Research-related Skills Research Articles

Playing it SMART: increasing transfer student and URM undergraduate student success through undergraduate research combined with group support

Increasing retention rates in STEM disciplines has been a primary goal among universities in recent years. Special attention has been given to increase STEM retention among underrepresented populations in those fields. However, one group of students that remains understudied but faces specific challenges is the transfer (TR) student population. TR students, and especially those who transfer from community colleges (CC-TR) in the US, often face academic and mental hurdles, loss of a sense of academic belonging, and adjustment challenges, sometime described as the “transfer shock.” Undergraduate research, an experience that has been shown to promote student success, is often not pursued by STEM TR students due to a heavy load in their new 4-year university. We hypothesized that combining summer undergraduate research in STEM labs with intense group activities that focused on group support, development of research-related skills, and promotion of a sense of belonging, would increase rates of research participation after the summer among transfer students. Moreover, we hypothesized that such an intervention would promote student retention and academic success. Our research demonstrates that this intervention, through a summer program in an R1 university, served as a validating experience that increased participation in STEM research after the program, provided the students with academic skills, and improved graduation and STEM retention of TR and URM students. We believe that this intervention may serve as a model to promote student success among transfer and URM students.

Public involvement in an aggregate and individual participant data meta-analysis of mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion

BackgroundInvolving the public in evidence synthesis research is challenging due to the highly analytic nature of the projects, so it is important that involvement processes are documented, reflected upon, and shared to devise best practices. There is a literature gap on the involvement of the public in individual participant data meta-analyses, particularly in public health projects. We aimed to document and reflect on our collective experiences of involving and being involved as public stakeholders at all stages of a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis project.MethodsWe formed a stakeholder group made of four members of the public at the beginning of our evidence synthesis project comprising a systematic review, an aggregate data meta-analysis, and an individual participant data meta-analysis of mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in non-clinical adults. Following each group meeting, members and participating researchers completed written reflections; one group member collected and collated these. At the end of the project, a reflective writing workshop was held before all members completed their final reflections. Everyone completed an adapted, open-ended questionnaire which asked about what did and did not work well, the overall experience, what could be improved, and the felt impact the stakeholder group had on the research.ResultsOverall, the stakeholders and researchers reported a positive experience of working together. Positives from the stakeholders’ point of view included learning new skills, experiencing research, and making new friends. For the researchers, stakeholders helped them focus on what matters to the public and were reinvigorating research partners. The challenges stakeholders experienced included having long gaps between meetings and feeling overwhelmed. The researchers found it challenging to strike the balance between asking stakeholders to be involved and for them to learn research-related skills without overburdening them and making sure that the learning was engaging. When looking back at their experience, stakeholders described seeing their impact on the project in hindsight but that this was not felt while the project was being carried out.ConclusionSuccessfully involving the public in complex evidence synthesis projects is possible and valuable from the points of view of the researchers and the stakeholders. However, it requires a significant time, skill, and resource investment that needs to be factored in from project inception. Further guidance and stakeholder training materials would be helpful. Specific suggestions are provided.

Research-related knowledge, understanding and practice in public mental health: the voices of social workers and occupational therapists

IntroductionPrevious studies have explored facilitators and barriers to research conducted by allied health professionals in general medical settings. Since the mental health system is acknowledged to be significantly under-funded and more poorly functioning than general medical services, it is unclear whether the published facilitators and barriers also apply to mental health settings. This study sought to explore the research-related knowledge, understanding and practices of allied mental health clinicians based in a large public mental health service.MethodsA mixed methods study recruited 59 occupational therapists and social workers working in a dedicated metropolitan public mental health service in Melbourne, Australia. Quantitative survey results are reported elsewhere. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 survey responder volunteers. Thematic analysis was conducted on the qualitative survey and interview data.ResultsFour main themes were identified: research must connect with clinical practice; fragments of knowledge; research in practice; and research is not part of my professional identity. The third theme, research in practice, comprised four subthemes: no time for research in clinical roles, missing communication, lack of ownership, and what I need to do research.ConclusionsThis study found that research and research-related activities were not considered part of the mental health social workers and occupational therapists’ professional identities. Dealing with this issue may be instrumental to the realization of these clinicians’ professional peak-body associations’ code of practice and to government mandated practice standards. We provided several strategies to encourage both clinicians and services to view research-related activities as an everyday part of clinical roles. This is especially important if we think of allied health evidence-based practice requiring a reasonable level of research-related skills and/or competencies to appraise, practice, evaluate and adapt their evidence-based practice.

