The COVID-19 pandemic makes it clearer than ever that posting and sharing information online without vetting the source can have potentially fatal consequences.
The librarians at LSC-CyFair created this tutorial, based on Michael Caulfield's "Four Moves and a Habit" SIFT technique, to teach students what to do if they come across misinformation online or in their news feed.
The primary learning outcome of the project is: students will be able to identify characteristics of credible news information sources using Caulfield’s Four Moves/SIFT Method.
Read below for information about Caulfield, news literacy, how to use this tutorial, and the six parts of the tutorial itself.
Michael Caulfield is the director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University. He also runs the Digital Polarization Initiative, part of the American Democracy Project.
In order to more effectively teach college students web literacy skills, Caulfield developed Four Moves and a Habit: a quick way to think critically about a piece of news and determine whether or not it's trustworthy or not. The SIFT Method comes from the Four Moves and offers a better way to teach information evaluation than prescriptive "checklist" approaches like the "CRAAP Test."
Caulfield’s research has shown that the SIFT Method is an effective way to improve students’ ability to judge credibility of online sources: one study doubled the test group’s accuracy. Other research from CUNY Staten Island shows that 72% of students improve their accuracy when they’re taught to evaluate sources with this method.
So that’s why CyFair librarians have chosen the SIFT for this tutorial: we think it’s the most efficient way to teach students how to accurately judge the credibility of news sources they might come across on Twitter or other social media, especially news sources about the COVID-19 virus.
To learn more about Caulfield, the SIFT Method, and what we know about students' news literacy, take a look at some of the sources on the next tab.
The tutorial consists of six videos, four with built-in questions using TechSmith Knowmia, so it can easily be integrated in D2L and your class gradebook.
Librarians have each video in their own TechSmith libraries, so adding a librarian to your D2L page is the easiest way to add the tutorial. Adding a library as faculty to your class is quick and easy: see our page on embedded librarians to learn more.
Your librarian will work with you to embed the tutorial wherever it fits best in your online course design. They'll also set up a discussion board to answer questions students might have about the tutorial or collect students' final assessment activity, if you decide to include one with the tutorial.
Instruction librarian Jane Stimpson will contact you to discuss next steps.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
If you are LSC-CyFair faculty and want to embed the Techsmith Knowmia-enabled version with of this tutorial in D2L, please contact a librarian. Videos 3-6 include built-in questions that can be integrated into the D2L Gradebook.
Librarians can create a discussion board or assignment to incorporate any of these optional final activities.
Open-ended reflection prompt:
After taking the SIFT misinformation tutorial, write a paragraph reflecting on your experience by answering these questions:
Open-ended reflection prompt:
After taking the SIFT misinformation tutorial, write a paragraph reflecting on your experience by answering these questions:
Hands-on demonstration of the SIFT Method:
Open Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or some other social media you use. Find a news story someone has shared or posted that provokes a strong emotion and apply each step in the SIFT Method to that story.
Write about the actions you would take to STOP, INVESTIGATE, FIND, and TRACE that story to determine whether or not it is misinformation or trustworthy. Include the link to the original story and any links you may have used to along the way to draw your conclusion.
The LSC-CyFair Library building is closed until further notice.
Online References Services are available while we're closed.
Harris County Public Library
Lone Star College-CyFair Branch
9191 Barker Cypress Road
Cypress, TX 77433
281.290.3214 - Reference Desk, 1st floor
281.290.3219 - Reference Desk, 2nd floor
CyFairLibrary@LoneStar.edu
LoneStar.edu/library/cyfair.htm
