Citing Secondary Sources: Can We Correct What Students Do Not Know?

Abstract

Our research assesses student understanding of citation practices, especially problems in citing secondary sources, and the effectiveness of direct instruction to correct evident misunderstandings. Forty-six college undergraduates completed a pretest of their knowledge. Twenty-six of these undergraduates received direct instruction about primary versus secondary sources and problems in citing secondary sources. After instruction, we again tested all participants. Knowledge of citation practices before instruction was inadequate, and instruction significantly increased performance for the experimental group. We suggest that such direct instruction should be systematically included early in the undergraduate psychology curriculum.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.), Washington, DC: Author.

Anisfeld

(1987). A course to develop competence in critical reading of empirical research in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 14, 224–227.

Bordens

K. S.

Abbott

B. B.

(1991). Research design and methods: A process approach. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

Brumwell

M. J.

(1940). Notes on the courtship of the turtle, Terrapene ornata. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 43, 391–392.

Chamberlain

Burrough

(1985). Techniques for teaching critical reading. Teaching of Psychology, 12, 213–215.

Evans

L. T.

(1961). Structure as related to behavior in the organization of populations in reptiles. In Blair

W. F.

Vertebrate speciation (pp. 148–178). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Froese

A. D.

Nisly

S. J.

May

R. M.

(1984). The effects of task interest and difficulty on procrastination. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 87, 119–128.

Goldstein

G. S.

Benassi

V. A.

(1994). The relation between teacher self-disclosure and student classroom participation. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 212–217.

Gould

S. J.

(1988). The case of the creeping fox terrier clone. Natural History, 97(1), 16–24.

10.

Hostetler

A. J.

(1988, January). If you said it once, you'll say it again. APA Monitor, p. 9.

11.

Nadelman

(1990). Learning to think and write as an empirical psychologist: The laboratory course in developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 17, 45–48.

12.

Nodine

B. F.

(1990). Psychologists teach writing. Teaching of Psychology, 17, 4.

13.

Poe

R. E.

(1990). A strategy for improving literature reviews in psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 17, 54–55.

14.

Taylor

E. H.

(1933). Observations on the courtship of turtles. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 21, 271.