![[ The Four Ws of Evaluating Information Sources: Education ]](EDWWWWBanner.jpg)
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Who:Who is the author or company
responsible for the content? Sometimes you can learn about the author or institution in the source you are reading.
The Educator's Reference Desk (Web Page) "The Educator's Reference Desk builds on over a quarter century of experience providing high-quality resources and services to the education community. From the Information Institute of Syracuse, the people who created AskERIC, the Gateway to Educational Materials, and the Virtual Reference Desk, the Educator's Reference Desk brings you the resources you have come to depend on. 2,000+ lesson plans, 3,000+ links to online education information, and 200+ question archive responses. "Where is Aggressive Price Competition Taking Higher Education? (Periodical Article) The authors of this article are qualified to write about this subject because they are "members of the Williams Project on the Economics of Higher Education." Negative Examples: The LessonPlansPage (Web page) Kyle Austin Yamnitz, whose resume details his education and experience in the field of education, has created this site that includes lesson plans. Although Yamnitz has a degree in elementary education, he solicits lesson plans from site visitors and does not describe any selection criteria for inclusion of these lesson plans. homeschooling's TRUE COLORS (Periodical Article-Scroll down to view the article) The only credentials for the author of this article are that she is a homeschooling mother. It does not list her education in the field. Although she has written one other article for Mothering magazine, she has not written for any other publications. |
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What: What references or documentation are provided? A bibliography, reference list, or works cited should be included. A list of sources "For More Information" or "For Further Information" is not adequate--these only point the reader to additional sources of information rather than the sources used to create the text he or she is currently reading. Positive Examples: Answering the Challenge of a Changing World: Strengthening Education for the 21st Century (Web Page) This report includes endnotes, as well as a number of references that are provided throughout the text of the report. Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching (Periodical Article) References are provided to document the facts in this article. Negative Examples: New Students - New Learning Styles (Web Page) This article includes several statistics and does not provide documentation for the source of the statistics. Does Texas Make the Grade (Periodical Article-Scroll down to view the article) There are no references to validate the opinions expressed in this article. |
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When: How old is the information? The age of the information should be appropriate for the topic. Current information and statistics should be updated within the past year. Historical sources do not need to be updated unless new data is discovered. Positive Example: Remarks by Secretary Spellings at No Child Left Behind Summit (Web Page) The April 27, 2006 date of this speech makes it an appropriate resource for researching current educational issues. Education Department Issues Criteria for "Rigorous" Curriculum: Students Attending Underachieving High Schools May Be Adversely Affected (Periodical Article) The recent date of this article makes it an excellent source of information about student financial aid. Negative Example: National Education Progress 1992 Trend Report (Web Page) This report of education trends in 1992 includes information that is too dated to use for current reports on the current state of education. Equalizing Access to Electronic Networked Resources (Periodical Article) The age of this article makes the information included about the current state of technology and rural libraries misleading. |
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Why: Why was the information published? Question the reliability of information if the author or sponsor attempts to convince readers to:
Promoting Social and Emotional Competency through Teacher/Counselor Collaboration (Periodical Article) This article promotes the implementation of teacher/counselor collaboration in teaching social and emotional skills in the public schools. The focus of the research described is on teachers' and counselors' attitudes toward collaboration in this area. Although the author advocates for expansion of this type of collaboration, the research is not biased. Negative Example: About Project 2061 (Web Page) This site includes valuable information about science and technology educational models. However, the information may be biased because the site is also encouraging users to purchase a book and a CD-ROM described in the text. Showdown at Gender Gap (Periodical Article-Scroll down to view the article) The author of this article is strongly opposed to eliminating questions on the SAT that female students consistently miss. She discusses research which shows that female students consistently miss certain questions that are correctly answered by their mail counterparts. Her strong comments against the integrity of the test indicate that she may hold biased opinions. |
All quoted material is from the respective source.
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