online Sources

There are a number of ways students can assess online sources; you can ask them to evaluate content and form. The following focuses on content and reliability, but if you are interested in the design, usability, and form of websites, Transcriptions (hosted by UC Santa Barbara’s English Department) has a list of criteria and checklist.

Authorship:

It is important to remind our students that online resources “are all created with a purpose in mind by some person or agency or entity. They do not simply ‘grow’ on the web like mildew grows in moist corners” (UC Berkeley Library).

  • Who is the author? Can you identify them?
  • What is the author’s relationship to what they are writing about? Are they a professional? Is the page a personal page?
  • What are the credentials of the person who wrote the page? What sources do they use and/or cite?
  • Can you contact the author? (via the website, email, or other method)
  • Who hosts the page? “Is the domain extension appropriate for the content? Governmental sites: look for .gov, .mil. Educational sites: look for .edu. Nonprofit organizations: look for .org although this is no longer restricted to nonprofits” (UC Berkeley Library).
  • Who is responsible for the page? A single author? An agency, organization, or institution?

Quality/Integrity of the Page

Not all pages are created equal, so students must learn to assess the quality of the material found on the page. For example, the date a page was created tells us about the data found on the page: “Undated factual or statistical information is no better than anonymous information…. For some topics you want current information. For others, you want information put on the web near the time it became known. In some cases, the importance of the date is to tell you whether the page author is still maintaining an interest in the page, or has abandoned it” (UC Berkeley Library). The following questions will help your students assess the quality of the page:

  • What is the date on the page? When was it last updated?
  • What kind of sources are used? Personal experience? Reproduced information? (see the UC Berkeley Library’s page for questions regarding reproduced information).
  • What is the tone of the article? Is the author making personal attacks along with claims? Even an objective ‘sounding’ article can be biased, so other information must be gathered.
  • What is the purpose of the site? Are they advocating, marketing, educating, providing news, or entertainment (Transcriptions: UC Santa Barbara)?
  • “Who is the intended audience and how are they addressed (formally/informally, as consumer/visitor/professional colleague)” (Transcriptions: UC Santa Barbara)?

There are many resources available to you and your students to assess online resources. Examples are found below in the Bibiography and Resources section. But in the end, it is up to you and your students to decide what is most appropriate to use in your class.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us.

Bibliography and Resources

Beck, Susan. “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly; or, Why It’s a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources.” 1997. New Mexico State University Library. Accessed 25 March 2009.

Beck, Susan J. and Howard Dess. “Selecting and Evaluating Electronic Resources: An Annotated Bibliography.” Rutgers University Library System. Accessed 25 March 2009.

Kilborn, Judith. “Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources.” 7 January 2005. Literacy Education Online: St. Cloud State University. Accessed 17 March 2009.

“Transcriptions Resources: Evaluating & Citing Online Resources.” 28 September 2002. University of California, Santa Barbara. Accessed 17 March 2009.

UC Berkeley Library. “Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask.” 24 November 2008. University of California, Berkeley. Accessed 17 March 2009.

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