Finding and Evaluating Sources Session Objectives To raise

Finding and Evaluating Sources

Session Objectives • To raise participants’ awareness of finding and evaluating sources • To raise participants’ awareness of the core criteria of source evaluation • To enable participants explore and evaluate online materials

Lead-in • What is evaluation? • What do we usually have to evaluate? (materials, information…? ) • How often do you use the Internet for academic research? • Do you think the online resources are always of good quality? • How do you evaluate the quality of the resources that you find online?

Task • Imagine that you are a young researcher searching for some sources on theme of “second language acquisition”. • Read the excerpts from the two articles and choose the one that you think is more reliable. • Justify your choice by providing a few reasons. • Make a list of questions that helped you to make your choice. • Present your questions to the whole group.

Criteria of source evaluation • Currency • Authority • Objectivity • Audience • Accuracy

Criteria of source evaluation • Currency - When was the information created or updated? • Authority - Who produced the content? • Objectivity - Why was the information produced? • Audience - Who was the information intended for? • Accuracy - Is the content flawed or inconsistent?

QUIZ Time! • Work in groups of three or four and look for the answers to the 15 questions as quickly as possible. • The team that finds all 15 answers first WINS. Example image