Tutor profile: Rebecca H.

How can we make sure a source is credible?

Online information can often be unregulated, fabricated, and downright unreliable. This can make research assignments very confusing for students. If false information is used to support an argument, students can get into a lot of trouble academically. We can take steps to ensure the information we are accessing is reputable and accurate by asking ourselves these questions: 1. Who is the author of this source? Is it listed on a government affiliated website ending with .gov or an educational institution ending in .edu? Is the source presented in a scholarly journal that has been extensively peer-reviewed? Generally, information presented on sites such as these can be trusted. 2. Cross-check the facts. Can you find many other sources to back up the claims of this source? Does the author provide a reference list? 3. Who are the contributors? Is the information written by a blogger, celebrity commentator, or social media influencer? 4. What is the intent of the source? Is it aiming to inform, help, or is it aiming to persuade, argue, or gossip? If you think you've found a credible source, be sure to also check the date it was written. Make sure it is relevant and timely for your uses. Always double check to ensure you are not encountering any biased writing or false information.

What is the 30 million word gap and what are its implications for early childhood development?

Researchers Betty Hart and Todd Risley of the University of Kansas conducted a study looking to understand how children's interactions with their parents affected their language development. Their findings rocked the field of early childhood education. They found that there were large differences in children's language skills, and these differences correlated strongly with the socioeconomics status, or SES, the child belonged to. Throughout their lives, children living in homes considered to be part of the highest socioeconomic status were found to be exposed to nearly 30 million more words than children belonging to families on welfare. By hour, children on welfare heard 616 words per hour, working or middle class children were exposed to 1,251 per hour, and children in professional families were exposed to a grand total of 2,153 words per hour (Hart & Risley, 2003). This gap in exposure was found to have enormous implications for these children's vocabulary sizes, language kills, and future school successes. Each group of students in this study will enter Kindergarten at the same time. Each will come from different levels of language exposure at home. One group will enter feeling prepared and likely perform well above expectations, while one group will likely start school with a need to play catch-up. One group will rest in the middle. Spreading awareness of the 30 Million Word disparity between students can help parents, educators, and institutions to mitigate its effects and close the gap. Sources: Hart, B. & Risley, T.R. “The Early Catastrophe:The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3” (2003, spring). American Educator, pp.4-9..http://www.aft.org//sites/default/files/periodicals/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf

What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Created by Alan Bloom, Bloom's Taxonomy was intended to provide a common language among teachers to assess student's objectives and outcomes in learning. It's often displayed in the form of a pyramid, with "lower" objectives like 'remember' and 'understand' on the bottom half of the pyramid and "higher" objectives like 'evaluate' and 'analyze' in the top of the pyramid. The complete listing of objectives from bottom to top include: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. The general idea behind organizing these objectives in such a hierarchical manner is that educators should aim to engage students with higher levels of learning instead of stopping at the lower levels once simple recall is achieved.