A Joint Assignment as a Simple and Effective way to Connect Students From Different Countries

To achieve better research outcomes, all countries, especially the developing countries, focus on improvement in the research skills of the academia, in particular that of novice students. Research Methods (RM) course is the common first step whereby students gain their initial skills in designing, conducting and reporting research. This research aims to significantly improve the way Research Methods course is taught in higher education settings. As part of this research, this study investigates the following research questions. First, can Lean-Agile practices infused in a Research Methods course help improve the research skills? Second, if so, what kind of customization is needed to make it a) acceptable to the Student Researchers (SRs) and Research Supervisors (RSs), and b) measurable and suitable for learning Research Methods? Finally, is there an additive causal influence on learning efficiency from Lean-Agile methods and Self-regulated learning methods? This research has designed an online educational platform for a Research Methods (RM) course that is infused with novel pedagogical approach / processes, to scaffold their learning processes with analytical solutions and interactive visualizations. The first iteration of this Design Science Research (DSR) commenced with a survey of SRs and RSs in a young university in India, as part of the Relevance Cycle; As part of Rigor Cycle, Systematic & Explorative Literature reviews are underway. Design Cycle to build an MVP based on survey inputs is also in progress; Evaluation Cycle is being planned. This DC paper elaborates on these research processes and identifies a few challenges facing a DSR-based approach.

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of the students of Gazi University Gazi Education Faculty towards Scientific Research Methods (SRM) course. The survey model was used in this descriptive study. In the study, 20-item 'Attitude Scale towards Scientific Research Methods Course' developed by Yaşar (2014) was used. The study population consisted of 308 pre-service teachers attending the German Language Education, Arabic Language Education, French Language Education, English Language Education, Philosophy Group Education, department of primary education and Preschool Teacher Education Departments at Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education in the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year. As a result of the research, it is difficult to say that the pre-service teachers have positive attitudes at the desired level towards the SRM course. It was determined that the pre-service teachers of the Philosophy Group had more positive attitudes towards the SRM course than the pre-service teachers of the other departments.

The undergraduate curriculum in Indonesia generally requires students to take a research methods course as a prerequisite course for the preparation of scientific reports. The objective of this course is to teach students how to present research results both orally and in writing using the styles and forms of each university. However, this course is not popular among students because the material is complex and technical. As a result, there is a gap between learning outcomes and their application when students prepare scientific reports. Improving pedagogy and teaching interventions through student-developed research projects is important in complementing lectures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of students' ability in writing scientific reports through research method courses using problem based learning (PBL). This research was a case study to report the integration of scientific report writing in research methods courses through PBL at the Universitas Islam Bandung in Indonesia. PBL was implemented by involving students in research-related tasks with the following stages: writing research questions, determining the research design, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting research results. The research results showed that there was an increase in scientific writing skills in the good category. Normalized gain for indicators of increasing accuracy using research report formats, suitability for using literature and research methods is 0.064 and 0.209, including the low category, and the plagiarism level is 0.509, including the medium category. This finding implies that assigning students to write scientific reports using PBL in the research method classroom is useful for improving learning outcomes, presentation, reasoning, communication, ambiguous problem-solving, and reducing plagiarism. The findings of this study strengthen the findings of previous researchers, namely increase students' abilities in using formatting to prepare scientific reports, using appropriate literature, mastering research materials as well as reducing the level of plagiarism.

Background: The undergraduate curriculum in Indonesia generally requires students to take a research methods course as a prerequisite course for the preparation of scientific reports. The objective of this course is to teach students how to present research results both orally and in writing using the styles and forms of each university. However, this course is not popular among students because the material is complex and technical. As a result, there is a gap between learning outcomes and their application when students prepare scientific reports. Improving pedagogy and teaching interventions through student-developed research projects is important in complementing lectures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of students' ability in writing scientific reports through research method courses using problem based learning (PBL). Methods: This study reports the integration of scientific report writing in research methods courses through PBL at the Universitas Islam Bandung in Indonesia. PBL was implemented by involving students in research-related tasks with the following stages: writing research questions, determining the research design, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting research results. Results: The results showed that there was an increase in scientific writing skills with good categories on indicators of possible plagiarism using Turnitin, use of report preparation formats, suitability of literature, mastery of research report content in-class presentations. Conclusions: This finding implies that assigning students to write scientific reports using PBL in the research method classroom is useful for improving learning outcomes, presentation, reasoning, communication, ambiguous problem-solving, and reducing plagiarism. The findings of this study strengthen the findings of previous researchers, namely increase students' abilities in using formatting to prepare scientific reports, using appropriate literature, mastering research materials as well as reducing the level of plagiarism.

