Considering Personal Resources Amidst Credibility Judgments: Preparing Teachers to Discuss Digital Sources With Students

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Innovating Social Studies Teacher Education: Fostering Critical Engagement and Cultural Understanding (Table 10)

Abstract

Teachers need practice supporting students to reason about the credibility of sources, especially when those sources are likely to elicit students’ personal resources, or their gut reactions, beliefs, and experiences. During a professional development institute for teachers, we led a workshop for teachers to plan for and practice leading discussions in which students raised personal resources, as well as more concrete details about the source, as they judged credibility. We found that teachers consistently recognized opportunities to validate students’ personal resources, but it was more challenging to also orient students to consider the credibility of sources, particularly during a rehearsal of a discussion on how to evaluate a source. Implications for future professional development are discussed.

Authors

• Elizabeth Reynolds, University of Maryland

• Sarah McGrew, University of Maryland

• Alison L. Jovanovic, University of Maryland