Critical Thinking and Active Learning

Have you ever found yourself questioning the validity of a news article online, looking in the bibliography of a non-fiction book to examine where the author found his or her sources, or wondering whether or not an information source is biased? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, than you can congratulate yourself on being a critical thinker! With practically everyone owning a smartphone or iPad, information can be accessed almost anywhere and at whatever time it is needed. But, according to a frequently cited Information Literacy Instruction-related essay, Mona McCormick points out that "it is not the process of finding information that is important, but what people do with it once they have found it" (McCormick, 1983). It is important, therefore, for people to learn how to evaluate information sources and utilize them effectively.

Let's be honest, when the deadline for a research paper is looming before you and the pressure is on to get something, anything, written, do you spend the extra time it takes to look up reliable sources or do you Google your topic and use the first few sources that pop up in the results list even though they may not be exactly relevant? This is not an uncommon occurrence with students doing research today. In today's technological age, people expect information, and they expect it fast! As a result, students may only look at and use sources from the first page of results even though those sources are only somewhat related to their research topic (Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2009). To combat this, many Colleges and Universities require first-year students to take an "Introduction to the Library" course. Sometimes Information Literacy Instruction (ILI) is built into general education courses and sometimes ILI is presented as a stand-alone, for-credit course. Regardless of how it is built into the curriculum, the goal is to get students to learn how to think critically about the information sources they encounter in the research process as well as how to use those sources effectively.

Many ILI instructors have incorporated active learning exercises into library instruction. By allowing students to be engaged in the learning process by practicing search skills, students will not only be able to relate what they have learned to topics that are relevant to their interests as students but retain much of what they have learned about information literacy and apply it to future research endeavors. This got me thinking about how I would use active learning activities in the classroom to develop critical thinking skills.

Since the web is often the first stop for research related activities, I think it would be useful to give students the opportunity to learn how to search for reliable information on the web, think about who produces the information sources they encounter, and, finally, use that information to solve a problem. WebQuests are a great way to get students to learn how to search the web for reliable information and, since I love diseases, parasites, and microorganisms, I looked for WebQuests that focused on some or all of those topics. My first stop was WebQuest.org where I was able to search existing WebQuests for ones that would fit my needs. But what if I wanted to develop my own? WebQuest.org gives instructions on how to take an existing WebQuest and adapt and/or enhance it to fit your particular needs. I was able to find a Parasitology WebQuest that would be perfect for instructing students on how to find and use reliable web sources during a Health Sciences Library orientation!

Another useful technique would be to get students to research selected topics on their own, pair up with a student who has the same topic to talk about how they went about the research process, then report back to the class as a pair regarding some of the challenges and similarities they encountered in the research process. For example, in a class of 16 students I will have eight different topics relating to parasitology (malaria, roundworms, bed bugs, just to name a few) . All 16 students will be given some time on their own to research their topic and find three to five sources that would be useful to them if they were writing a paper on that topic. Then, students will break into pairs and find the student who also has their particular parasite-related topic to discuss the sources they found and why they think they are from reliable sources. The pair will then give a brief explanation to the class on how they found the sources, how they evaluated the sources for validity, and how they can apply the information they found in those sources to an academic research paper. This "Think-Pair-Share" activity allows for self-discovery of information with the ILI instructor acting as a guide or facilitator rather than simply a lecturer (Grassian and Kaplowitz, 2009). Because the students found the information on their own and determined whether or not the information was useful for them, they may have an easier time retaining what they have learned because they were so involved in the process.

With more experience in the classroom, IL instructors can develop new and more creative techniques to get students more active in the learning process. These activities can be adapted to web-based information sources, print reference materials, and databases. Students will no doubt appreciate the opportunity to get some hands-on training instead of simply sitting through a boring lecture on how to perform a search online!

References

 

Dodge, B. (2002). Adapting and Enhancing Existing WebQuests. Retrieved October 2013, from WebQuest.org: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/adapting/index.html

Grassian, E. S., & Kaplowitz, J. R. (2009). Information Literacy Instruction: Theory and Practice (2nd ed.). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

McCormick, M. 1983. "Critical Thinking and Library Instruction." RQ 22, no. 4: 339-342. 

Walthere, A. (n.d.). Parasitology WebQuest. Retrieved October 2013, from World Health Research: http://world-health-research.wikispaces.com/Parasitology+Webquest