Research Journal Assingment #9: Evaluation of Sources

Resource Evaluated: The Guardian (Newspaper based in the UK)
Writer Evaluated: Diane Hofkins
Conclusions: The Guardian does seem to be a legitimate and trustworthy source as a periodical. It is a nationally published newspaper which has existed since 1821. It now publishes the Guardian weekly, which is a compilation of four newspapers. It historically has a slight liberal lean to it.

Diane Hofkins is the chief editor of the Times Educational Supplement, which is a weekly publication covering education in the UK. She is a professional journalist and writes primarily in the field of education. She seems like a qualified source and on her own page provides real contact information which adds to her credibility. I could not find anything about her educational experiences but I would still mark her as a credible author in her field.

Resource Evaluated: Piaget's Theories Applied to an Early Elementary Curriculum (book)
Author Evaluated: Celia Lavatelli
Conclusions: The book written by Lavatelli was published by an Education publisher called Delta Education. Delta Education is a company dedicated to providing hands on learning experiences in the classroom to schools and it was founded by former teachers with PhD's. The website also provides an actual physical address in New Hampshire for Delta. With all this information provided by Delta Education I would assume that the book published by Lavatelli is a legitimate source.

After researching Lavatelli herself I only found more evidence to back up my support of this source. Lavatelli was a professor of elementary and early childhood education. She was also a consultant to educators and schools. She worked personally with Jean Piaget himself and is a member of the APA and many prestigious educational associations. Lavatelli is definitely a trustworthy source.

Resource Evaluated: Simply Psychology (website)
Writer Evaluated: No Specific Author to the page, probably a collaboration on the information that Simply Psychology has collected as a whole.
Conclusions: The information given on this website is extremely helpful and well presented. I read about the website and discovered that it is a site set up to help college students understand all the different kinds of psychology and the psychologists that have helped shape each field. It also provides information into research methods, social psychology, and psychoanalysis. My overall opinion is that the site is a legitimate academic source but I would like to see more information about its authors and who posts information on it.

Resource Evaluated:Adults Learning
Writer Evaluated: Teresa Cairns
Conclusions: After looking up Adults Learning I was redirected to the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning, which is an association dedicated to the continued and sustained learning of adults. The website for the association had a good deal of information on the purpose of the association and its founders, who are all very legitimate and each have masters degrees or PhD's and contact information. The Association actually has a physical address, which is also key in proving legitimacy. Although its website may not have been all too informative or interactive, I would categorize the American Association for Adult and Continued Learning as an expert source in the educational development exhibited into adulthood.

After looking into the writer herself, Teresa Cairns, I have confirmed that she is a reliable source. She is most certainly a reliable source in the field of adult education at the least. Cairns is the covenor of learning at the Sussex University in the UK and coordinates staff in the Center for Continuing Education. Her personal information page provided background information and credible contact information to reveal the validity of her page. Although I am looking more into the educational development of children, looking at the continued education of adults might be useful and Cairns would be a credible source for which to refer to if I decided to pull anything from this area.

Resource Evaluated: Parallel Paths to Constructivism: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky
Author Evaluated: Susan Pass
Conclusions: After looking into the book and its publisher I found that it was published by Information Age Publishing. IAP is a social science publisher of academic and scholarly book series and journals. IAP is striving to define and add body to many ideas that have previously lacked deeper research. There was also a physical address involved and contact information. This means that the book published was published by a legitimate academic source.

After I looked after information on Susan Pass I found valuable information about her academic standing. I did not find a ton of information on Pass herself but I did find her name referenced in quite a few sources, with one very viable source in particular ERIC, the Education Resource Information Center. Although I did not find too much on Susan Pass seeing her name referenced and reviewed often led me to believe that she is a legitimate source but I would have to read her actual work first in order to truly get a feel for whether I would cite her works or not.

Resource Evaluated:The Teaching of Young Children: Some Application of Piaget's Learning Theory
Author Evaluated: R. Bott
Conclusions: I found that the book was published by Schocken Books which is a publishing company that has been around since 1931 in Berlin. The book was also referenced in ERIC, which once again adds more credibility to the source.

After looking into the author of the book, I found that John R. Bott wrote for the New York Times for 37 years and was its editor for 17 of those years. He was a well published journalist and author and is most likely viable and trustworthy in his works.