Type of Presentation
Individual paper/presentation (20 minute presentation)
Target Audience
Higher Education
N/A
Location
Room 218/220
Abstract
Before the 2017-18 academic year, instruction librarians at Loyola University New Orleans’ Monroe Library had been using the highly popular CRAAP test to give students a framework for evaluating open Web resources. The traits of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose are meant to help undergraduates determine a source’s appropriateness for use in their academic work. The possible limitations of this model became evident to us at the conclusion of our assessment of incoming freshmen’s ability to apply the CRAAP test to a topic of their own choosing.
Responding to this demonstrated entry-level information literacy need, instruction librarians began teaching web evaluation using the “what, who, when, where, why, and how” framework. This approach allows for a more open-ended line of questioning for students while still encouraging them to assess the crucial indicators of quality referenced by the CRAAP test. Our assessment of students’ ability to successfully apply the new criteria to find quality relevant sources is ongoing, but faculty response to the shift has been positive. This session will focus on the possibilities for instruction created by the journalistic question framework, as well as the many challenges that students will incur when applying this evaluation method.
Presentation Description
Instruction librarians for first-year seminars at Loyola University New Orleans have recently shifted from teaching the CRAAP test method of web evaluation to using the “what, who, when, where, why, and how” method. This different approach allows for a more open-ended line of questioning while still addressing the crucial indicators of quality referenced by the CRAAP test. This session will focus on the added pedagogical benefits of this alternate approach, as well as the many challenges that students will incur when applying it.
Session Goals
Identify and analyze approaches to web evaluation instruction
Demonstrate relative benefits of a preferred pedagogical approach
Report assessment results to compare student performance
Keywords
First-Year Experience, Web Evaluation, Pedagogy, Information Literacy, Instruction
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Elmwood, Victoria, "What the CRAAP?: Comparing Approaches to Teaching Web Evaluation in FYE Programs" (2018). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 65.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2018/2018/65
What the CRAAP?: Comparing Approaches to Teaching Web Evaluation in FYE Programs
Room 218/220
Before the 2017-18 academic year, instruction librarians at Loyola University New Orleans’ Monroe Library had been using the highly popular CRAAP test to give students a framework for evaluating open Web resources. The traits of currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose are meant to help undergraduates determine a source’s appropriateness for use in their academic work. The possible limitations of this model became evident to us at the conclusion of our assessment of incoming freshmen’s ability to apply the CRAAP test to a topic of their own choosing.
Responding to this demonstrated entry-level information literacy need, instruction librarians began teaching web evaluation using the “what, who, when, where, why, and how” framework. This approach allows for a more open-ended line of questioning for students while still encouraging them to assess the crucial indicators of quality referenced by the CRAAP test. Our assessment of students’ ability to successfully apply the new criteria to find quality relevant sources is ongoing, but faculty response to the shift has been positive. This session will focus on the possibilities for instruction created by the journalistic question framework, as well as the many challenges that students will incur when applying this evaluation method.