Ethical Expectations of Academic Research by College Undergraduate Students

The development of research skills is a gradual process that assumedly should start at the undergraduate level. This article aims to explore what research-related skills professional bachelor (undergraduate) students are expected to acquire in Lithuanian colleges. Using a conventional approach of content analysis, the authors analysed twenty-nine descriptors of study fields applied to colleges and sixteen codes of ethics of Lithuanian colleges to identify research-related learning outcomes (learning skills) and ethics norms. Their findings suggest that undergraduate students are not recognized as a contributing part of the research community, although they are expected to be involved in research. Some study fields are more research-oriented than others; however, compliance with research ethics is implied only in eight study fields. Student research activity is even less addressed in the codes of ethics than in the descriptors of study fields.

Increasing STEM Skills, Knowledge and Interest Among Diverse Students: Results from an Intensive Summer Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the UCSF Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) in enhancing research-related skills, academic outcomes, and post-baccalaureate aspirations of underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM undergraduate students in biomedical sciences and STEM fields. The SSRP, spanning 9 weeks, provides immersive research experiences, structured mentorship, trainings, seminars, and STEM education. Pre- and post-program survey data from eight cohorts (N = 315) were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests, MANOVA, and content analysis. Results demonstrate significant gains in critical thinking skills, research abilities, science identity, applied science skills, and readiness for a research career. Notably, participants exhibited improvements in understanding the research process, scientific thinking, science writing, and problem-solving. URM and non-URM students experienced similar gains, highlighting the program’s inclusivity. The SSRP also positively influenced students’ postgraduate aspirations. Some participants expressed heightened interest in pursuing Master of Arts, Ph.D., and M.D. degrees, indicating increased clarity and motivation towards advanced education and research careers. Furthermore, 87% of participants expressed a high likelihood of engaging in future research endeavors, underscoring the program’s sustained impact on research interest. This study underscores the transformative potential of a well-structured, intensive summer research program in significantly enhancing academic outcomes for URM and non-URM students alike. These findings align with the persistence framework, emphasizing the importance of early research experiences, active learning, and learning communities in fostering student success. The SSRP’s effectiveness in improving research skills and post-baccalaureate aspirations suggests its potential in diversifying the STEM fields, biomedical sciences and health-related professions.

Training Community Leaders to Serve as Equal Partners in Research: Penn Community Scholars Program, 2015-2023.

An implementation and effectiveness evaluation of the Community Scholars Program was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania to enhance community capacity to collaborate with academics in mutually beneficial, equitable, and transformative research. Mixed methods were employed using administrative data, surveys, and key informant interviews. Participants expressed high satisfaction, valued interactive learning, and identified areas for improvement. The program increased knowledge and self-confidence in research-related skills and trust in the research process. The program serves as an institutional model to create long-term, mutually beneficial community-academic partnerships. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(3):284-288. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307549).

Scientific skills in health services research - knowledge, utilization and needs for continuing education among staff at the University Hospital Tübingen.

As part of the further development of an existing training program on scientific skills for health services research at the University Hospital Tübingen, the aim of the study is to determine the level of knowledge, utilization and needs for continuing education among staff. In 2022, a semi standardized anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted at the University Hospital Tübingen. The content of the questionnaire survey was the level of knowledge and utilization of various research methods, the need for continuing education on these and other healthcare research-related topics and the preferred training concept. The data analysis was carried out descriptively based on absolute and relative frequencies overall and grouped according to the scientific experience of the participants. Participants' self-assessment indicated that a proportion of them had research skills. However, the level of knowledge and utilization varied greatly with regard to different research methods. The 222 participants most frequently expressed a desire for continuing education in the preparation of meta-analyses (56%), questionnaire validation (43%) and -development (42%). There was also great interest in continuing education in the fields of project coordination (57%), third-party funded projects (46%) and science communication (45%). The survey highlights existing research skills and the need for methodological qualification in the field of healthcare research among the staff of the University Hospital Tübingen. The focus appears to be on evidence generation, methods of empirical social research and general research-related skills. The results will be used to design new training courses with a focus on health services research.