This study offers a conceptual explanation of a holistic methodology that has utility in how we engage with complex situations. This is the VIPLAN Methodology developed by Raul Espejo and first published in 1988. A case is presented that evaluates whether this methodology has impact when tacitly embedded in a postgraduate research methods course. The underlying argument is that research can be usefully viewed as a form of engagement in complex problem situations, with one challenge being to make sense of situational complexity and establish the question. Thus, it becomes appropriate to introduce the principles underpinning this methodology into a research methods course in order to develop student understanding of how to move from making sense of the situation to a clearly defined problem that is then handled. The study examines a research methods course delivered annually over a period of three years, but drawing upon data from the previous two years, permitting a five year perspective. The evidence from this study in the form of marks attained and proposal - dissertation topics, indicates that this more holistic approach to a research methods course has a positive impact, especially in terms of establishing a research question. It is concluded that the introduction of the principles underpinning this methodology into a research methods course does enhance the student ability to handle complex situations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the increase in learning outcomes of Research Methods students at the Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering Study Program, Graha Nusantara University Padangsidimpuan through the application of scientific article learning and to find out the perceptions and involvement of students in learning scientific articles used, especially the Research Result Report material. This research is important to do to improve the learning quality of the Research Methods course so that students can easily learn it. The research method is an experimental method with a one-group pretest-posttest research design because not all experimental characteristics and conditions can be regulated and controlled strictly as in other experimental research. Research instruments in the form of tests and questionnaires. Learning outcomes data were analyzed with the Wilcoxon and N-Gain tests. While the perceptions and involvement of students were analyzed with a Likert scale. The results showed that scientific articles increased student learning outcomes when learning Research Methods by 33.58%. Perception and involvement of students in learning with scientific articles obtained positive results. This can be seen from the average student scores in the perception and student involvement questionnaire, both of which are in the medium category. The results of this study show the effectiveness of learning scientific articles in the Research Methods course which shows that the level of success achieved from learning scientific articles is in accordance with the planned learning objectives

Training Future Political Scientists: Reflections from an Undergraduate Research Methods Course

Bridging the Gap: 'In between' Research Methods Course and Senior Thesis

Developing students who can apply their knowledge of empirical research is a key outcome of the undergraduate psychology major. This learning outcome was assessed in two research methods courses by having students read and analyze a condensed empirical journal article. At the start and end of the semester, students in multiple sections of an introductory research methods course and students in sections of an advanced methods course answered questions about a condensed journal article in a pre–post approach. Students in the advanced course significantly outperformed students in the introductory course at both administrations, and students in both courses improved significantly from beginning to end of the semester. Results indicate that using journal article analysis can effectively supplement assessment efforts for psychology departments.

The statistical computing and graphics software R, despite its many advantages, is sometimes considered too complex to be introduced to undergraduate political science majors. In this article I showed that when taught appropriately, R could be a valuable and well-received aspect of an introductory research methods course. It is important to teach R throughout the semester and take preventative measures to deal with common problems. I began with a comparison of four frequently used software in undergraduate research methods courses and a discussion of the pros and cons of teaching R. I then introduced a R sequence that I developed and implemented with success in my introductory research methods course, including example course notes, homework, and common problems and solutions, with the goal of providing research methods instructors a template to develop their own R workshops as part of an introductory political science research methods course.

