[SPEAKER_00]
Albert
Einstein
said
the
value
of
a
college
education
is
not
the
learning
of
many
facts,
but
the
training
of
the
mind
to
think.
Today we're going to talk about evaluating information and thinking critically.
What question did the researcher seek to answer?
Information literacy refers to the ability to find, evaluate, and use information.
Recognizing the important role of information literacy skills in the workplace, Head investigated the following questions.
What do employers expect from college graduates in terms of information literacy skills?
, and what challenges, if any, do recent graduates face in terms of information literacy skills in the workplace.
The researcher conducted interviews and focus groups with employers and recent college graduates.
A total of twenty-three employer interviews were conducted.
that employers were from several different states and a variety of different career fields.
Thirty-three recent graduates from four different public and private colleges and universities in the United States participated in one of five focus groups.
During the interviews and focus groups, employers and students answered a series of questions related to information literacy.
Specifically, the research investigated
information problem solving skills, which refers to an individual's ability to find and use information to address real world issues or problems.
Employers rated the ability to obtain and process information as being an essential skill, noting that their employees need to be able to search online, go beyond information found
, and use databases and data files.
Some of the other important skills desired by employers included ability to work in a team, demonstrate excellent communication and decision-making skills, and be able to prioritize and plan work.
Employers noted that these skills are related to information, problem-solving, and that students need to be patient as this process takes time.
Almost all the recent graduates indicated that finding, evaluating and using information were required skill sets in their job.
Some of the challenges identified by recent graduates were the quick turnaround time needed, the lack of direction or structure with the task, and the social nature of the process, which referred to the need to talk with others to find necessary information.
Recent graduates noted that their college experiences helped them become effective at critically evaluating information.
Thus, graduates reported having a good foundation, but several indicated that further training, especially opportunities to practice finding information without much structure, would have helped them be better prepared for the working world.
This research provides evidence that information literacy is an essential skill that is developed in college.
However, a gap between the skills of recent graduates and the needs of employers exists.
In other words, although graduates come to employers with some information literacy skills, additional skills are needed.
To help bridge this gap, professors can engage students in information problem-solving tasks that are more complex and less defined.
Students can also approach information literacy tasks from a broader perspective, thinking about how to access and evaluate information from a variety of sources, including other credible people.
Students can also seek out opportunities such as being a leader of a club or organization where they will be able to practice information literacy skills.
Finally, when students begin a new position as a recent college graduate,
Having a mentor can be quite helpful.
Bouncing ideas around with another person who has strong information literacy skills can be helpful.
We live in a world full of information.
Learning how to navigate the endless amount of information available to find and use information for a task at hand is an important skill.
identifying, finding and evaluating relevant and meaningful information will result in you making better academic and personal decisions.
According to the Association of College and Research Libraries,
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.
Simply put, learning to sift through information and then find and evaluate information that will assist you with a task is important in all facets of your life.
According to the Association of College and Research framework, there are six essential components to information literacy.
It is important to note that the components outlined are not sequential.
In other words, you do not need to consider each one in order, but rather together they will assist you in developing information literacy skills.
Being able to find and evaluate information will help you make personal decisions such as what major and career to choose, where to live, what car to drive, and which doctor to see.
We seek out information from a variety of sources.
According to survey results, eighty-one percent of individuals report they rely on their own search for information, forty-three percent on family and friends, and thirty-one percent on experts before making big decisions.
In a study on how adults access health information, Yamashita found that adults relied most on health professionals and the internet, but also gathered information from other sources such as family and friends, books and television.
Information literacy skills will also help you tackle academic tasks in college.
Samson pointed out that academic assignments, such as research projects, help you develop and enhance your information literacy skills.
A research project requires you to determine what information is needed, locate and evaluate information, and then synthesize and organize the information into a meaningful project.
In addition to learning the content related to the research paper or presentation, you also benefit from information literacy skill development.
You will also need information literacy skills in your career.
