Date Your Sources

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Assignment by Ronada Hewitt, Bedford New Scholar 2023

I created this assignment to assist students in determining which sources to focus on as they complete research for a paper. 

DELIVERY MATTERS for this assignment to work as you equate evaluating sources to going on a date. "I need you to date your sources like you date your love interests," I say. 

This analogy not only gets their attention and makes the content stick, but it activates another realm of thinking that they can apply to an academic context. Their prior knowledge matters.

As students find sources and briefly read over them, they will input the required information into each box. These boxes correspond to an aspect of dating that students may be more familiar with and asks them to pick out the exact information they will need for an AB. It allows them to see the articles as people with personalities and purpose which helps them engage differently. 

This assignment should be provided before students submit the Annotated Bibliography and could be a pre-work assignment before a synthesis matrix. When they complete this chart, they should have 6 sources that they will then take on a second date to get to know better.

 

Evaluating Sources Template

Your Research Topic:

Research Question:

Purpose (why are you writing about this topic):

Source outcomes (What do you want/need your sources to do):

Please fill in all sections completely with the information requested.

Who’s the lucky article? (Name of article, writer(s), date the article was published.)	First impression? (Does the abstract give you good vibes?Yes? Explain how. No? Explain why and then ghost it.)	How’s the conversation? (What are 1-2 core points that make the conversation interesting? Explain the point and give specific quotes and page numbers as evidence.)	What kind of vibes is it giving? (Can we see validity in what the article is saying? Does it seem biased in opinion? How do you feel as a member of the audience reading this?)	Do the words hold weight? (Are they giving you new information or older, more background information? How can you tell? Are they even qualified to be talking about the subject? What shows credibility?)	Will there be a second date? (What about this article makes you want to dive a little deeper and make some connections? What connections can you make to your own research? How will you use this article to achieve your paper goals?)