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Information Literacy Framework

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About This MicroSim

This interactive MicroSim helps students apply information literacy criteria to evaluate a real-world source by assessing its credibility, bias, and evidence quality.. It supports the learning objectives in Chapter: Knowledge and the Knower.

How to Use

Use the interactive controls below the drawing area to explore the visualization. Hover over elements for additional information and click to see detailed descriptions.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/theory-of-knowledge/sims/information-literacy-framework/main.html"
        height="450px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School / IB TOK)

Duration

15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Experience using online sources for research (e.g., school assignments, personal inquiry)
  • Basic understanding that not all sources are equally reliable
  • Familiarity with the concept of bias in media and publishing

Learning Objectives

  • Apply information literacy criteria (authority, accuracy, purpose, currency, and relevance) to evaluate real-world sources and compare their reliability for supporting knowledge claims

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Open the sim and review the evaluation criteria presented in the framework. Step through each criterion (authority, accuracy, purpose, currency, relevance) and read its description. Note how each criterion contributes a different dimension to overall source quality.
  2. Guided Practice (10 min): Evaluate the pre-loaded source "Celebrity Instagram Post about a Health Supplement" by scoring it on each criterion using the sim's step-by-step process. Record your scores and the overall reliability rating. Then evaluate "Peer-Reviewed Journal Article on the Same Topic." Compare the two score profiles side by side. Write a paragraph explaining which source you would cite in a TOK essay and why, referencing at least three specific criteria.
  3. Assessment (5 min): Choose a source you recently used for a school assignment. Without using the sim, score it on all five criteria and write a brief evaluation. Then enter it into the sim to compare your assessment with the framework's output. Identify any criteria where your initial judgment differed from the framework and explain why.

Assessment

  • Accurately scores a source on all five information literacy criteria with clear justifications
  • Compares two sources of differing reliability and articulates specific reasons one is stronger
  • Reflects on their own source evaluation habits and identifies at least one area for improvement

Quiz

Test your understanding with this review question.

1. You find a blog post by an anonymous author that cites three peer-reviewed studies, was published last month, and argues strongly for a particular political position. Which information literacy criterion is most compromised?

  1. Currency, because the post is too recent to be reliable
  2. Accuracy, because blog posts never contain accurate information
  3. Authority, because the anonymous authorship makes it impossible to verify the author's expertise or credentials
  4. Relevance, because political topics are not suitable for academic research
Show Answer

The correct answer is C. Authority refers to the credibility and qualifications of the source's author. When an author is anonymous, readers cannot verify their expertise, institutional affiliation, or potential conflicts of interest. While the post does cite peer-reviewed studies (which supports accuracy), the lack of identifiable authorship significantly weakens the source's overall reliability.

Concept Tested: Authority as an information literacy criterion

References

  1. Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. ACRL.
  2. Wineburg, S., & McGrew, S. (2019). "Lateral Reading and the Nature of Expertise." Teachers College Record, 121(11), 1-40.