Activity by John Claborn

Description (for Instructors)

In this collaborative, in-class activity, students work together to compose an annotated bibliography in which they trace and evaluate the quality of a Wikipedia article’s references. This activity develops students’ ability to critically evaluate sources/research based on multiple criteria, including but not limited to peer review process, source medium, and author qualifications. This introductory credibility-evaluating activity eases students into the research process by providing basic prompts to guide their assessment.

Furthermore, since this assignment is a group activity, it also hones students’ collaboration skills. Students must delegate tasks, share their unique assessment perspectives, and develop cohesion in their group’s deliverable.

Materials

Explanation (for Students)

1. Overview

In this collaborative assignment, you will work in your groups in order to write 1-2 pages of annotations that trace and assess the quality of a Wikipedia article’s references.

2. Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to get you familiar and comfortable with assessing the quality of sources—a skill necessary to successfully complete any research-based task.

3. Guiding Questions

Consider the following questions as you complete this activity, as well as how your answers may influence future professional research.

Even though the source is well-known, does that mean it’s credible?
Is the source a scholarly, peer-reviewed article?
Is the source a book with an academic or university publisher?
What do you do if the source is a blog?  

4. Instructions

During this activity, you will perform the following tasks in small groups (3-4 individuals per group):

Go to the Wikipedia entry: “The Siberian Traps” (there are eight references)
Trace each footnote back to original source
Evaluate the quality of the source
Write 1-2 pages of annotations for each reference. Annotations should include the following:
Author(s) of source
Article/book/etc. title
Evaluation of that source (i.e., What kind of publication is it? Is it peer-reviewed? Etc.) 

5. Questions to Ask Yourself

When performing your source evaluation, the following are a few questions to ask of your sources to help assess their relative credibility:

Is the source a peer-reviewed, scholarly article?
If it’s not, what kind of review process, if any, has the source undergone?
Is it an Associated Press article?
Is it from a website? What is the website? Who publishes, edits, or maintains it?
What are the qualifications of the author? (e.g., If the article dispenses medical advice, is the author an M.D.?)
Is the source from a book? (If it’s published in a book, it most likely has been peer-reviewed.)