Chapter 6 Learning Activities
Stevy Scarbrough
The purpose of these activities is to help help you familiarize yourself with various types of learning and how to apply different thinking skills.
LO1. Describe your motivation for attending college using the Uses and Gratification Model.
LO2. Describe how you will utilize different learning methods to help you learn.
LO3. Apply the C.R.A.A.P. test to critically evaluate an information source related to your career field.
LO4. Apply creative thinking to solve a problem related to your career field.
Activity 6.1 Uses and Gratification Model
college:
- What is it that motivates you to learn something?
- Is this an internal motivation (you enjoy it, you want to do it for yourself) or are you motivated by external factors
(money, family approval, etc.)? - What need does it fulfill?
- What do you expect to have happen with certain learning activities?
- How can you choose the right learning activities to better ensure you meet your needs and expectations?
- What other things might result from your choices?
Activity 6.2 Methods of Learning
What subjects and/or activities do you typically use visual learning methods, such as watching videos?
What subjects and/or activities do you typically use auditory learning methods, such as listening to lectures,
podcasts, directions, etc.?
What subjects and/or activities do you typically use physical or hands on learning methods, such as imitating
actions or experimenting with something.
What subjects and/or activities do you typically prefer to learn or work on by yourself.
What subjects and/or activities do you typically prefer to learn or work on with others.
Give an example of how you can combine learning methods to help you learn a subject or complete an activity
for an upcoming class assignment.
Activity 6.3 Using the C.R.A.A.P. Test
When you begin evaluating sources, what should you consider? The CRAAP test is a series of common evaluative elements you can use to evaluate the Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose of your sources. The CRAAP test was developed by librarians at California State University at Chico and it gives you a good, overall set of elements to look for when evaluating a resource. Let’s consider what each of these evaluative elements means.
When evaluating the Currency of an article, consider the following:
- When was the item written, and how frequently does the publication come out?
- Is there evidence of newly added or updated information in the item?
- If the information is dated, is it still suitable for your topic?
- How frequently does information change about your topic?
When determining Relevance consider the following:
- Does the item contain information relevant to your argument or thesis?
- Read the article’s introduction, thesis, and conclusion.
- Scan main headings and identify article keywords.
- For book resources, start with the index or table of contents—how wide a scope does the item have? Will you use part or all of this resource?
- Does the information presented support or refute your ideas?
- If the information refutes your ideas, how will this change your argument?
- Does the material provide you with current information?
- What is the material’s intended audience?
When determining the Authority of your source, consider the following:
- What are the author’s credentials?
- What is the author’s level of education, experience, and/or occupation?
- What qualifies the author to write about this topic?
- What affiliations does the author have? Could these affiliations affect their position?
- What organization or body published the information? Is it authoritative? Does it have an explicit position or bias?
When determining the Accuracy of a source, consider the following:
- Is the source well-documented? Does it include footnotes, citations, or a bibliography?
- Is information in the source presented as fact, opinion, or propaganda? Are biases clear?
- Can you verify information from the references cited in the source?
- Is the information written clearly and free of typographical and grammatical mistakes? Does the source look to be edited before publication? A clean, well-presented paper does not always indicate accuracy, but usually at least means more eyes have been on the information.
Understanding the reason or Purpose of the information, if the information has clear intentions, or if the information is fact, opinion, or propaganda will help you decide how and why to use information:
- Is the author’s purpose to inform, sell, persuade, or entertain?
- Does the source have an obvious bias or prejudice?
- Is the article presented from multiple points of view?
- Does the author omit important facts or data that might disprove their argument?
- Is the author’s language informal, joking, emotional, or impassioned?
- Is the information clearly supported by evidence?
Use the C.R.A.A.P. Test to evaluate the following sources below. You do not need to answer every question above for each element on your worksheet, but you should give an overall impression for each element and some supporting evidence. Then answer the questions that follow.
Online Magazine Article: The picture of health: Pizza is good for you, no matter what the media says
Currency:
Relevance:
Accuracy:
Authority:
Purpose:
Currency:
Relevance:
Accuracy:
Authority:
Purpose:
Relevance:
Accuracy:
Authority:
Purpose:
After reading through and evaluating the 4 different sources above, do you think pizza is healthy? Why or why
not?
Which of the 4 sources above is the most reliable? What makes it reliable?
Which of the 4 sources above is the most problematic? What makes it problematic?
Use the C.R.A.A.P test to evaluate a source that you have looked up and/or used for a previous or upcoming assignment in one of your classes.
Currency:
Relevance:
Accuracy:
Authority:
Purpose:
Is this source you used or are thinking about using reliable as a good source of information for your assignment?
Why or why not?
Activity 6.4 Creative Problem Solving
Can you break the problem into different facets? What aspects of the current issue are “noise” that should not be
considered in the problem solution?
