Undergraduate Research Methods Research Articles

Teaching Note—Antioppressive Pedagogy in Action: The Undergraduate Research Methods Course

ABSTRACT The project of engaging undergraduates in research methods courses is an outstanding challenge for social work educators. Anxiety about the subject is common, for both students and instructors. Further, students’ wariness may reflect historical trauma and their knowledge about the ways in which research has been used to oppress people of color; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or ally, and other sexual and gender minorities communities; and other marginalized populations. This teaching note offers reflections and experiences about developing an undergraduate social work research methods course that uses antioppressive pedagogies to create student-centered learning with experiential team-based activities and ongoing critique about the role of power and privilege in research. Specific teaching resources and strategies are shared.

Translanguaging on an English-medium undergraduate research methods course for Vietnamese psychology students learning in their second language: a practitioner enquiry

PurposeTranslanguaging is a language-related pedagogy drawing upon all resources within a learner’s linguistic repertoire, in contrast to conventional monolingual pedagogy. Most research about translanguaging concerns English-language learning in primary schools and secondary schools and overlooks psychology subject matter, higher education and countries in southeast Asia. This article reports a small-scale practitioner enquiry into translanguaging on an English-medium undergraduate research methods course for psychology students in Vietnam and into the usefulness of the Multimodalities-Entextualization Cycle as a conceptual framework for integrating translanguaging into the course.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through semi-structured interviews with students and reflective journaling by the teacher, and the data were analysed in a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis.FindingsThe first theme about teaching and translanguaging consists of the following subthemes: (a) enhanced communication, (b) increased awareness of language use, (c) supported interaction in class and (d) time and workload issues. The second theme about learning and translanguaging is subdivided into the following subthemes: (a) a new approach to learning, (b) beneficial for learning, (c) developing confidence in learning in English and (d) enjoyment of translanguaging. The conceptual framework underpinning the study was useful for designing and implementing translanguaging activities for the course.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to one course and a small group of students in Vietnam learning English as a second language. It addresses limited research on translanguaging in psychology courses, higher education, and southeast Asia.Practical implicationsThe study makes a valuable contribution to the teaching profession by offering practical insights into the application, benefits, and drawbacks of translanguaging for psychology and research methods subject matter.Social implicationsMoreover, the findings lay the groundwork for potential influences on education policy, aligning with broader societal impacts.Originality/valueThe study makes a valuable contribution to the literature by delving into a relatively unexplored domain.

Teaching Research Methods through a Community-Based Research Project: Connecting Theory and Practice to Make it “Real” for Students

This paper describes the experience of teaching an undergraduate research methods course through a qualitative community-based research project and the impact of that approach on student learning. Course composition and design are outlined, followed by the community-based research project’s impetus, focal research questions, and implementation protocol. Evidence of the impact on learning for the fifteen students in the course is drawn from three sources: reflection papers, student comments on formal course evaluations, and pre and post-test (survey) self-assessments of student knowledge. Collectively, the data suggest student learning was supported in several ways: by enhancing their ability to connect theory with practice, increasing appreciation of the scope and rigor of social science research procedures, viewing research as a vehicle to develop empathy, and recognizing the utility of research skills to job-readiness. Challenges and critiques related to implementing this type of project are also discussed.

Exploring Open Education Pedagogy in Research Methods Classrooms: Diversifying Methods

The benefits of open educational practices that invite students to collaborate and interactively create knowledge are well known. Despite this, it remains underutilized for teaching in research methods classrooms. This article presents a framework for using open pedagogy in undergraduate research methods courses. Drawing upon the knowledge authors acquired from the Open Educational Practices certificate program, this article outlines the development and application of a renewable assignment for research methods, and provides a critical reflection of the students’ experiences. The assignment tasks students with creating an open educational resource that addresses a gap in the existing textbook. Students are asked to identify research methods in other disciplines or look for diverse representations of knowledge acquisition by a community to which they belong. The authors find that this renewable assignment helped students think critically about the potential limitations of the research methods covered in textbooks. Additionally, having students create content that will be used in future iterations of the class increased their level of enthusiasm and excitement for learning. Furthermore, this article discusses how the creation of a renewable assignment in an institutional setting with large minority student representation advanced various aspects of social justice. Particularly, how the assignment and students’ experiences in the creation of knowledge addressed redistributive (having free access to resources), recognitive (views from diverse socio-cultural groups), and representational (self-determination of marginalized peoples) justice. The article concludes with a discussion on the ways to build on the success of this pilot project.

