(Dis)information Competency Series

Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms

RESCHEDULED TO 2/1/2023, 1:15-3:15, Student Center 212.

Join us for lunch and an active learning activity based on the 2020 report Information Literacy in the Age of Algorithms. The report examines how college students navigate a challenging information landscape in the age of algorithms – their experiences, concerns, and widespread skepticism where targeted ads are the norm, and objective news coverage gets harder to tell from opinion. Qualitative findings from 16 focus groups with 103 undergraduates and interviews with 37 faculty members from eight U.S. colleges and universities are presented, as well as takeaways and recommendations.

Tell us what you want for lunch here:Lunch for 2/1/2023

Sign-up on the Vision Resource Center (VRC): https://tinyurl.com/algoinfocomp

This report presents findings about how college students conceptualize the ever-changing online information landscape, and navigate volatile and popular platforms that increasingly employ algorithms to shape and filter content. Researchers conducted 16 focus groups with 103 undergraduates and interviewed 37 faculty members to collect qualitative data from eight US colleges and universities from across the country. Findings suggest that a majority of students know that popular websites, such as Google, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, use algorithms to collect massive amounts of their personal data, but still find sites too useful to abandon. Many are indignant about websites that mine their clicks to sell them products, but resigned to the powers of an unregulated media environment. Some students, however, used practical strategies to protect their privacy and “confuse algorithms,” learned more often from peers than in classes.

Alison J. Head, Barbara Fister, and Margy MacMillan (January 15, 2020), Information literacy in the age of algorithms, Project Information Literacy Research Institute, https://projectinfolit.org/publications/algorithm-study

• 1:15 - 1:30: Welcome! Get your lunch, find a table, and start reading your assigned section. Put on colored-coded name tags. 

• 1:30- 1:40: We explain the activity & how to paragraph shrink. 

• 1:40 – 1:50 (10 mins): Everyone reads silently, highlighting and taking notes of most important points (“paragraph shrinking”). 

• 1:50 - 2:10 (20 mins): Groups discuss their content and one person summarizes main points in the shared Google doc (link above). 

• 2:10 - 2:20 (10 mins): Everyone stands up and groups intermix, forms groups with members from 1-6. Each table now has members who’ve read all the assigned sections of the report. 

• 2:20 - 2:45- (25 mins): Each group member takes 3-5 mins to share their content with the group, thereby summarizing the content of the entire report. 

• 2:45 – 3:00: Group share out. What sparked your interest? How might you use this in your course (applying the “Recommendations”)? What is your next step? How might you summarize into one sentence? 

• 3:00-3:15: Provide feedback about the session at https://glendale.libwizard.com/f/disinfo2 

Paragraph shrinking was developed as one of the Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) at Vanderbilt University. Peer-assisted learning is a form of instruction that uses partner and small group tutoring. Researchers have indicated that peer-assisted learning interventions engage and produce academic progress among students with disabilities and their typically developing peers (Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, & Simmons, 1997). 

Paragraph shrinking is a strategy designed to develop comprehension through main idea identification. Students read a text to a partner and at the end of each paragraph they identify: 

• The who or what of the paragraph 

• The most important thing about who or what 

• The main idea 

The partner gives feedback to the student who is reading and summarizing. For each paragraph summary, students earn 1 point for correctly identifying the who or what, 1 point for correctly stating the most important thing about the who or what, and 1 point for using 10 or fewer words.  After 5 minutes, the students switch roles.  

Further Reading:

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Mathes, P. G., & Simmons, D. C. (1997). Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies: Making Classrooms More Responsive to Diversity. American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), 174–206. https://doi.org/10.2307/1163346

Fuchs, D., Fuchs, L. S., Thompson, A., Svenson, E., & al, e. (2001). Peer-assisted learning strategies in reading: Extensions for kindergarten, first grade, and high school: RASE. Remedial and Special Education, 22(1), 15. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/074193250102200103

Source paragraph:

This pivotal generation born before the constant connectivity of social media, has come of age aware, cautious, and curious about the implications of the current information landscape. Deeply skeptical, many of these students are conditioned to do research for themselves rather than deferring to experts or major news outlets. They understand that “free” platforms are convenient but also recognize they harvest massive amounts of personal data to target ads and influence what content they see.

After shrinking:

Students in the pivotal generation are interested in and skeptical of how social media shapes the information they receive and they are aware that using convenient free online platforms also makes them vulnerable to data harvesting and advertising.

Collaborative document for each group to share their paragraph which summarizes the section they read: https://tinyurl.com/1027paragraph

Thank you for attending "Information Competency in the Age of Algorithms" on Wednesday 2/1/2023. Please fill out a brief (4-question) survey to help us improve future events in the Disinformation Competency Series: https://glendale.libwizard.com/f/disinfo2