Investigating Criteria That Seventh Graders Use to Evaluate the Quality of Online Information

This article presents qualitative findings from a study that examined the types of criteria that middle school students use to evaluate the quality of online information and sources for a Web‐based research assignment. Open‐constructed responses from four critical evaluation items were compiled from diverse seventh graders in a representative, two‐state, stratified random sample ( n = 773). Content analysis revealed that many students used a range of unacceptable or superficial criteria to determine the author of a website and whether that author is an expert, to state the author's point of view, and to provide reasoned evidence about the overall reliability of a website. Criteria and evidence patterns that students used for each of the critical evaluation tasks are shared, as well as implications for instruction.