11. ENHANCING EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE COMPETENCE IN THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS THROUGH BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH TRAINING: OUTCOMES AND FINDINGS

Background: In 2022, for the first time, the Faculty of Medicine, Dai Nam University applies scientific research methods to 3rd year medical students.
 Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Medical Scientific Research Methods module on medical students’ skills and knowledge.
 Methods: This pre-test post-test pilot study used a prospective descriptive exploratory method by non-probability convenience sampling of all people participating in the course “Medical science research methods,” which was compulsory for 3rd-year medical students, Faculty of Medicine, Dai Nam University, from August to December 2022. The study invited a total of 89 students from two classes to participate. At the beginning of the course, 82 students completed the survey, while 66 students responded to the second survey after completing the course.
 Result: This study demonstrated that an undergraduate research methods course had a meaningful impact on medical literature search behaviors, understanding of medical research terminology, and confidence in evidence-based medical practice among students. However, despite these positive results, the knowledge and skills of students in evidence-based medicine were limited.
 Conclusion: The scientific research methods course has significantly improved students’ EBM knowledge and skills, albeit with some limitations. However, this study highlights the need for continued training programs and practical experience in medical research to enhance further and maintain learners’ proficiency in EBM.

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences as a Potential CURE-All for Applied Research Training and Real-World Knowledge Acquisition

Calls have been made for higher education to offer students hands-on and experiential learning opportunities. This paper explores the development and implementation of an advanced undergraduate research methods course offered in fall 2020 and 2022. After initially conducting research on its first offering in 2020, the instructor navigated changes based on self-reflective, student, and community partner feedback. Students, agency partners, and the instructor-of-record participated in mid and end-of-semester evaluations, focus groups, interviews, and follow-up surveys during both iterations of the course with new data offering insights into course perceptions, pitfalls, and impact. Findings suggested that students had generally positive experiences in the class. The course’s applicability and relevance additionally contributed to increased student engagement and motivation. While prior literature identifies the utility of experiential learning in gaining real-world research skills, the applied criminal justice research course additionally highlights motivation and investment as defining characteristics.

Integrating Critical Content into an Undergraduate Research Methods Course to Support Student Learning Outcomes

Background Undergraduate students have reported low utility for research. Drawing from the literature about motivation and culturally relevant and responsive education, we framed psychological research methods as a social justice tool to enhance learners’ understanding of racial inequality and valuing of course content. Objective Two instructors infused critical methods content throughout their undergraduate psychological research methods courses to increase students’ perceptions of systemic racism in research, multicultural perspective taking, and motivation toward the course. Method Undergraduate students’ attitudes were measured at the beginning and end of the semester using an anonymous online survey. The critical research methods content was integrated throughout the semester. Results Effect sizes provided marginal support for increased awareness of systemic racism in research and multicultural perspective-taking. Results also indicated that students who more strongly perceived research as a social justice strategy reported greater valuing of research, and those who perceived higher value reported greater intentions to pursue research in the future. Conclusion Results provide proof of concept for critical methods content in facilitating undergraduate students’ critical awareness and engagement with psychological research methods. Teaching Implications Teachers can utilize critical content to support students’ critical engagement and goal setting within their learning contexts.

Applying Active Learning in Undergraduate Research Methods

ABSTRACTThis article introduces a bundle of active learning activities for an introductory undergraduate course in research methods. In particular, the activities aim to help students develop core knowledge and skills that provide a foundation for reading and conducting quantitative and qualitative research. Active learning is a pedagogical practice with well-established benefits such as better student attitudes and improved content comprehension and application. I build on this conventional wisdom by applying a student-centred evaluation method, demonstrating that students perceive active learning as an effective complement to traditional lecturing and assignments for learning core methodological topics in political science.

Doing Sociology, Learning Objectives, and Developing Rubrics for Undergraduate Research Methods

The research project assignment can create meaningful opportunities for students to apply sociological concepts. For grading these projects, assessment rubrics are useful pedagogical tools to evaluate students’ abilities in achieving course learning objectives. In this study, I analyzed final research papers collected over multiple semesters in my undergraduate Methods of Social Research course. My goals are to (1) evaluate the grading rubric’s effectiveness in enabling students to meet course objectives and (2) identify improvements in students’ outcomes from revisions to the rubric over time. Findings indicate that rubrics can provide students the information needed to apply course concepts to their work and that rubric revisions are necessary to ensure validity, reliability, and equity across grading. In conclusion, I provide suggestions for implementing a semester-long research project assignment and initiating iterative revisions to rubric criteria.

Teaching replication through replication to solve the replication “crisis”

It may be possible to teach students in undergraduate research methods courses about replication, while simultaneously providing the discipline a means to solve what some have called a replication “crisis.” Over the span of three consecutive fall semesters, students replicated Cialdini and Schroeder’s “even a penny will help” (EPH) donation solicitation experiment. A meta-analysis of the three semesters supports the original study’s finding: a larger percentage donated in the EPH condition. However, it does not find support for no differences in contribution size; instead, the standard request generated greater donation amounts. Recommendations for utilizing methods courses for increasing replication attempts are discussed.