Characterizing the research mentorship experience of genetic counseling students.

The Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling's Practice-Based Competencies include research-related skills, which are taught in master's level genetic counseling programs through didactic coursework and completion of mentored research experiences. It is known that research mentors can impact student work environments, create positive perceptions of the research process, and increase students' likelihood of future involvement in research. However, few studies have characterized the experiences of GC students in receiving research mentorship. It is crucial to understand these experiences from student perspectives to better inform stakeholders about factors that impact mentorship. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study explored GC students' experiences receiving research mentorship and their thoughts regarding the successful qualities of research mentors. GC students (N = 165) who graduated between 2019 and 2022 responded to an online survey measuring the mentorship relationship, defined by the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory (AWAI). On average, participants scored 3.96/5 on the AWAI, where higher scores indicate stronger working alliances. When asked to describe their overall research experience in three words, 75.7% of participants used at least one negatively connotated descriptor. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews obtained via purposive sampling of highest and lowest scoring participants on the AWAI (N = 14) revealed the following five themes related to successful qualities of a research mentor: (1) communication; (2) rapport building and relationship; (3) engagement and guidance; (4) expertise and connections; and (5) mentors with different roles. Of note, many of these qualities are foundational skills in genetic counseling. Thus, genetic counselors who may be strong in these areas who do not identify as "researchers" ought to consider becoming a research committee member. Additionally, education programs could consider implementing research committee member evaluations and/or student research self-efficacy surveys to evaluate how these relationships may be shaping research experiences for students within their program.

Advancing a Model for Enhancing Research Competencies among Non-Academic Staff in Northeast Thailand Higher Education Institutions

The development of research competency among non-academic personnel in higher education institutions is a crucial endeavor that aligns with the evolving demands of the 21st-century workforce. This study employs a comprehensive research and development approach to create an advanced model for enhancing research competencies encompassing knowledge, skill, and attitude. The model's design is informed by meticulous need analysis, ensuring its relevance to the unique challenges faced by non-academic staff. Through expert evaluation, the model's efficacy is demonstrated in improving research-related capacities. The evaluation results underscore its robustness across various dimensions, with significant improvements observed in participants' research competencies. This study highlights the interconnectedness of knowledge, skill, and attitude in fostering research competency and supports the broader view that tailored interventions, derived from thorough need analysis, play a pivotal role in driving meaningful and sustainable improvements in research-related skills and capabilities. Ultimately, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on non-academic staff empowerment and the advancement of higher education institutions in an increasingly research-focused landscape.

Integrating Research Methods Training into Elective Courses in an Undergraduate Curriculum

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the integration of research methods training into a third-year elective undergraduate course. We suggest that the building blocks of research design can be embedded in courses without compromising their content. This introduces research methods to students who have no prior methods training or gives students with methods training more opportunities to engage in research design. We present evidence that this approach increased students’ self-assessed knowledge of and confidence with research-related skills, especially among those without prior methods training. Additionally, the analysis of research proposals—the final assignment of the course—revealed that most students were able to apply core research design skills. These findings demonstrate that progress in research methods skills is possible across the curriculum.

Do alumni practise what you teach? Impact of Science master-tracks: preparation for academic careers versus preparation for societal-oriented careers

Career development of Science students seems dependent on more than disciplinary education, such as the nature and focus of career preparation. In this study we compare graduate outcomes of science students at the University of Groningen, completing two master-level program streams with different focal points, by using career progress surveys from alumni (n=242) with self-reported societal development data. The first program is a classical research-oriented master (ROM), that aims to prepare students for a career within academia. The second program, called Science, Business and Policy (SBP) focusses on a societal profile and aims to prepare for a career outside academia. SBP is different from ROM because it has a practical and multidisciplinary orientation (vs a theoretical and mono-disciplinary orientation in ROM) and it includes a long work-placement outside academia, a form of work based learning. The differences in the tracks translate to differences in career paths. Both profiles resulted in good but distinct career opportunities, corresponding to alumni’s discipline and sector. Although ROM-alumni felt especially prepared for an academic career, only a quarter actually continued in academia and many we employed in education. In contrast, most SBP-alumni were employed in business or policy. Targeting specific job preparation seems more successful with a societal profile. Reflecting on skills, in both groups research-related skills decreased during careers while soft skills increased. Alumni were generally satisfied with their first job and also with their current job, with SBP-alumni scoring significantly higher on satisfaction with income, status, appreciation and perspective. It can be concluded that diversification in educational profiles changes the societal career paths of science students.

