Date

12-2018

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Department

Humanities & Communication

Major

English Subject Matter Preparation

First Advisor

Estella Porras

Second Advisor

Jennifer Fletcher

Abstract

Preparing high school students for college level courses is vital to their success in higher education. Information literacy and digital literacy are necessary skills for college students in order to conduct their research for their classes. My own research was a compilation of scholarly articles and books focused on digital literacy, information literacy, and the issues surrounding these terms to understand what today’s students need in the classroom to succeed as young researchers. Search engines like Google operate under a facade of being an unbiased source. In reality, they are a for profit company whose search results go through an advertisement algorithm. Furthermore, misinformation online is rampant and becoming more difficult to differentiate from peer-reviewed work. Perpetuating this problem are social media websites like Facebook where misinformation can be spread within one’s similar minded social group, creating an echo chamber. This echo chamber is reproduced in the classroom when students’ peers experiences outway the information of experts. In order to produce unbiased research, high school students need to learn how to question the sources they access through search engines and be introduced to resources such as library databases and the school librarian. Through modeling research in the classroom, creating lesson plans focused on the process rather than the end product, and working side by side with librarians, teachers can prepare their students for college courses. Students can be more successful when they enter college and can be better equipped to be successful global citizens as they interact with information and ideas outside of their sphere of knowledge.

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