Thanks to technology, we have a plethora (wide array) of resources at our fingertips. However, this can make research difficult because there are SO many links, books, videos, etc. to sort through! How do we know if a website or article is credible?
I have created a screencast to help students evaluate the sources they are looking at, as well a template for them to fill out to organize their research notes.
Some questions to consider:
- Who is writing the article, book, etc?
- Does the author/creator have an agenda?
- When was it written/produced?
- Are there other sources that back up what this source is saying?
- Does the source interview anyone we can trust? (ethos)
- Do the numbers, facts, statistics seem reasonable? (logos)
Students - Good luck with research papers in ALL subjects! (Hint: Make a copy of the template to use in your other classes!)