Scientific Blogs as a Psychological Literacy Assessment Tool

Abstract

Introduction: Psychological literacy is a pedagogic approach that promotes the application of psychology knowledge to address societal, ethical, and cultural problems. Statement of the Problem: Psychological literacy is considered to be a core outcome of a psychology undergraduate degree, and scholars have called for more “psychologically literate” forms of summative assessment to reflect this. Literature Review: Throughout the pedagogic literature, scientific blogs have been proposed as a form of assessment that encourages reflection, creative thinking, and perspective taking. Teaching Implications: Here, we discuss the utility of blog writing as a summative assessment which fosters psychological literacy by encouraging students to engage with the interplay between subject knowledge and real-world applications. Conclusion: We reflect upon our experiences of embedding of scientific blogs in two final-year modules at a UK university and offer a commentary in the context of psychological literacy undergraduate outcomes.