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Helping Students Develop Their Own Authority - Guidelines for Instructor

Step 1: Intentionality

Intention Prompt for Students

In the upcoming assignment, you will be using interviewing skills to identify an information need that a friend or family member has and using research skills to help them find the information that they are looking for. Reflect on a previous time you helped someone with an information need. How were you able to help them? What made them trust you as an authority, or expert, on that topic?

Step 2: Applied learning exercise:

In class, work with students to develop a list of “interview” questions for them to use to identify and flesh out an information need that one of their friends or family members has. It might be, but does not have to be, an academic need – it could be any sort of information gap (where should I go on vacation? What dentist should I go to? Etc.)
Have your students interview a friend or family member about that information gap, using the questions developed in class or others of their choosing.
Have students research and provide an answer (depending on the information need, it might be general information or a direct, specific solution), being sure to document where they found the information.

Step 3: Reflection

Reflection Prompt for Students

In this assignment, you used your authority to provide your friend or family member with information they needed. Describe the research process you used to find this information. Why did you choose to trust the sources of information you found? Why were you a trustworthy source of information for your friend or family member?

Potential Student Learning Outcomes:

Students will develop an understanding of what makes information sources trustworthy in different situations.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of their own authority on a topic and what grants them that authority.