Myth-Busting With Infographics: Do Creative Assignments Help Students Learn?

Abstract

Belief in psychological misconceptions has potential repercussions for both students and potentially society as a whole. We present a creative and engaging myth refutation assignment that uses an infographic format to promote the refutation of psychological misconceptions. A total of 166 students completed the myth refutation assignment, along with pre-assignment surveys to measure transformative experience, interest, and critical thinking. An end-of-semester myth quiz was given to assess long-term learning. Frequency of correct responses was higher for quiz questions that corresponded to the myth chosen for the students’ project, indicating that the assignment was effective at promoting learning. None of the other variables were significant predictors of myth refutation at the end of the semester.

Flexible teaching during a pandemic and beyond: A reflection on lessons learned from the society for the teaching of psychology’s pivot teaching committee.

“…Although there are countless ways to incorporate infographic assignments into the curriculum, one idea for using an infographic is debunking major myths in the area of study (Cavazos, Stern, et al, 2021). Every field has its own popular misconceptions, and instructors know how difficult it is to persuade students to abandon their erroneous beliefs (Bensley & Lilienfeld, 2015).…”

Predicting Beliefs in Psychological Misconceptions with Psychology Knowledge and the Critical Reflection Test: A Replication and Extension

“…Blessing and Blessing's (2010) students who investigated a myth using academic sources and then reported their findings to the class, showed enhanced critical thinking skills and reported a greater understanding of how psychological research is conducted. Cavazos et al (2021) students who created an infographic refuting a psychology myth were 25% more likely to refute the myth they had investigated relative to other psychological myths. In summary, although misconceptions can have pernicious effects on student learning and consequential real-world outcomes, the current results support previous research in suggesting effective classroom interventions to help demystify students' misconceptions.…”

“…As noted in the introduction, refutational teaching is an effective method to dispel students of misconceptions (Cavazos et al, 2021). Kowalski and Taylor (2017) compared three groups: (a) refutational teaching (expose students to a myth and then refute it with evidence), (b) standard teaching (provide evidence supporting a topic without highlighting the misconception associated with it), and (c) a control condition (no mention of the misconception nor evidence relating to the topic).…”

“…Likewise, Hughes et al (2015) reported that number of psychology courses taken predicted greater rejection of misconceptions (see also Bensley et al, 2014; Gardner & Dalsing, 1986; Glass et al, 2008; Standing & Huber, 2003). Although number of psychology courses taken is negatively associated with beliefs in misconceptions, refutational teaching (i.e., explicitly acknowledging and then disabusing students of the misconceptions) has been shown to be especially effective (Kowalski & Taylor, 2017), as has so-called “myth-busting” assignments that require students to investigate and present information using scientific, peer-reviewed sources to debunk a popular myth (Blessing & Blessing, 2010; Cavazos et al, 2021).…”

Priming metacognition and critical thinking to dispel psychological misconceptions.

“…Most students enter introductory psychology with a variety of misconceptions, and at the end of the course, these false beliefs continue to be endorsed by students, many of which will only ever take the introductory-level psychology course (Cavazos et al, 2021; Taylor & Kowalski, 2004). Inundated by a mystifying mixture of accurate and inaccurate information, students’ accurate knowledge acquisition and ability to make educated decisions in their everyday lives become hindered (Lilienfeld et al, 2010).…”