1. For information or collaboration, contact the authors at reads@u.washington.edu, deibel@cs.washington.edu, wrighttm@u.washington.edu Q6C : A Transdisciplinary Approach for Teaching Online Research Practices Sarah Read (English), Tim Wright (History), Katherine Deibel (Computer Science), University of Washington Motivation & Background Like it or not, the Web has become the usual first stop for students—regardless of discipline—and other consumers looking for information. To manage the complex mass of information available, students need the skills to determine: Is the site and its information trustworthy and credible? Is the information useful for one's purposes? Despite students’ reported confidence with using the Internet, studies show that many undergraduates’ ability to be critical of online sources remains undeveloped and in need of explicit instruction. We might assume that today’s university student is already a natural, savvy user of the Internet, but there is no evidence for such an assumption nor are there explicit mentions of information literacy skills within the curricula requirements The Professor “But aren’t undergraduate students already “confident users of the Internet?” “Don’t students learn these skills in high school “and in freshman composition courses?” Yes and no. While students may pick up some general skills, the heuristics and emphases of a specific discipline can only be taught from within that discipline. Additionally, students are often encouraged to use checklists or rubrics to judge the “accuracy” or “reliability” of a website and its contents even though those checklists often provide misleading results or fail to take the students to the next step: evaluation and conclusion. Example Checklist Questions Is there an author? Can you tell whether the author is knowledgeable and credible? What does the URL tell you? The URL ending often specifies the type of group hosting the site:.org (nonprofit),.gov (government), etc. Why was the site created: To argue a position? To sell a product? To inform readers? How current is the site? How current are the site's links? If many of the links no longer work, the site may be too dated. “But a degree doesn’t “always mean the “author is credible!” “That’s wrong!.org is “not restricted to “only non-profits!” !! The Q6C Approach Characterize Author “He is a Swiss “citizen” Characterize Author “He is part owner “of a European ISP” Question Categorize “Series of posts “on ScienceBlogs” Corroborate “Provides links to “citations” Conclude “Seems “promising” Conclude “Useful but “biases exist” Example Instantiation of Q6C: Topic: Information / opinion on recent U.S. policy towards Internet neutrality Drawing on transdisciplinary research, the Q6C approach (to the right and above) gives students a process of questions and inquiry that allows them to become more thoughtful online information consumers—to become cyber-savvy. Q6C is not a checklist; it is a model and heuristic of the general process of evaluating the credibility and utility of online (and offline) sources. Q6C describes the type of questions that a person should ask of a source but does not require every question to be asked. Q6C also recognizes that different disciplines will emphasize some questions over others. “Isn’t Q6C just another checklist? What’s “different about it other than length?” Q6C Tips For Teachers As relative experts at evaluating online sources, teachers have largely automated many of the skills associated with source evaluation. Instructors can use Q6C as a conscious reminder of the different skills and activities their students should learn: Q6C is a heuristic and not a checklist. You do not need to answer every question for every source. Some sources will require only asking one component of Q6C; other sources will require repeated application of Q6C. Remember that there are two questions you should ask for every source: Is it credible? Is it useful? Answers to these questions are not absolute: a source can still be useful but still of dubious reliability. "When you think you have found a credible source, perform one last check by applying Q6C a little further. A review of Characterize Authorship, Contextualize, and Corroborate can reveal important, overlooked details. Practice using Q6C in other classes and daily readings. As you gain experience, you will begin to automatically use Q6C to evaluate all kinds of information. Remember: Research is a process, not a product. Conclude Is the source credible and useful for your research? Question Maintain a skeptical frame of mind. Ask questions about a source you are considering for your research. Corroborate Assess how the content compares to other sources. Is it consistent, complementary, or contradictory? Contextualize Place the information collected in conversation with your experience and body of knowledge. Does it fit? How? Critique Rhetorically What do the authors’ choice of words, tone, font, display format, images, genre, and argumentative strategies tell you about the intended audience and the credibility and reliability of this site? Categorize Is this a primary, secondary or tertiary source in the context of your research? What type of site is it? (blog, wiki, database, website, etc.) Characterize Authorship Identify who created the content, when they created it, and for what purpose. Single or multiple authors? Committee? Institution? Critic? Expert? Unknown? Other? Repeat as necessary Q6C Tips For Students Identify which Q6C components are of importance in your discipline. For each Q6C component, identify relevant heuristics and criteria used in your discipline. Example: In computer science, papers more than 5-10 years old are often out of date due to the rapid pace of IT development. Several tips for designing assignments and activities using Q6C are: Remember that subject-area experts automatically perform the Q6C process, whereas novices need to consciously perform each step when learning how to assess a source's credibility and usefulness. Identify which components of Q6C you want to emphasize and scaffold the assignment’s research process so that students learn new skills incrementally. Teach that research is about a process, not about a product. Construct assignments that engage your students in “authentic” research practices for your target discipline. Make explicit the outcomes of the assignment and encourage reflection to help move students to the meta-cognitive level. Consider choosing research topics that you are not an expert in so that you can share the discovery process with the students. Perform the assignment yourself or with a colleague prior to class in order to anticipate student responses.