In a survey of college graduates, seventy-eight percent indicated that learning how to find relevant information was an important work-related skill that was learned in college, and approximately ninety percent indicated that information literacy skills were being used at least monthly in their current job.
As you can imagine, employers value employees who can skillfully engage with and use information.
According to Bruce, there are seven key facets of information literacy that relate to the world of work.
Using information technology to learn and communicate with others, being able to identify appropriate sources of information, engaging in problem solving to sort through information, organizing and bringing meaning to information,
developing expertise in an area of interest, adopting new perspectives or novel approaches or ideas, and using information to benefit others.
Although you sometimes intentionally look for information, it is also important to recognize that you are exposed to information every day that you did not seek out.
Conin and Saul differentiated between intentional and incidental information when you take action to learn
, something new, such as when you search the internet, this refers to intentional information seeking.
You are intentionally looking to learn.
Incidental information, however, refers to information that you encounter when you actively are not looking for it.
You are bombarded with information on a daily basis.
This information can come from many sources, but you are likely to encounter this type of information
regularly via social media and the internet.
Head noted that for many college students in America today, the news is an overwhelming hodgepodge of headlines, posts, alerts, tweets, visuals, and conversations that stream at them throughout the day.
While some stories come from news sites students choose to follow, other content arrives uninvited, tracking the digital footprints that many searchers inevitably
, leave behind.
Targeted advertisements based on your browsing history is one example of information that you encounter regularly.
Another example is when you must watch an advertisement before you can watch a video online.
A study conducted by Lew showed that people come across a lot more information in a passive way today, such as when you are browsing the internet, than they did twenty years ago.
It is therefore important to use your information literacy skills constantly so that you can determine what content is credible and of value to you.
There are many different sources of information.
Most of us rely heavily on the internet and social media.
However, academic sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles and books are especially important sources of information in college.
The internet is one of the most widely used sources of information.
Not surprisingly, Google is often the first place most go to find information.
Internet searches can provide you with new information, increase your understanding, and help you compare and contrast information.
Websites can help you gain a basic understanding of topics before investigating the topic more in depth.
There are many highly credible websites that contain valuable information.
Professional organizations often post research and reports for the public.
, for example, organizations such as the American Psychological Association share research findings and reports on mental health topics, and WebMD provides valuable information on numerous health conditions for the public.
Social media is another one of the most frequently used sources of information.
According to Head, the second highest source of information
Peers were the most cited source for information, but much of the information communicated between peers stemmed from social media.
Although social media is primarily used for personal reasons, it can also be used for academic and professional purposes.
An excellent way to learn more about a career field, for example, is to identify professionals and organizations in your field of interest and follow them on various social media platforms.
You can consult with your faculty for suggestions on who to follow.
Believing in the value of public scholarship, which means making research and related information easily acceptable to the public.
Many professionals and organizations post links to research and reports that can be helpful sources of information.
Many of these links can be found in blogs or news reports.
You can also request to join social media groups focused on issues or topics of interest to you.
For example, most career fields will have social media groups and they often encourage students to join.
Participating in social media groups is helpful for both information and networking purposes.
Social media platforms that target professionals such as LinkedIn can be especially helpful if you want to gather information that can be beneficial to you in college and in your career.
Checking these sites regularly is an excellent way to become knowledgeable about current issues in the field.
McCorkle and Alexander suggested that students use social media to create a digital personal learning network, which refers to a group of individuals who share information and collaborate to increase their understanding of concepts they wish to learn.
They identified numerous benefits of this approach.
It can help students by providing content in their chosen career field,
to build why-to and how-to knowledge and learning.
Stay current and up-to-date with news, trends, and career-specific practice.
Connect and learn from career-relevant influencers and thought leaders.
Maintain timely, focused, and relevant content for creation and social sharing.
Use social sharing to establish authority on a particular subject for strengthening a personal brand identity.
stimulate and support creative thinking for creating original thought and content, such as blogging, and most importantly, provide confirmation of a chosen career focus to potential employers.
Students found the experience of creating a digital personal learning network to be valuable.
