Learning Objectives

• Evaluate information found in ISearch.

Evaluating Information

Being able to analyze, classify, and categorize information is an essential part of inquiry. ISearch's breadth of media — images, text, charts and graphs, and videos — make it a one-stop-shop for teaching students how to break down the information they locate and judge its value in their research process. 

Text Types Available in ISearch

Take a few moments to review some location tips to finding text in ISearch.

ISearch contains eBooks, articles from popular magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals (also called academic journals), and a sampling of studies, conference presentations, and reference materials. Using the tabs is the best way to determine what kind of text will be predominate. 

• My Library/eBooks and Videos - eBooks purchased by school librarian/INFOhio's eBooks
• Encyclopedias - reference materials
• Basic Sources - newspaper and popular magazine articles, reference materials
• Advanced Sources - scholarly journal articles
• STEAM - scholarly journal articles
• Open Access - scholarly journal articles, conference presentations, eBooks

Popular Magazines vs. Scholarly Journals 

As students advance in school, it will become more important for them to use various types of information for learning. To do so, exposing them to the types of text and helping them analyze and classify it is key. For example, students can learn the difference between information they find in a periodical and that in a scholarly journal using INFOhio's Research 4 Success. The modules in this resource were designed to help high school teachers and students navigate the inquiry process. The third module, Selecting the Best, will be helpful in this step of using ISearch for inquiry. Use the resources in Learn to provide more information on the differences in these two information types. 

Once students understand these two different sources of information, take the learning a step higher. Teach your students how to cite which source is the best for a topic based on its currency, reliability, authority, and point of view/purpose — a process more commonly known as the CRAP test. Use the CRAP test tutorial in the Learn step of Selecting the best to analyze and classify two articles on "genetically modified organism" safety.

Consider these two articles:

GMOs: Recognizing and Avoiding Them 

Published GMO Studies Find No Evidence Of Harm When Corrected for Multiple Comparisons

Ask the students to use the CRAP checklist provided in the Practice step of Research 4 Success's third module to evaluate the two articles.

Encourage students to learn more about the reliability, authority, and point of view of sources for each of the articles by conducting an internet search about them. They will learn more about the source such as its intended audience and purpose. Provide students with a foundation of knowledge to detect bias within resources as well. This helpful resource from Points of View Reference Center will outline the bias that can be found in publications. 

As students compare and contrast these two articles, ask them to consider their intended audience as well as the purpose of their research. Many will be preparing for argumentative outputs. Ask students to think more about the evidence used in both of these articles. Which one will best suit their audience and purpose?

Reflecting on Your Learning

Answer the following questions in the INFOhio Resources for Research Open Space group Discussions. Find the Methods of Evaluating Information reflection question in the Discussions tab. Reply to the thread and review other participants' responses.

1. How have you evaluated information in the past? Think about a resource you have used previously? Based on your understandings from this lesson, would you use that for teaching or learning in the future?