TAPAteach Lesson

Information Literacy and the Internet

Adult, Prof. Development

The purpose of is this lesson is to teach teachers about the TAPAteach method of evaluating Internet web sites using critical thinking skills.

Teachers will be able to integrate TAPAteach into their curriculum supporting information literacy objectives.

Teachers will be able to use critical thinking skills when evaluating web sites for problem based learning lessons or research projects.

Teachers will be able to search, navigate and select appropriate web sites for classroom use. (ie. information literacy)

Teachers will be able to utilize the TAPAteach principles for life skills.

Teachers will learn to customize resource materials for their own classrooms.

(Objectives for the students are located within the example lesson plans.)

TAPAteach is a method for evaluating Internet web sites using critical thinking skills. TAPA is an acronym for Theme - Argument - Proof - Analysis, the four phases in the evaluation process.

Through the use of TAPAteach, teachers and students will learn how to critically evaluate web sites used for curriculum based research projects. Examples of middle and high school lesson plans are included, for teachers to use in the classroom.

This lesson is part of a progressive staff development unit. The 6 lessons in the unit are:
1. Dissecting an Internet address: What’s really in a name?
2. The Internet as Wild Wild West: Introduction and Overview (Or, Does velcro really grow on bushes?)
3. Web Search Made Easy: Creating Your Own Web Search
4. Internet Evaluation Web Sites: Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees, and Velcro Doesn’t Grow on Bushes
5. Internet Critical Thinking Skills: TAPAteach
6. Using Internet Primary Resources: Did Elvis Really Meet Nixon?

TAPAteach is the fifth lesson in the series. The first four lessons are prerequisites for this one.

The lesson consists of four major activities:
1. A powerpoint presentaton on the TAPAteach process: Theme-Argument-Proof-Analysis
2. A presentation of, and hands-on experience with, detailed examples of high school and middle school level classes using the TAPAteach process
3. Hands-on practice customizing a TAPAteach student worksheet which may be done individually or in small groups.
4. Hands-on practice designing a TAPAquest. A TAPAquest is similar to a WebQuest. However themes to be explored, rather than web site URLs, are provided. The goal is for students to use critical thinking skills in evaluating the web sites they find rather than to use predesignated web sites.

Not applicable for staff development.

Please see the TAPAteach unit for links to middle school and high school TAPAquests.

One teacher's reflections on modifying material for high school students:
Start at the beginning with the history of the tapa cloth and how TAPAteach came into existense. This information is found on the home page of the website. It was very helpful for my group of freshmen girls to remember the purpose of TAPAteach. Choose a web site to evaluate as a class that is memorable and fun for your students. We began by evaluating the velcro crop web page written by Ken Ombush. It is convincing and entertaining at the same time; most of my students almost fell for it telling each other velcro is definitely a plant, but you wouldn't want to eat it. Finally, we reviewed our project and how TAPAteach will help them with evaluating the resources they chose, including books and journal articles. Plan for one 45 minute period to introduce TAPAteach.

Students will work collaboratively & individually. Students will work in groups of 2.

1 class period. 1.5 Hrs per class.

TAPAteach is a process for evaluating web sites using critical thinking skills. This instructional tool is suitable for grades 6-12 and adult. The goal of this lesson is to provide teachers with a learning experience which will enable them to adapt TAPAteach for their own classrooms.

TAPAteach is the product of colloboration by a California State University, Sacramento, iMET research team. Team members include: Eve Benson, Patrick Briggs, Debbie Clingingsmith, and Glee Mellor.

The unit takes 1 to 1.5 hours to present. Additional time of 20 minutes each may be devoted to exploring each TAPAquest.

The student TAPAquests each contain a rubric.