Building expertise and skills were two of the main benefits they indicated.
In a review of over one hundred research studies,
Malik also found that using social media for academic purposes had many benefits such as improved confidence, higher levels of engagement, and sense of belonging and better grades.
One of the most scholarly sources is the peer-reviewed journal article, which can be defined as a theoretical or research-written work that has been deemed worthy of publication by experts in the field.
These articles are published in journals that are monitored by professionals in that area of study.
Most articles are based on original research.
As a college student, you have access to this high-quality source of information through the library.
Information from original research studies can be quite helpful in academic and professional work.
Professors prefer and expect students to use scholarly sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles when conducting research.
, these high level sources will also be of value to you in your career.
On a survey conducted by Travis, almost half of the graduates indicated that empirical research was needed in their career.
Over seventy percent of alumni responding to another survey indicated that research skills were of value in their career, noting that undergraduate research experiences helped them build confidence, learn to work independently, and improve their ability for written and verbal communication.
Unfortunately, only fourteen percent of students surveyed indicated that they used the library database to find scholarly journal articles.
Part of the problem may be that students do not feel confident using the library databases and reading journal articles.
Almost half of the college students in a research study conducted by Burton and Chadwick indicated that they did not receive training on how to use the library databases, and many students said they did not know the elements of a peer-reviewed article that qualified it for publication.
The good news is that when students receive information literacy instruction during their first year, they do utilize a variety of sources beyond Google, including peer-reviewed research articles.
As with most skills, learning is enhanced when you are challenged and supported.
Research shows that information literacy skills significantly improve when students are given challenging, meaningful research assignments that require high levels of critical thinking and information literacy.
As you would expect, student confidence
with using information literacy skills develops over time.
This was illustrated in a study where students reported higher levels of confidence in upper versus lower level courses.
Students are often most successful with these high level academic tasks when there is also a high level of support.
Not surprisingly,
, and Higgins found that students who were provided with guided instruction on information literacy skill development were more confident with their ability to determine what information is needed, find that information, and use the information in a meaningful way.
In addition to being more confident, students who received guided instruction also demonstrated higher skill level in tasks requiring information literacy.
To fully appreciate the value of peer reviewed research, it is important to look at the process an author must undertake to get a work published.
It starts with the author submitting the work to the editor of a journal.
If the article is considered appropriate for that journal, the work is then anonymously distributed to several professional experts in that field.
These professionals are called reviewers.
The reviewers then provide feedback and a recommendation
about whether the article should be published.
Typically, the reviewers recommend numerous revisions before the work is published, and many times works are not accepted for publication.
In fact, some journals have rejection rates as high as ninety percent.
This means that ninety percent of the articles submitted are denied and only ten percent are published.
The reviewers carefully attend to the research to be sure it is of high caliber, in keeping with the professional standards of the field, and that it adds a significant contribution to the current literature in that area.
In a nutshell, an author must go through a rigorous peer review process before the work ever makes it to print.
Why is this important for you to know?
Basically, it means that someone else has already evaluated this work.
You can be confident that this is a reliable, credible source.
However, no research is perfect and you should still do your own analysis and critical thinking about the information presented.
Research articles can be broken down into parts.
Each research article has the following elements.
Abstract, introduction, method, which includes subjects and procedure, results, and discussion.
Abstract is another word for summary.
It can be found at the beginning of the article and is sometimes in italics.
In the abstract, the author briefly describes the nature of the study and the key findings.
Because the abstract contains the purpose and main findings, reading this paragraph several times will help you understand
the rest of the article.
You can also return to the abstract whenever you find that you are struggling to understand the study, as the abstract provides a basic overview of the reason for and results of the study.
The introduction is the first official section after the abstract.
Sometimes it is labeled introduction, but in most cases, the text simply begins without a heading.
In the introduction, the author sets the stage for why this research was conducted, discusses why the topic is important, and describes research that has already been done in that area.
You will notice that the author cites the sources within the body of the text according to APA or MLA style.