Sleepy Mice Case Study: Implementation and Assessment.

Case studies are a valuable teaching tool to engage students in course content using real-world scenarios. As part of the High-throughput Discovery Science & Inquiry-based Case Studies for Today's Students (HITS) Research Coordination Network (RCN), our team has created the Sleepy Mice Case Study for students to engage with RStudio and the Allen Institute for Brain Science's open access high-throughput sleep dataset on mice. Sleep is important for health, a familiar concern to college students, and was a basis for this case study. In this case, students completed an initial homework assignment, in-class work, and a final take-home application assignment. The case study was implemented in synchronous and asynchronous Introductory Neuroscience courses, a Biopsychology course, and a Human Anatomy and Physiology course, reflecting its versatility. The case can be used to teach course-specific learning objectives such as sleep-related content and/or science data processing skills. The case study was successful as shown by gains in student scores and confidence in achieving learning objectives. Most students reported enjoying learning about sleep deprivation course content using the case study. Best practices based on instructor experiences in implementation are also included to facilitate future use so that the Sleepy Mice Case Study can be used to teach content and/or research-related skills in various courses and modalities.

Assessment of students’ perception of research in an honors thesis preparation course

Identifying student’s perception of research activity can provide important practical implications to effectively recommend and facilitate research opportunities for students. Through two surveys applied at the beginning and end of an undergraduate honors orientation class we conducted a qualitative and quantitative study to assess the students’ knowledge and perception of research. The survey questions were repeated in two different semesters, and students were taught research related content. Even though 48% of the students did not have any research experience and a minority (12%) had more than a year of research experience, a large portion of the students could explain many research related words, such as plagiarism, citations, google scholar, and primary source, but a few words could not be recognized by the students, such as predatory journal, preprint, ORCID and publons. The most frequent answers provided by students when asked about their perception of researcher skills included the word motivation, followed by creativity and communication. Students’ confidence in their knowledge and research-related skills increased over the semester consistent with other studies that show the value of a structured introduction to research for building student confidence.

Mapping Human Neuronal Diversity in the Search for New Therapeutics: Using Real Human Neuron Data Sets to Build Student Quantitative Skills.

Case studies are a high impact educational practice that engage students in collaborative problem solving through storytelling. HITS, an NSF funded research coordination network dedicated to exposing students to high-throughput discovery science, drove creation of this case. In this case, students imagine themselves as researchers developing new therapeutic drugs for epilepsy. Specifically, students work with the Allen Cell Types Database, which is the result of collaborative, interdisciplinary open science. Neurosurgeons partnered with the Allen institute to provide living human brain tissue for electrophysiological, morphological, and transcriptomic study. Students collaborate to collect and organize data, investigate a research question they identified, and perform fundamental statistical analyses to address their question. By leveraging the unique Cell Types dataset the case enhances student knowledge of epilepsy, illuminates high-throughput scientific approaches, and builds quantitative and research related skills. The case is also versatile and was implemented in two distinct courses. The case can also be taught in different modalities, in person or remote, with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous work. Indirect and direct measures along with quantitative and qualitative approaches were used for case assessment and improvement. Students performed well on case related exam questions, reported high confidence in their achievement of the learning outcomes, and enjoyed the case's link to neurological disease, real research data and advanced technological approaches. Our assessment findings and instructor implementation experiences are also included to facilitate the adoption or adaptation of the case for a variety of courses and/or modalities in neuroscience and STEM related curricula.