Lecture capture adds value to attending psychological research methods lectures.

Lecture capture is increasingly prevalent and provides an effective supplement to attending lectures in psychology. Yet, evidence for enhancement of learning is limited to recall of facts in introductory subjects taken within the first year of a psychology degree. The aim of the current study was to explore the generalisabilty of these effects by assessing whether lecture capture adds value to attending lectures in psychological research methods – a subject some students find particularly challenging. During a core second year undergraduate psychological research methods module, ten traditional one-hour lectures were recorded and made available for online viewing using the ‘Panopto’ lecture capture system. Of 121 students originally registered on the module, 114 took the examination. These students' grades were cross-referenced with digital records of their attendance, and the extent to which they viewed lecture recordings while logged into the virtual learning environment. Students that viewed recorded lectures were found to achieve higher grades in the examination than those that did not, even when attendance at the lectures was included as a covariate. This effect was not an artefact of differences in motivation, engagement, or ability in research methods. These results indicate that lecture capture adds value to attending lectures in psychological research methods. This finding implies that the enhancement of learning from supplementary lecture capture generalises to novel contexts and is thus not overly constrained by educational level or type of knowledge assessed. Recording lectures may have particular value as a way to support students encountering difficulties studying research methods.

Student attitudes toward research in an undergraduate social science research methods course

ABSTRACT This study used a mixed-methods longitudinal design to investigate change in students’ understanding, attitudes, anxiety, perceptions of relevance, and disinterest in a required social science undergraduate research methods course across a semester. Participants were 78 undergraduates (94% women, 6% men; 92% white non-Hispanic/Latinx, M age = 25.62, SD = 7.17) at a university in the United States. Results suggest that participant attitudes toward and perceptions of research methods shifted over the course of the semester. Overall, anxiety decreased, while positive attitudes increased. However, initial perceptions and changes in perceptions varied among the three course sections. Over time, students largely recognized the course’s relevance and conveyed positive attitudes toward research and their success in overcoming the challenge of completing the course. Implications for pedagogy include the need for continued assessment of learners, development of students’ self-concept as researchers, teaching of research as a process, and connection to application.

Redesigning a Research Methods Course with Personalized, Interactive OER: A Case Study of Student Perceptions and Performance

This case study examines student learning outcomes derived from the redesign of an undergraduate child development research methods course, replacing a commercial textbook with Open Educational Resources (OER), which were remixed into interactive lessons. Using survey and exam performance data, two areas were evaluated: 1) students' experiences with the OER lessons; and (2) students' exam results from two OER sections compared to two previous commercial textbook sections taught by the same instructor. No significant differences in exam performance between the two groups were observed; however, student perceptions of the OER lessons indicated strong satisfaction. Implications of these findings, such as OER benefits for teaching and learning, are discussed.

Words May Jump-Start Meaning More Than Vision: A Non-Replication of Early ERP Effects in Boutonnet and Lupyan (2015)

We report a replication of Boutonnet and Lupyan’s (2015) study of the effects of linguistic labelling on perceptual performance. In addition to a response time advantage of linguistic labels over non-linguistic auditory cues in judging visual objects, Boutonnet and Lupyan found that the two types of cues produced different patterns in the early perceptual ERP components P1 and P2 but not the later, semantics-relevant N4. This study thus adds an important piece of evidence supporting the claim of genuine top-down effects on perception. Given the controversy over this claim and the need for replication of key findings, we attempted to replicate Boutonnet and Lupyan (2015). We replicated their behavioral findings that response times to indicate whether an auditory cue matches a visual image of an object were faster for match than mismatch trials and faster for linguistic than non-linguistic cues. We did not replicate the main ERP effects supporting a positive effect of linguistic labels on the early perceptual ERP components P1 and P2, though we did find a congruence by cue type interaction effect on those components. Unlike Boutonnet and Lupyan, we found a main effect of cue type on the N4 in which non-linguistic cues produced more negative amplitudes. Exploratory analyses of the unpredicted N4 effect suggest that the response time advantage of linguistic labels occurred during semantic rather than early visual processing. This experiment was pre-registered at https://osf.io/cq8g4/ and conducted as part of an undergraduate cognitive science research methods class at Vassar College.

Teaching Note—Adopting, Adapting, and Creating Open Textbooks: A Brief Guide for Faculty

ABSTRACT Across North America, the open education movement has blossomed in the past 10 years, with a majority of institutions of higher education employing open textbooks in at least one course. Unfortunately, social work lags behind other disciplines in the adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational resources. This teaching note offers practical advice for faculty exploring open education based on the lessons learned from the author’s two open textbook projects for undergraduate and graduate social work research methods. As universities, states, and international bodies increase funding for open education projects, the field of social work should demonstrate its commitment to equity, inclusion, and justice by leading these efforts within our classrooms, discipline, and institutions.