The source citations clearly indicate where the information came from so that the reader could go directly to that source if a deeper understanding of the topic is desired.
If you find these source citations distracting you as you read, block them out using a pencil or other method.
just be sure that you will be able to read them later if necessary.
As you become more comfortable reading journal articles, you will naturally skip or jump over the citations as you read.
The author then talks about how this study adds to what is already known about the topic.
The research question or hypothesis, which refers to an educated guess about the relationship between the variables, is also identified.
This is the purpose of the study.
Keep this purpose front and center in your mind as you read the rest of the article.
Think of yourself as a detective seeking an answer to the research questions just posed.
This helps you stay focused on the key point and not get distracted by the other content.
The next section is called Method, which generally has two subheadings, Subjects or Participants,
and procedure.
In the subject or participant section, the author describes the people who participated in the research study.
One reason why it's important for the author to do this is because it helps the reader understand how easily the results will generalize or apply to other populations.
For example, if you are a college student and read an article that found pure memorization was the most effective study strategy, you might want to focus your energy on memorization.
However, what if you discovered that the subjects in this study were second graders?
Would you still want to use this information as a college student?
Similarly, if the research study only used male students, would you be as interested in the results if you did not?
Identify as a male.
The size of the sample, defined as how many subjects were in the study, is also important.
If only five people participated, would you feel as confident with the findings as compared to a study that had five hundred participants?
The procedure section outlines exactly how the study was conducted.
It should provide you with enough detail that if you wanted to do the same study, you would be able to do so.
This is where the author tells you about the variables, which are defined as concepts or factors of interest that are being investigated.
The author also tells you when and how these variables were measured.
In many cases, a questionnaire, assessment, inventory, or test was likely given to measure the variables.
This information allows a reader to critically evaluate the meaningfulness of the results.
For example, you may be more interested in a research study that used official grades as compared to one where they simply asked students to provide their grade because students may not provide information accurately.
The results section tells you about the findings of the research study.
This section is often filled with statistics and numbers.
However, you do not need to understand all the statistical information to walk away with the key findings.
Your mathematical skills will increase as you take more courses, so this section will become easier to understand with time.
The good news is that the authors also must use words to describe the results.
A very basic overview of statistical language can be helpful to you if you have not taken many math courses recently.
When you see N, it typically refers to the number of people in the sample.
When you see X, it stands for mean, which is another word for average.
When you see R, it is telling you about a correlation, a relationship between variables.
Note that a relationship does not mean one variable caused the other.
The numbers do, however, tell you about the size or strength of the finding, which is important.
The larger the correlation, the stronger the relationship between the variables.
The difference between means or averages of different groups is also meaningful.
If a researcher found a significant difference in the grade point average between students who used electronic textbooks and students who used traditional textbooks,
and the average GPAs were three point one and three point two for the two groups, you may not care as much as you would if the GPAs for the groups were two point five and three point O. The larger difference would be of more interest and have more value.
The last section is called the discussion.
In this section, the researcher puts the key findings into more everyday language, making it easier for everyone to understand.
First, the researcher goes back to their original research question or hypothesis that was discussed in the introduction, and then answers the question or tells the reader whether the hypothesis was supported.
the researcher goes beyond just reporting the findings and also explains the findings the findings are usually explained in the context of what is already known so you will likely see the researcher reference other similar studies and their findings then there is a discussion of the study limitations cautioning the reader to interpret the results carefully finally in this section the value of these findings are highlighted
When reading this section, think about how you can use the results and apply them to your life as a college student.
As you know, reading is an essential skill in college.
Although general reading strategies are important for all the reading you do, there will be times when applying different strategies or techniques to different types of reading will be advantageous.
Reading a journal article is different than reading a textbook.
Most professionals do not read journal articles in order.
Instead, professionals bounce around from section to section, taking in the key points and exploring details as needed.
Determining whether a source is credible is challenging.
Sources of information can be biased or even false.
As you know, anyone can post information on the internet, so although finding the information may not take very long, evaluating it can be a time-consuming task.