Evaluation of Research Experiences for Undergraduate Program in Behavioral Sciences: From the Two-Year Research Sequence Courses

In this study, the Research Methods Sequence (RMS) courses in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at California Baptist University were evaluated. There were two central aims in the study. First, the effectiveness of the RMS courses in developing students’ research skills and perceptions of the research process were assessed. Second, the investigator explored significant factors in the success of research experience in an undergraduate program. It was found that the RMS courses improved students’ proficiency in research-related skills. Students reported gains in thinking and working like a scientist, personal gains related to research work, gains in research skills, and gains in knowledge about and attitude toward research. Furthermore, out-of-course research activities and mentor relationships contributed to the success of the undergraduate research experience.

Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars program: adapting a summer scholars program to the virtual world amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mississippi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grant P20GM103476) launched the new Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars (MIOS) summer research program in 2019. The program was designed to offer students community outreach and research experiences related to the study of behavioral and health disparities life sciences. The program was adapted in early 2020 to offer the program in a fully online format in the summer of 2020. This article details the program adaptations and discusses program evaluation data related to scholars' perceptions of program benefits and expectations and their confidence in research-related skills. The program evaluation was a mixed-method approach that included a qualitative postprogram survey and a pre-post quantitative survey. Scholars identified technical and communication skill building and resilience as areas of personal growth. Overall, the program met scholars' expectations for the program and significantly improved their confidence on 8 of the 19 (with confidence interval estimated differences from 0.3 to 2.56, where a difference of 1 is an improvement across 1 anchor on a Likert-type scale) various research-related tasks/skills after completion of the program. The analyses presented demonstrated that a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis approach is useful for examining the extent to which programs such as Mississippi INBRE are meeting goals of providing a rich research experience in health disparities for a diverse student body. Future longitudinal data may be examined to explore the long-term impact of MIOS on career preparation and choices and graduate education.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars program is a summer research program for Mississippi college students that was successfully adapted to a fully online environment amidst the coronavirus-19 pandemic.

Research supervisors’ views of barriers and enablers for research projects undertaken by medical students; a mixed methods evaluation of a post-graduate medical degree research project program

BackgroundMedical degree programs use scholarly activities to support development of basic research skills, critical evaluation of medical information and promotion of medical research. The University of Sydney Doctor of Medicine Program includes a compulsory research project. Medical student projects are supervised by academic staff and affiliates, including biomedical science researchers and clinician-academics. This study investigated research supervisors’ observations of the barriers to and enablers of successful medical student research projects.MethodsResearch supervisors (n = 130) completed an anonymous, online survey after the completion of the research project. Survey questions targeted the research supervisors’ perceptions of barriers to successful completion of projects and sources of support for their supervision of the student project. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and using manifest content analysis. Further quantitative investigation was made by cross-tabulation according to prior research supervision experience.ResultsResearch supervisors reported that students needed both generic skills (75%) and research-based skills (71%) to successfully complete the project. The major barrier to successful research projects was the lack of protected time for research activities (61%). The assessment schedule with compulsory progress milestones enabled project completion (75%), and improved scientific presentation (90%) and writing (93%) skills. Supervisors requested further support for their students for statistics (75%), scientific writing (51%), and funding for projects (52%). Prior research supervision experience influenced the responses. Compared to novice supervisors, highly experienced supervisors were significantly more likely to want students to be allocated dedicated time for the project (P < 0.01) and reported higher rates of access to expert assistance in scientific writing, preparing ethics applications and research methodology. Novice supervisors reported higher rates of unexpected project delays and data acquisition problems (P < 0.05). Co-supervision was favoured by experienced supervisors but rejected by novice supervisors.ConclusionsBoth generic and research-related skills were important for medical student research project success. Overall, protected research time, financial and other academic support were identified as factors that would improve the research project program. Prior research supervision experience influences perceptions of program barriers and enablers. These findings will inform future support needs for projects and research supervisor training for the research supervision role.

