Final Unit
Concentration?• Numerous college
admissions were asked the following question:
• “What is the skill most lacking in your incoming freshmen?”
• Research Skills• The ability to FIND
information/sources, as well as JUDGE the worth of information/sources
Outcomes / Graded Assignments
• What will you create? What will you be graded on in this unit?
• Short research paper (2-3 pages)• Many small assignments:• Works Cited• Annotated Works Cited• Using Databases• Plagiarism • Citing & Paraphrasing
Please note• This unit will be completed in many small pieces• Most of the assignments will begin class, and
then you will finish them at home• IMPORTANT: Because of this, if you’re sick or
absent, you MUST keep in touch or you will fall sorely behind – and you can’t make up 4th marking period material after it ends…
First lesson and assignment
• Finding and using source… yeah!• Why don’t teachers like students to just do
random searches on Google and use whatever they find?
• We’re sadistic• No; it’s because we’re concerned
with the VERIFIABILITY of sources/information
• “Octopus” example
Verifiability• Definition: the ability to determine the truth or
falseness of something, i.e. online sources• Tied to the idea of “peer-reviewed”• Definition: when a source has been read and
approved by a professional in the field, i.e. a peer
Judging “peer-reviewed”ness
• Level #1 (GOOD sources)• Databases:• The only sources that are on
databases are PUBLISHED material, i.e. they’re “peer-reviewed”
• Using the databases is KEY to learning how to research at a high school and college level
Other Level 1 Sources
• .gov• Books!• Reliable
newspapers (not the “opinion” section)
• Reliable magazines
Level 2
• .edu• Usually good, but make sure it’s by a
professor and not a student project
Level 3
• .org• You need to be a real organizations to get
these sites• But they’re not monitored, especially not by
professionals in the field
Level 4
• .com• .net• These aren’t good
Other level 4• Wikipedia:• Not a BAD source• But… not written by
experts in the field and not monitored by professionals in the field
• Therefore, not peer-reviewed
• Therefore, not verifiable• Therefore, not a good
source
Assignment #1
• Find a source in each category
• For each, write 2-3 sentences analyzing the verifiability of the source
• Explain if it can be trusted or not and WHY
Assignment Model
• A) source’s title• B) the source’s level• C) your analysis