One student in a study by Head noted that it takes longer to find an unbiased source than it does to read it.
When you are looking for high quality information online, it can be helpful to ask professionals in the field what resources they use.
For example, your professors can point you to credible professional organization websites where you can find information you are seeking.
Experts in a field can evaluate information related to their field more easily than others.
One primary consideration when evaluating sources will be whether the person or organization that provided the information is qualified to do so.
For example, if you found information on a psychological disorder, you would expect that the person who provided the information has an advanced degree in psychology.
Another important consideration is whether the information you found seems to be consistent with other information.
In other words, are many different sources coming up with the same conclusions?
Kim found that users often look for consistency not just across different sites, but also with reviews or comments on the site being viewed.
These are only a few of the questions you will need to ask.
To assist students with evaluating sources, Miriam Library at California State University
developed the CRAAP test, currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
This test provides you with a comprehensive list of questions to ask yourself when trying to decide whether a source is credible.
Critical thinking is one of the most important skills needed in life.
For example, critical thinking is a skill that is highly valued by employers.
Not surprisingly, researchers have found that critical thinking skills increase in college.
Throughout your college experience, you'll have many opportunities to build critical thinking skills.
Critical thinking has been defined as the ability to think in a sophisticated manner.
, to ask questions, define terms, examine evidence, analyze assumptions, avoid emotional reasoning, resist over-simplification, consider alternative interpretations, and tolerate uncertainty.
According to Willingham, you are thinking critically if your thinking is novel, that is, you aren't simply drawing a conclusion from the memory of a previous situation.
Your thinking is self-directed.
That is, you are not merely executing instructions given by someone else.
And your thinking is effective.
That is, you respect certain conventions that make thinking more likely to yield useful conclusions.
While there are numerous definitions of critical thinking, Dunn noted that most definitions have the following themes.
exploring and considering multiple perspectives and interpretations, examining and evaluating evidence, engaging in self-reflection, and drawing conclusions.
Critical thinking is a skill that is learned over time
With carefully crafted learning tasks, you will develop and strengthen the skill.
According to constructivism, a learning theory students cannot learn by simply memorizing facts.
Instead, students must actively construct or create knowledge, making connections between new information and what has been previously learned.
In other words, students arrive with pre-existing constructs and, in order to learn, must modify these existing structures by removing, replacing, adding, or shifting information in them.
Researchers have examined how students change their thinking during the college years.
, Perry for instance, studied intellectual development in college and discovered that students at the beginning of their college careers were more likely to think of information as being right or wrong, while students near graduation were more likely to recognize the complexity of information and the importance of considering many factors when evaluating the accuracy of information.
In other words, college students move from simplistic to complex thinking.
Based on the work of Perry and several others, West identified the following four stages of intellectual development.
Stage one, absolute.
Believes that there is a right and wrong answer.
Also believes that professors or other authority figures know the correct answer.
Stage two, personal.
After discovering there is not always a correct answer, believes that opinions are what really matter.
Knowing is therefore based on personal experiences.
Stage three, rules-based.
Values, rules to compare and judge opinions or claims, but will resort back to opinions when rules do not apply.
And stage four, evaluative.
Uses more formal strategies to evaluate opinions and evidence.
Can explain the process behind the evaluation, defending conclusions drawn.
The college experience fosters these high level thinking skills and moves students toward the evaluative stage.
The more open you are to looking at information from multiple perspectives, the more likely it is you will develop these high level cognitive skills.
Challenge yourself to go beyond your opinion and to carefully examine the evidence.
One of the most well-known figures in the world of education and critical thinking is Benjamin Bloom.
Bloom identified the various levels of knowing.
He encouraged educators to think about what they really wanted students to be able to do with the information being learned.
Did they want their students to simply memorize or remember the information?
Or did they want them to engage in a higher-level task
where they had to apply the information to a new situation or make a judgment based on what was learned.
Being able to remember information is the first step.
