Information Literacy is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and cite information accurately. It is incredibly important because we are surrounded by information in all formats some of which is biased, out-of-date, misleading, or just plain false.  By having information literacy skills you will be better able to make informed decisions whether it is about deciding what sources to use in your paper, what cell phone to purchase, or which candidate to vote for.

This information literacy assignment will help you evaluate information pertaining to psychological concepts.

Step 1:  A popular source includes articles reporting current events or summarizing general research designed to be read by the general public.  Find a recent popular press article describing a real world issue/current event that involves at least one psychological concept, topic, or theory covered in the course.  The article can come from sources such as Newsweek, Time, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, the Star Ledger, and the New York Times.  [You are not limited to these sources.  They are just examples of popular press sources. Check with the MCCC library to see what sources are available.] This step should be relatively easy since most real world issues/current events involve a number of psychological concepts. Be sure to select an article you enjoy reading!

From your article, be able to identify at least one psychological concept that is involved in or related to the real world issue/current event.  Use your textbook to help you with your identification. Examples of psychological concepts:  biological drives, fear, obedience, nature-nurture, attachment, memory loss, depression, sleep deprivation, etc.

·        In one page (page 2 – since page 1 will be your title page), briefly summarize the real world issue/current event and clearly describe the psychological concept involved in the real world issue/current event. Use your textbook or PowerPoint lessons for help with psychological concept and be sure to cite appropriately.

Step 2: A scholarly source is a publication which documents and discusses the results of original research.  This is the primary method used by researchers to communicate the results of their research to others in their field of study.  Before the research can be published, the research must be reviewed by a panel of experts (peer-reviewed) in that particular field of study.  Find an article from a peer-reviewed psychology journal that examines the same psychological concept described in the popular press article from step 1.  (The article must be recent, that is published from 2000-present).  You must select an article that describes an original research study (for example, it will have a “Method” section and “Results” section).  Examples of appropriate psychology journals include Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Learning and Memory, Child Development, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [As before, you are not limited to these sources.  They are just examples of peer-reviewed psychology journals].  Make sure you choose an article you can understand and that is not too long.  Psychology Today or any other review-type articles are not acceptable.  If you are concerned about whether or not you have selected an appropriate article, please send a copy of the article to the instructor for approval (please keep in mind that it may take 24-48 hours for the instructor to respond, so please do not ask for approval on the last day the assignment is available).

·        In one page (page 3), briefly summarize the research article.

o  Describe what the study was investigating (what was the research question, what was the hypothesis).

o  Describe how the study was conducted (who were the participants, what methodology did they use, what was the procedure).

o  Describe the results of the study (what did they find, what were their conclusions).

Step 3: Having read and summarized both a popular source and a scholarly source, compare them.

·        In at least one page (page 4+), answer the following questions:

o  Describe how the results of the empirical study relate to the real world issue/current event.  What do they have in common?

o  Describe how differently the psychological concept is presented in the empirical study and the popular press article.  How are they different?

o  Having compared and contrasted these two styles of sources, why is the use of scholarly sources almost always required when writing academic papers?  Why don’t professors often allow the use of popular sources?

Step 4:  Page 5 (or 6) will be your reference page following APA format.  It should be titled “References” (without the quotation marks).  The sources should be listed in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. (The popular press article should not be listed first just because you discussed it first.  It should only be listed first if alphabetically it should be first.)

·        Give the full APA citation for the popular press article.

·        Give the full APA citation for the peer-reviewed scholarly article.

·        Give the full APA citation for the textbook.

 

Submission Instructions:

·        APA format is required.  You should have a cover page (page 1) that includes the title of your paper and your name.  You are required to have a “running head” and page numbers.  You do not need to write an abstract.  For helpful information on APA format, see the Start Here folder for a folder entitled Writing Papers in Psychology – Help with APA Format.

·        You must use in-text citations – especially on pages four (and five) of your paper when you compare and contrast the two articles.  Again, these in-text citations must be in APA format.

·        Your paper must be typed using size 10- or 12-pt font with margins no larger than one inch.  If you use larger font or wide margins you will be penalized.

·        Please save the file as a Word document (.doc or .docx).  If you cannot save it as a Word document, please save it as Rich Text Format (.rtf).  WordPerfect or Works documents will not be accepted.

·        Once the document is saved, please upload the paper to the Information Literacy Assignment Drop Box. Do not copy and paste the document in to the message window within the dope box.  Emailed assignments will NOT be accepted.

o  To upload your document use the instructions below:

·        Click on the Information Literacy Assignment Drop Box icon.

·        Add a Title such as Information Literacy Assignment.

·        Feel free to add a message if you want (but it is not required to put anything into the message window).

·        Click the Attachments button.

·        Click the Browse button to locate your file (which you should have saved on your computer or storage device).

·        Click the Upload button.

·        Click the Finish button.

·        Click the Submit button to submit the file to the drop box.

 

Grading: The entire information literacy assignment is worth 75 points.

 

Popular Press Summary

·        Primary characteristics, ideas and facts from the popular media source were presented in a clear and easy to understand manner and the summary was written in an objective manner per the assignment instructions.

20 points

Scholarly Article Summary

·        Primary characteristics, ideas and facts from the article were presented in a clear and easy to understand manner, summary is written in an objective manner per the assignment instructions.

20 points

Comparison of the Popular Press and Scholarly Article

·        A clearly articulated comparison of the scholarly and popular media sources was in evidence in easy to understand terms.

20 points

APA Format

·        Paper had a title page, running head, and page numbers.  In-text citations and references page citations were in the correct APA format.

10 points

Mechanics (spelling, grammar, directions followed)

·        Paper was the required length, is double-spaced with 1-inch margins, size 10 - 12 font. There were no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

5 points