TY - JOUR
T1 - We won't be fooled again
T2 - Teaching critical thinking via evaluation of hoax and historical revisionist websites in a library credit course
AU - Mathson, Stephanie M.
AU - Lorenzen, Michael G.
PY - 2008/6/8
Y1 - 2008/6/8
N2 - At Central Michigan University, librarians teach multiple sections of an eight-week, one-credit research skills class to hundreds of undergraduate students each semester. While the main focus of the course is to teach students how to find, use, and properly cite library resources, librarians also address critical thinking skills by designing lessons to teach World Wide Web organization and how to analyze the information found via search engines. Showing student's obvious hoax sites about tree octopi and male pregnancy introduces the concepts of critical thinking and Website analysis. Most students quickly refute the information on such sites. However, students have a more difficult time assessing social, historical, or political revisionist Web sites' validity. Contrasting those claims with evidence accepted by international courts, historians, and scientists is useful in pointing out the flaws of seemingly well documented but one-sided revisionist sites. There are dangers in exposing students to these groups via their Websites. Yet, it is important to do so in order to convey the importance of critical analysis of information. The authors discuss students' pre- and post-test (CMU's online assessment tool, the research readiness self-assessment [RRSA]) scores to determine whether critical thinking skills have improved.
AB - At Central Michigan University, librarians teach multiple sections of an eight-week, one-credit research skills class to hundreds of undergraduate students each semester. While the main focus of the course is to teach students how to find, use, and properly cite library resources, librarians also address critical thinking skills by designing lessons to teach World Wide Web organization and how to analyze the information found via search engines. Showing student's obvious hoax sites about tree octopi and male pregnancy introduces the concepts of critical thinking and Website analysis. Most students quickly refute the information on such sites. However, students have a more difficult time assessing social, historical, or political revisionist Web sites' validity. Contrasting those claims with evidence accepted by international courts, historians, and scientists is useful in pointing out the flaws of seemingly well documented but one-sided revisionist sites. There are dangers in exposing students to these groups via their Websites. Yet, it is important to do so in order to convey the importance of critical analysis of information. The authors discuss students' pre- and post-test (CMU's online assessment tool, the research readiness self-assessment [RRSA]) scores to determine whether critical thinking skills have improved.
KW - Critical thinking
KW - History
KW - Information literacy
KW - Library instruction
KW - Web evaluation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=71049127840&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10691310802177226
DO - 10.1080/10691310802177226
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:71049127840
VL - 15
SP - 211
EP - 230
JO - College and Undergraduate Libraries
JF - College and Undergraduate Libraries
SN - 1069-1316
IS - 1-2
ER -