Why IF I APPLY isn’t CRAAP: The evolution of source evaluation with PSU STEM Libraries in the Engineering Classroom

Denise Amanda Wetzel; Paul McMonigle

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Engineering Libraries Division (ELD) Technical Session 3: Instruction & Information Literacy
Tagged Division: Engineering Libraries Division (ELD)
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42296
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42296
Download Count: 390

Paper Authors

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Denise Amanda Wetzel Pennsylvania State University orcid.org/0000-0002-5332-2287

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Denise A. Wetzel is a Science & Engineering Librarian at Pennsylvania State University Libraries. She is also the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Representative for the University Park PTRC. She holds a Masters in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama, a Masters in Aquatic Environmental Science from Florida State University, and a B.H. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Pennsylvania State University. Before joining PSU, Denise worked for Florida State University Libraries, Mississippi State University Libraries, and as a teacher.

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Paul McMonigle Pennsylvania State University

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Paul McMonigle is the Engineering Instruction Librarian at the Pennsylvania State University. He holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University and is in the final year of earning a Master’s Degree in Education from Penn State. His research interests include information literacy instruction for STEM students, student engagement and outreach programs -- with a special focus on military and veteran students, and the history of STEM subject libraries. Paul is a member of the 2023 American Libraries Association Emerging Leader Cohort.

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Abstract

When looking at a resource for use in engineering coursework, students might hear terms from their professors around quality or credibility. But learning to evaluate resources is a skill that many undergraduate students need constant information literacy instruction in throughout their college careers. In fact, knowing how to evaluate information found in a search of literature is an important skill for any researcher to develop. So often, when librarians are invited into the classroom, they feel motivated to find interesting and catchy ways to get students interested in these skills. Which is how different evaluation methods have been developed over the years, with the CRAAP (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) test having become the most widely used. However, most of these methods focus only on content, while ignoring the researcher’s own biases and how these evaluated resources relate to other published materials on the same topic. While some of the differing resource evaluation methods don’t necessarily have an attached acronym, they still tend to focus on the content over the student researcher.

In 2016, librarians at Marshall University created a new method that attempts to fill in these gaps. Titled IF I APPLY, this method expands the familiar CRAAP test to control for confirmation bias and determine where the source fits into other existing research. This method focuses first on the personal steps and then on the content steps. When one of the librarians from Marshall University brought this method to [institution name], it seemed like a hit across many subject areas. Therefore, this papers’ authors have explored and taught this method to their engineering students in several different engineering disciplines across the curriculum.

This paper seeks to explore different methods of resource evaluation and share where IF I APPLY fits into the information credibility corpus. Examining these methods allows the authors the opportunity to engage with the history of information credibility. Additionally, anecdotes from the classroom will be incorporated within the paper to share how IF I APPLY can be used across the engineering curriculum. The paper will end with a view towards the resource evaluation future.

Citation
Format

Wetzel, D. A., & McMonigle, P. (2023, June), Why IF I APPLY isn’t CRAAP: The evolution of source evaluation with PSU STEM Libraries in the Engineering Classroom Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42296

TY - CPAPER
AB - When looking at a resource for use in engineering coursework, students might hear terms from their professors around quality or credibility. But learning to evaluate resources is a skill that many undergraduate students need constant information literacy instruction in throughout their college careers. In fact, knowing how to evaluate information found in a search of literature is an important skill for any researcher to develop. So often, when librarians are invited into the classroom, they feel motivated to find interesting and catchy ways to get students interested in these skills. Which is how different evaluation methods have been developed over the years, with the CRAAP (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) test having become the most widely used. However, most of these methods focus only on content, while ignoring the researcher’s own biases and how these evaluated resources relate to other published materials on the same topic. While some of the differing resource evaluation methods don’t necessarily have an attached acronym, they still tend to focus on the content over the student researcher.

In 2016, librarians at Marshall University created a new method that attempts to fill in these gaps. Titled IF I APPLY, this method expands the familiar CRAAP test to control for confirmation bias and determine where the source fits into other existing research. This method focuses first on the personal steps and then on the content steps. When one of the librarians from Marshall University brought this method to [institution name], it seemed like a hit across many subject areas. Therefore, this papers’ authors have explored and taught this method to their engineering students in several different engineering disciplines across the curriculum.

This paper seeks to explore different methods of resource evaluation and share where IF I APPLY fits into the information credibility corpus. Examining these methods allows the authors the opportunity to engage with the history of information credibility. Additionally, anecdotes from the classroom will be incorporated within the paper to share how IF I APPLY can be used across the engineering curriculum. The paper will end with a view towards the resource evaluation future.
AU - Denise Amanda Wetzel
AU - Paul McMonigle
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Why IF I APPLY isn’t CRAAP: The evolution of source evaluation with PSU STEM Libraries in the Engineering Classroom
UR - https://peer.asee.org/42296
DO - 10.18260/1-2--42296
ER -