Building Information Literacy Through Consideration of Claims in Psychology: Evaluating Credibility and Evidence in Sources

This chapter describes the design, execution, and initial assessment of a series of assignments meant to build information literacy in students in an Introductory Psychology course. Students rated popular psychology claims as true or false. They then evaluated the science regarding“The Mozart Effect,” in a group-led discussion. They then chose a popular claim to study, found relevant sources, evaluated them, and wrote an evidence-based summary of whether to accept or reject the claim. Our assessment indicated that students improved their ability to 1) find relevant primary sources, 2) discern sources as evidence-based and credible, and 3) use evidence to construct a written argument. This multi-part assignment emphasized the process of research over the final product while improving scientific and information literacy.