Practice Makes Perfect

Abstract

Background. A majority of undergraduate students lack opportunities to engage in research. Often, students must seek research opportunities with faculty members, and these opportunities are generally difficult to acquire. These research experiences increase student satisfaction and success in graduate school. Objectives. Undergraduate public health and health promotion faculty can integrate research skill building into traditional courses through didactic instruction, course assignments, and group discussion. Teaching method. This teaching method includes four key components: (1) didactic instruction, (2) skill development, (3) data collection and analysis, and (4) class discussion. First, students learn the importance of research and free listing as a qualitative research method. Second, the class participates in a free listing exercise to learn how to collect, format, analyze, and synthesize free listing data. Third, students apply skills learned in the class session by collecting data, formatting data for analysis, analyzing data, and preparing a results section describing their findings. Fourth, the instructor aggregates the data to facilitate a class discussion. By completing these assignments, students learn about the research process and enhance their skills in qualitative research methods. Results/outcomes. This activity supports the development of research skills in public health and health promotion courses. This method can be suited for courses of any size or format (lecture-based, online, or blended format). Faculty can be confident that students can understand and apply research methods, as well as analyze data, thus supporting students’ transitions into the workforce or graduate education programs.