course. However, it could also stand alone as an activity in a course that covers identity, personality, or social cognition/behavior. APA Learning By completing this activity students will develop communication skills and awareness of consistent with the following APA learning goals: communication tools, what of additional information beyond personal experience are acceptable “Describe in developing behavioral explanations (i.e., popular press reports vs. scientific findings)” (2.2b) criteria for identifying objective sources of psychology information” (2.2d) “Articulate writing content and format differ based on purpose and audience” (4.1b) “Recognize Directions for the instructor Once students have discussed the questions in small groups, the instructor should follow-up and discuss the activity as a class. Key points to address are: Effective communication is audience-focused. When students write a paper for Audience: class, their audience is often times the instructor or their peers. When they post on social media, they may have a much broader audience. Ask students how their writing style changes if they wanted to explain a psychological concept to you (the instructor), compared to another student or compared to their social network. Students should indicate that they may use a more professional tone to explain a concept to the instructor compared to their social network, where they may emphasize the big picture. Navigating social and digital media requires information literacy. Information literacy: Take time to discuss key features of credible sources, such as a reference list, depth of information, source reputation (non-biased web site or peer reviewed scholarly journal),
course. However, it could also stand alone as an activity in a course that covers identity, personality, or social cognition/behavior. APA Learning By completing this activity students will develop communication skills and awareness of communication tools, consistent with the following APA learning goals: “Describe what of additional information beyond personal experience are acceptable in developing behavioral explanations (i.e., popular press reports vs. scientific findings)” (2.2b) “Articulate criteria for identifying objective sources of psychology information” (2.2d) “Recognize writing content and format differ based on purpose and audience” (4.1b) Directions for the instructor Once students have discussed the questions in small groups, the instructor should follow-up and discuss the activity as a class. Key points to address are: Audience: Effective communication is audience-focused. When students write a paper for class, their audience is often times the instructor or their peers. When they post on social media, they may have a much broader audience. Ask students how their writing style changes if they wanted to explain a psychological concept to you (the instructor), compared to another student or compared to their social network. Students should indicate that they may use a more professional tone to explain a concept to the instructor compared to their social network, where they may emphasize the big picture. Information literacy: Navigating social and digital media requires information literacy. Take time to discuss key features of credible sources, such as a reference list, depth of information, source reputation (non-biased web site or peer reviewed scholarly journal),
Teaching%20Communication%20and%20Scientific%20Literacy%20through%20Digital%20and%20Social%20Media.docx