Lessons on Uninformed Expertise and Learning from an Undergraduate Criminology Class

ABSTRACT This study explores the knowledge of graduating criminology and criminal justice undergraduate students on foundational criminal justice information. Prior research has explored student opinions on controversial criminal justice topics, yet few studies have assessed students on foundational facts. This is unfortunate because nonacademic sources of information, such as popular media and peers, are frequently found to influence student understandings of the criminal justice system, often presenting sensationalized and entertainment-based stories rather than evidence-based realities. A university-level criminology and criminal justice curriculum offers students an opportunity to overcome these nonacademic sources of information with empirical facts. To explore student knowledge of foundational criminal justice topics, a core criminal justice course at a university was surveyed anonymously. The survey focused on key criminal justice topics with definitive answers. The results indicate that students were unable to correctly answer questions about elements of crimes, police-citizen interactions, and criminal justice practices. Implications are discussed.