To engage in more complex cognitive tasks, you need to know the subject matter.
Even experts may not be able to think critically about subjects outside of their area of expertise.
The other levels are understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
Each level of knowing builds on prior skills and is more challenging in nature.
The concepts in the upper levels of the pyramid, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, are often thought of as critical thinking skills.
One of the best ways to develop critical thinking skills is through questioning.
Creating is the goal.
Your professors are going to want you to create academic products such as papers and presentations.
As a professional, your employer will also likely want you to create products such as an advertising campaign, a lesson, a budget, or a written report.
Thus, you need to be able to remember, understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate information to be successful at creating academic and professional work.
, it takes time and effort to get to the top of the pyramid.
As you engage in cognitive tasks requiring critical thinking, you will discover that your thinking patterns will shift from simplistic to sophisticated.
So how do you develop critical thinking skills?
For starters, you need to focus on three foundational conditions.
You need to know related content,
Knowledge base.
Believe in your ability to engage in critical thinking, self-efficacy, and be moted to learn, desire, or drive.
The following two learning conditions are then needed.
Challenging learning, tasks, and support.
As indicated in Bloom's Taxonomy, the first step is to remember the course content you are learning.
Neuroscience research has demonstrated that it is easier to learn new information when you connect it to something you already know.
Thus, the more you know, the easier it is to learn.
It is impossible to become a critical thinker without knowing information.
In college, you will be constantly building this knowledge base because there is so much new information to learn.
definitions, theories, concepts, and other information in each field you are studying.
You're obviously entering college with knowledge.
While you're in college, you add to or modify your current knowledge base.
In some courses, you will be exposed to content that you have not yet encountered.
In other courses, you may discover new information about a familiar concept or may even be challenged to think about whether the information you walked in with is accurate.
Questioning the accuracy and usefulness of information is an essential part of being a critical thinker.
Critical thinkers do not take information at face value, but instead challenge, question, and seek out additional information.
before determining whether the information presented is accurate and has value.
Becoming a critical thinker involves more than just cognitively
processing information.
Our beliefs about ourselves also matter.
The second foundational condition is self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy refers to your belief about whether you can successfully complete a task, such as critical thinking.
If you think you will be able to do a task successfully, you will be much more likely to put in the effort needed and will also be more likely to keep trying, even if you experience some difficulties along the way.
The way in which you think about yourself and your abilities drives your actions.
The third foundational element is your desire and drive, otherwise known as motivation.
You may know a lot about a topic and think you can do a critical thinking task successfully, but not be interested in doing so.
One of the two learning conditions needed for the development of critical thinking skills is a challenging learning task.
Fortunately, challenging learning tasks will be a natural part of your college experience.
For example, your professors will require you to engage in discussions and debates, write research papers, and give presentations.
You'll also find challenging learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
For instance, you can seek out opportunities to work with faculty on research or other projects, become a leader of a club or organization, participate in campus-wide events, or get involved in community service projects.
Many of these activities strongly encourage you to view the world from multiple perspectives.
Research has shown that these out-of-class experiences can often play a more important role in developing critical thinking skills than traditional in-class learning experiences.
It is important that you are supported as you strive to achieve success with the challenging tasks just discussed.
Learning is a social activity and you learn best when others assist you with tools and general support.
Professors, for example, can support you in many important ways, such as providing you with a good foundation of information, supplying guidelines about assignments such as grading rubrics or models, and being available during office hours, which are hours that faculty specifically block out to meet with and support students, or by email.
Professors can also pose challenging questions that require you to think about the issues from different perspectives and dive more deeply into research and theory.
There are many other campus supports such as librarians and tutors available as well.
Your classmates may also become a part of your support team.
You learn best when you interact with others, so be sure to engage with professionals and classmates frequently.
Once the foundational and learning conditions have been met, critical thinking will happen naturally.
Your background and experiences will constantly play a role in your thinking.
As your critical thinking skills develop, you will find yourself automatically analyzing and evaluating information to create amazing presentations, papers, and other work.