Research Methodology Course for Undergraduate Students in Indonesian Tertiary Education

Abstract

Undergraduate students in Indonesia, including those pursuing bachelor's degrees and diploma programs that may last three or four years, must take a research methodology course. Despite their lack of desire to become researchers, they must complete a final project that necessitates research skills. Students who complete the Course in one semester learn how to write a proposal, collect data, analyze data, and perform other tasks that a professional researcher would typically perform. Some lecturers who teach research methodology course in various study programs were interviewed. The present research uncovers how research methodology courses were presented and implemented. A variety of implementations were found, but most of them apply the use of assignments as an alternative to the learning by doing approach. A different number of credit points were also found in different study programs, impacting the number of sessions the students must spend. The methodology course comes in different nomenclatures in different study programs. They share a common goal: to help students conduct a final assignment as a requirement to graduate from their educational institution. Some suggestions on how to improve the Course are also expressed.