Low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops for medical students in Pakistan: a creative, scalable, and sustainable solution for student research

BackgroundPakistan has not been a major contributor to medical research, mainly because of the lack of learning opportunities to medical students. With the increase in online learning systems during COVID-19, research related skills can be taught to medical students via low-cost peer taught virtual research workshops.Aim of the StudyTo assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops amongst medical students in Pakistan.MethodsThis quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of five virtual research workshops (RWs) in improving core research skills. RWs for medical students from across Pakistan were conducted over Zoom by medical students (peer-teachers) at the Aga Khan University, Pakistan, with minimal associated costs. The content of the workshops included types of research, ethical approval and research protocols, data collection and analysis, manuscript writing, and improving networking skills for research. Improvement was assessed via pre-and post-quizzes for each RW, self-efficacy scores across 16 domains, and feedback forms. Minimum criteria for completion of the RW series was attending at least 4/5 RWs and filling the post-RW series feedback form. A 6-month post-RW series follow-up survey was also emailed to the participants.ResultsFour hundred medical students from 36 (/117; 30.8%) different medical colleges in Pakistan were enrolled in the RWs. However, only 307/400 (76.75%) medical students met the minimum requirement for completion of the RW series. 56.4% of the participants belonged to the pre-clinical years while the rest were currently to clinical years. The cohort demonstrated significant improvement in pre-and post-quiz scores for all 5 RWs (p < 0.001) with the greatest improvement in Data Collection and Analysis (+ 34.65%), and in self-efficacy scores across all domains (p < 0.001). 166/307 (54.1%) participants responded to the 6 months post-RWs follow-up survey. Compared to pre-RWs, Research involvement increased from 40.4 to 62.8% (p < 0.001) while proportion of participants with peer-reviewed publications increased from 8.4 to 15.8% (p = 0.043).ConclusionVirtual RWs allow for a wide outreach while effectively improving research-related knowledge and skills, with minimal associated costs. In lower-middle-income countries, virtual RWs are a creative and cost-effective use of web-based technologies to facilitate medical students to contribute to the local and global healthcare research community.

Student Mobility and Research Capacity: A Global Health Experience

Global South countries struggle to train and retain researchers and practitioners to address local, regional, and global health challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to train a new generation of Global South scientists adequately, aiming to develop these low- and middle-income countries’ research capacity. In this regard, international student mobility fosters collaboration among institutions and promotes global health education while building capacity. The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) operates the largest student-run medical exchange program worldwide, providing research exchange programs since 1991. This article aims to report the experience of a Brazilian medical student, a Global South country, in Germany, a Global North country in an IFMSA research exchange. The 4-week research exchange occurred in February of 2020 at the Medical Faculty of Ruhr Universität Bochum in Bochum, Germany. The student assisted on various research projects at the institution's neurophysiology department. Educational activities also included journal clubs, lectures, workshops, and a conference. All activities were in English and under supervision. In terms of assessment, the student work was detailed in a logbook, which was shared with supervisors. During the exchange experience, the student learned through being exposed to different environments, people, and scientific methodologies. This resulted in the acquisition and improvement of research-related skills including research design and implementation, ethics, and professionalism, besides fostering intercultural learning. Additionally, this report demonstrates how student mobility fosters more collaborative environments and enhances scientific and networking possibilities.

OUTCOME BASED CURRICULUM DESIGNING: A FUTURISTIC APPROACH THE CASE STUDY OF THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA

In the earlier days, syllabi were designed by some experienced teachers or experts who got specialization in particular areas in all the education institutions. The students were graded on the marks scored in the assessment in which some students might score high and some might not be. This type of previous curriculum did not ensure what students need to learn or what they are learning in their classrooms. University Grant Commission (UGC) under MHRD, Government of India, has already submitted the final draft under “Quality Improvement Programme, 2018” aim at the development of “Learning Outcomes Based Curriculum Framework (LOCF)” at UG and PG Levels. The learning outcomes are designed to help students understand the objectives of the course provided to them. It is a framework based on the expected learning outcomes (such as disciplinary knowledge, communication skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical reasoning, research-related skills, etc.) that are expected to be attained by the students at the completion of their graduation. In this research paper, the researcher attempts to elaborate about Curriculum designing based on the approaches provided by J.C. Richards and Learning-Outcomes based Curriculum Framework. This research paper also has taken into consideration the analysis of curriculum development for the subject offered by Department of English in Faculty of Commerce at first year undergraduate courses (UG Level) from the academic year 1979-80 till 2019-20.