Google and wikipedia I find are major issues in the classes that I teach. Students would rather find the information from a search engine and wiki rather than research the topic using a book or database. I have found that I have to make is a requirement in my research projects that students use books/scholarly articles, otherwise they will only cite websites. I find it a struggle every semester to get students to realize that not all websites are accurate. Thoughts?
I agree with this point of view. If you know how to look up information and can get to the same end result why should it matter how you get there? I do feel that students should be taught how to look up information in other forms than online in case they do not have access to the internet.
I don't find that they lack hunger for the knowledge, but I definitely have an issue with the blind trust of information sources. "But I googled it!" is a frequent point of frustration when they get very wrong answers from bogus websites.
Does anyone have tips on how to help students develop the ability to discern between credible and not-so-credible sources?
Very true, the info they learn from us may be obsolete in a few years but resourcefulness and critical thinking never go out of style.