This article aims to develop community-contextualised pedagogical innovations to embed disaster components into core social work curriculum through a research methods course. Professional social work education continues to lack a community-contextualised curriculum and professional training that reflects the complexities of extreme events associated with community and human service. This absence jeopardises the advancement of social work engagement in better providing humanitarian support for individuals, families and communities affected by extreme events. Through an undergraduate social work research methods course, this case study qualitatively analysed the instructor’s teaching experience, self-reflection and in-class observation. The study presents three major community-contextualised pedagogical innovations of integrating disaster components into the research methods course: public media critique, amidst-disaster community-based participation and observation and practice situation discussion. These pedagogical efforts support the students’ exploration and development of various research paradigms and strengthen their ability to connect research with practice, thus addressing the community-driven, short-term necessities and long-term development requirements. This contextualising process, which forms a community-based living laboratory, inspires instructors to integrate community-driven characteristics into their pedagogical instruments. The process illustrates a potential pedagogical framework for research methods courses, in particular, and for social work curriculum, in general.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of an enrichment program based on using (V) shape map in teaching the Research Methods course on developing scientific research skills and critical thinking skills among students of the College of Educational Sciences at Zarqa University compared to the traditional method. The study was limited to female students registered in the Research Methods course, who were 78 students, and distributed in two classes. One was randomly selected as the experimental group, consisting of 40 students who were taught by using the (V) shape map. The other class was the control group and consisted of 38 students; they were taught by using the traditional method. Using ANOVA analysis, the study results showed that experimental group members showed more improvement in their scientific and critical thinking skills than the control group members, which was statistically significant at (P<0.05). In the light of these findings, the study concluded that it is important to use (V) shape map in the teaching of research methods course. Teaching staff members should also be given training on the use of (V) shape map in university instruction.
 Keywords: (V) shape map, Scientific research skills, Critical thinking skills, Research Methods course.

Students have overwhelmingly negative perceptions about research methods courses and these attitudes may influence students’ learning outcomes. Yet research methods education is crucial for undergraduate public health students’ professional and personal development and there is a lack of information available regarding effective curricular models. This paper therefore describes SPH-H494: Research and Evaluation Methods in Public Health , a required undergraduate semester-long academic course with a student-centered, experiential, and collaborative approach. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, the course takes students through the research process step-by-step. Students apply their newfound knowledge and skills through the primary course project—conducting a primary research study in a research team on a topic of public health significance and shared interest. The course approach and content are comprehensively described. Based on an anonymous post-course survey with closed- and open-ended questions administered in Fall 2023, students had positive feedback about the course; the vast majority reported they were satisfied with their course experience and that the course benefited their public health knowledge, skillset, and current/future public health practice. Students found conducting their own research study in a research team, the scaffolded nature of the assignments and course approach, and interactive class activities most helpful in understanding course concepts. Student feedback provides preliminary evidence of the utility of the course model. Lessons learned and recommendations for course implementation and future research are provided.

This study aimed to describe the implementation of problem-based learning models in quantitative research method courses. The method used a descriptive survey with a saturated sampling technique that took the entire population as a sample in the study, totaling 96 students of the Department of Economics Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Siliwangi University. Data was collected by distributing questionnaires through Google Forms consisting of 25 statement items from 6 indicators, namely aspects of student interaction with lecturers, being able to motivate student learning, effective, efficient and creative thinking competence, good time management competence, good student learning outcomes, and the suitability of the learning model with the characteristics of the course. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive statistics. Based on the results of the research that had been done, information was obtained that the problem-based learning model was a learning model that could improve the experience of learning outcomes. Problem-based learning model could also foster learning motivation, build student competencies in effective, efficient and creative thinking, build good time management competencies, and could improve learning outcomes, and could be implemented in research method courses.

Educators often grapple with the task of teaching a research method course in a manner that would engage and sustain students’ attention throughout the semester. The pedagogical dilemma, for the most part, is connecting students’ knowledge and attitude to engage in abstract thinking in the research method course appear to be nebulous. The current study aimed to investigate students’ perceptions about ethics, values, social justice, and diversity in the research methods curriculum, which will provide frameworks for pedagogical understanding between groups. An understanding by comparing the perception of students will be useful in learning methodology for teaching research-related material on both graduate and undergraduate levels. Sixty graduate and undergraduate students from Florida A & M University were surveyed to assess their perceptions of ethics, values, social justice, and diversity in three different research method courses. The researchers used the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to analyze the data and find the outcomes. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA to show comparisons between groups in the learning environments with the students in graduate and undergraduate research methods courses. The implications for addressing ethics, values, social justice, and diversity in the research methods were hypothesized.