Training Students to be Better Consumers of Research: Evaluating Empirical Research Reports

Graduate and undergraduate students are typically required to become educated consumers of research. Yet, research courses generally focus on how to do research rather than how to evaluate it. Therefore, we propose ways in which faculty can help their students become better consumers of research by presenting a brief list of teaching objectives, texts and readings, and assignments that might be part of a stand-alone course on research evaluation or added to a traditional, "practice-focused" research course.