Overview
What You Will Learn: In this Touchstone, you will use the critical thinking skills that you learned in this unit by finding a credible source. You will practice those skills by determining why the source you chose should be considered credible evidence and then reflecting on your process. The goal of this Touchstone is to help you get comfortable with locating and evaluating research.
Why It Matters: Learning how to find credible sources and evaluate information is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. Whether you’re making a case at work, deciding how to vote, or researching a big personal decision, being able to spot reliable information and understand different perspectives gives you the power to think clearly and make informed choices.
What You Will Hand In: A 12-page paper that describes your research process, reflects on your experience as a researcher, and includes a reference page with an APA-formatted citation for the credible source you found.
Keys to Success:
- Use research strategies that demonstrate critical thinking.
- Choose a source that is credible, trustworthy, and reliable.
- Answer the reflection questions.
- Develop and submit your own original work. While AI tools can be helpful for brainstorming or organizing ideas, this assignment is meant to strengthen your own skills in research, reading, and critical thinking. Using AI to write your reflection or find and summarize sources takes away your opportunity to grow in these areas and can also lead to plagiarism flags. To stay within academic guidelines and get the most from this assignment, be sure all of your writing and analysis is your own.
Instructions
Step 1: Select and Evaluate One Credible Source
Review the tutorial for more help on how to find a topic. Locate one credible source that provides reliable, relevant information about your topic. Choose either:
- A scholarly source such as a peer-reviewed journal article, a book published by a university press, or research from a reputable organization.
- A credible popular source such as a feature article from a major newspaper, a report from a respected magazine, or a publication by a professional organization.
Consider what kind of source fits best for the early stage of your research. You’ll need to use the same topic for Touchstones 1.1 and 1.2, but you can change your topic for your final paper.
Step 2: Write a Reflection (150250 words)
Your reflection should include 3-4 paragraphs:
- Topic Selection: How or why did you select this topic to research?
- Research Process & Decision Making: What search terms did you use? What platform did you use to find the article or source? Why did you select the article you did? What is the journal or other source where the article was published? How did you determine that this source is credible?
- Critical Thinking: What made this source stand out as credible or useful? How did reading this source challenge or reinforce what you already believed? What is one thing from the source you didnt fully understand at first, and how did you clarify it?
- Personal Learning & Application: What goals do you want to achieve in your writing and research? What did you learn from this experience about your own research habits? How has this process changed the way you think about finding credible information? What is one skill you used or developed in this assignment that you can apply in other courses or at work?
Step 3: Create an APA Citation for Your Reference
- Create an APA-formatted reference for the article you read.
Step 4: Submit Your Source, Reflection, and Citation
- Review the rubric to confirm that you have met all the requirements of the touchstone. Once you are happy with it, you can submit it as a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) file. Your submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your assignment.
Rubric Advanced (100%)Proficient (85%)Acceptable (75%)Needs Improvement (50%)Non-Performance (0%)Credible Source Selection
Assesses the relevance, credibility, and appropriateness of the source selected. Students must choose a source aligned with their topic and demonstrate that it comes from a trustworthy publisher or organization. (20%)
Selects a source published by a recognized authority (e.g., academic journal, professional organization, or reputable media outlet); source is clearly aligned with the topic and useful at this stage of research.Selects a source published by a generally credible outlet; relevance to topic and stage of research is clear but may be limited.Selects a source with some relevance or usefulness, but with limited credibility (e.g., lacks publication transparency, author credentials, or recency).Selects a source that lacks credibility, relevance, or appropriateness for academic use (e.g., commercial blog, non-expert opinion piece).No source is submitted, or the source has no discernible credibility or relevance.Research Process & Decision Making
Evaluates the explanation of the search strategy and decision-making process. This includes the tools used, and how the source was chosen. (20%)
Describes search process, terms used, and rationale for selection; explains how credibility was determined using at least two specific criteria (e.g., author, publication, evidence).Describes search process and reasoning, with some reference to credibility criteria, though one may be missing or vague.Mentions some elements of the search and rationale but lacks specificity or clear explanation of credibility.Reflection is vague or incomplete; may list steps without explanation or overlook credibility.No reflection, or reflection is unrelated to the process.Critical Thinking
Ability to evaluate the credibility and usefulness of the source. (20%)
Evaluates credibility using at least two characteristics of trustworthy sources (e.g., objectivity, evidence, expertise); identifies a belief challenged or reinforced and explains how understanding was deepened or clarified.Evaluates credibility and engages with the content; may touch on belief or learning, but with limited detail or only one evaluation factor.Gives a general statement about credibility or learning but lacks evidence of deep engagement or evaluation.Minimal critical thinking; general or unrelated observations with no clear link to the source.No evidence of evaluation or engagement with the source.Personal Learning & Application
Connection of this research experience to future academic or professional goals. (20%)
Identifies and describes one specific research skill gained and how it will apply to future academic or professional tasks; links reflection to personal learning goals.Generally describes what was learned and makes broad connection to future goals or tasks.Identifies learning with vague or underdeveloped connection to future relevance.Reflection is unclear or superficial; lacks connection to goals or future use.No reflection on learning or future application.Conventions and Proofreading
Demonstrates command of standard English grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. (10%)
There are few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.APA Citation
Formatted citation in APA style. (10%)
Citation is complete and error-free, following APA guidelines (e.g., author, date, title, source, DOI/URL if applicable).Citation is mostly correct; contains no more than two minor errors.Citation includes several errors in APA format but includes required elements.Citation is present but has major formatting or content issues.Citation is missing or not in APA format.