CRAAP or Substance? Nudging Students to Evaluate Information on Social Media
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Dr. Diana Young
Abstract
The CRAAP Test is used to evaluate the credibility of sources. CRAAP stands for: Currency (timeliness), Relevance (applicability), Authority (integrity of the author), Accuracy (correctness), and Purpose (author’s goal) (Muis, 2022). Research suggests this method improves creation and evaluation of visual-based and online information (Muis, 2018; Thompson, 2018). This study investigates whether exposure to the CRAAP Test improves recognition, comprehension, and evaluation of information found in social media (SM). To assess, baseline use of SM and perceptions of personal SM feed is collected. The experimental group views a CRAAP Test informational video and receives a written summary of the video. The control group watches an irrelevant video. All participants complete a demographic survey which serves as a short distractor task, then view a SM feed consisting of 23 posts. Credibility is manipulated by violating 1 or more CRAAP Test criteria. Participants complete another distractor task then recognition, comprehension, and evaluation questions. A follow-up survey containing a subset of questions from the in-person study is emailed to participants 48-hours later to assess the longevity of CRAAP Test exposure effects. Results are analyzed using a series of independent means t-tests to examine the effect of CRAAP Test exposure. It is anticipated that exposure to the CRAAP Test will improve accuracy in evaluating, comprehending, and recognizing SM content, and that this exposure will increase participant’s evaluative behaviors both immediately and after a 2-day delay. This study will illustrate which comprehension levels are affected by exposure to the CRAAP Test.
Start Date
27-3-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
27-3-2024 9:50 AM
Location
Magnolia Ballroom
Word document with title, abstract, and key words
CRAAP or Substance? Nudging Students to Evaluate Information on Social Media
Magnolia Ballroom
The CRAAP Test is used to evaluate the credibility of sources. CRAAP stands for: Currency (timeliness), Relevance (applicability), Authority (integrity of the author), Accuracy (correctness), and Purpose (author’s goal) (Muis, 2022). Research suggests this method improves creation and evaluation of visual-based and online information (Muis, 2018; Thompson, 2018). This study investigates whether exposure to the CRAAP Test improves recognition, comprehension, and evaluation of information found in social media (SM). To assess, baseline use of SM and perceptions of personal SM feed is collected. The experimental group views a CRAAP Test informational video and receives a written summary of the video. The control group watches an irrelevant video. All participants complete a demographic survey which serves as a short distractor task, then view a SM feed consisting of 23 posts. Credibility is manipulated by violating 1 or more CRAAP Test criteria. Participants complete another distractor task then recognition, comprehension, and evaluation questions. A follow-up survey containing a subset of questions from the in-person study is emailed to participants 48-hours later to assess the longevity of CRAAP Test exposure effects. Results are analyzed using a series of independent means t-tests to examine the effect of CRAAP Test exposure. It is anticipated that exposure to the CRAAP Test will improve accuracy in evaluating, comprehending, and recognizing SM content, and that this exposure will increase participant’s evaluative behaviors both immediately and after a 2-day delay. This study will illustrate which comprehension levels are affected by exposure to the CRAAP Test.