Critiquing Articles Cited in the Introductory Textbook: A Writing Assignment

Abstract

In a writing assignment for the introductory psychology course, students find and read an empirical article cited in their textbook They summarize and critique the article, relate it to course material, and compare it with their textbook's presentation of the research. Students report that the assignment helps them learn about psychological research and specific course topics, encourages critical thinking, and is interesting. The instructor gains detailed information about studies described in the textbook, including any discrepancies between the textbook and the primary source, and gets to read a diverse collection of empirical articles.