Decentering whiteness: Rethinking the instruction of undergraduate research methods within developmental science

AbstractMany social scientists are working to course correct the historical mistakes, abuses, and exclusionary practices of the field. To diversify who participates in developmental science, both as participants and as researchers, we argue that more attention must be paid to how we teach the science of developmental science (i.e., research methods). We propose that undergraduate research methods courses offer an opportunity to intervene on the academic pipeline and invite students of color into research through course curriculum. In this essay, we discuss guiding principles instructors should consider to transform their curriculum in the research training of undergraduate developmental scientists.

Integration of the Disaster Component into Social Work Curriculum: Teaching Undergraduate Social Work Research Methods Course during COVID-19

AbstractThis 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.

Teaching Ethnographic Research Methods in the Time of COVID-19: Virtual Field Trips, a Web Symposium, and Public Engagement with Asian American Communities in Houston, Texas

This article presents a detailed description of how I adapted an undergraduate ethnographic research methods course to a fully online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on my recent experience designing and teaching a new course titled Ethnographic Research in/of Houston Asia in Fall 2020 at Rice University, I illustrate the virtual learning environment I maintained in this course through ongoing collaboration with members of the Zoroastrian, Sikh, and Chinese Buddhist communities in Houston, Texas. Specifically, this article describes how I incorporated virtual field trips and a web symposium – two activities that I organized with the support of Rice University’s Course Development Grant – into my teaching of ethnography on Zoom. Such online activities, which are by necessity intensively interactive and community-oriented, enabled the course to cultivate a deep level of public engagement that arguably would not have been possible in the pre-COVID-19 period.&nbsp

Fact or fake? Identifying ways of knowing everyday truths in research methods courses

This activity motivates students of communication research methods by challenging them to face their personal epistemologies. We introduce them to a set of formal ways of knowing and match these with their personal justifications for knowledge. Through this exercise, students learn that the scientific method is worthy of study not just to pass a social science focused research methods course, but also to have a deeper understanding of their personal knowledge. Courses Undergraduate Research Methods (quantitative and/or social science focus). Objectives By the end of the activity, students should be able to: identify examples of the four ways of knowing; compare and contrast the uses and relative rigor of the four ways of knowing; consume research and media reports with a skeptic’s mindset; establish interpersonal contact with classmates and the instructor; and gain motivation for learning the rest of the course material.

A Novel Case Study Approach to Undergraduate Research in Post‐COVID Times ‐ Mayhem in May

The COVID‐19 pandemic shut down laboratories across the nation for many months. Scientists at all academic levels had to think creatively and design, if possible, engaging remote projects for their students. Based on journal reviews from renowned educators, we decided to perform a systematic literature review of publicly available material to summarize information about SARS‐CoV‐2, the virus responsible for the current pandemic, which has affected 87.5 million people with 1.89 million deaths worldwide (as of Jan 7, 2021).Using the PubMed Central (PMC) advanced search builder, we were able to narrow the initial 93,999 results for COVID‐19 related articles published in the past year (Nov 2019 – Nov 2020) to 543 publications that were related to SARS‐CoV‐2, spike protein structure and its receptor. Relevant articles in peer‐reviewed journals were identified from this list and comprehensive analysis of ~40 research articles were conducted and summarized. This compilation was used in a case‐study model to narrate a story simplifying the complexities of COVID‐19 infection while providing detailed qualitative information, which would otherwise be difficult and sensitive to discuss. This model for summer research enhanced students’ critical thinking skills necessary to ponder questions related to COVID‐19 in preparation to enter the healthcare profession.This directed patient case study was designed by using data from real life situations and applying it to fictitious patients to maintain anonymity. The storyline follows three individuals (85‐year‐old male, 80‐year‐old female, and a 50‐year‐old male) and their families during the 2019–2020 coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The timeline of patients’ infections, testing, interventions, and outcomes are discussed. Additional sections on COVID‐19 gender disparities and atypical symptoms are also provided.Students in upper‐level biology and health science courses, such as physiology and pathophysiology, will research the symptoms, susceptibility, mechanism of action, progression of the infection, opportunistic infections, extrapulmonary complications and treatments. The case concludes with an assignment to discuss the most current information available regarding the progress made in designing novel treatments.This project was presented at the Natural Science Summer Research program and parts of it will be introduced to students in local high schools as part of Benedictine University's (BenU) outreach activity. We are in the process of submitting a detailed version of this case to the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science. Working on the various aspects of the case, including instructor notes, answer key and presentations, honed the critical analysis and communication skills of the research students. Despite various tragedies and challenges, the pandemic offered the unique opportunity to identify novel topics and techniques to circumvent original project goals and traditional undergraduate research methods, as well as provide freedom for innovation that can ultimately benefit the academic community.