Milena Patrovic and Robert Stewart, School of Science
Principal Investigator: Milena Patrovic, senior lecturer, Department of Psychology, School of Science
Co-Principal Investigator: Robert Stewart, senior lecturer, Department of Psychology, School of Science
Project Title: New Approach to Preparing Undergraduate Psychology Majors for Their Prospective Careers Through Differential Teaching of Research Methods in Psychology
Funding Level: $10,000
Abstract:
Most professional psychologists either engage in research and/or rely on their ability to interpret and critically evaluate research to guide their activities. Thus, the Psychology Department requires that our undergraduate majors undergo a sequence consisting of Statistics (PSY B305), Research Methods (PSY B311), and Capstone in Psychology (e.g., PSY B454) to ensure that the students have a solid foundation in scientific inquiry. However, students are often not keen on taking such courses, and have low retention of the material as indicated by lack of preparedness for their Capstone course. Published work examining how best to improve student learning show the most success with methods that enhance students’ experiential learning through a hands-on opportunity to design and carry out research. Our goal is to create new curriculum for laboratory courses that utilizes this strategy. Specifically, we aim to create two new 2-credit hr. lab courses. Completion of either one of these labs will be required to compliment the more traditional B311 Research Methods lecture course. One lab concentrates on basic research (investigating questions that may not have immediate practical implications) and the other concentrates on applied research (finding solutions to practical problems). Student evaluations of the course content as well as student knowledge of the course material will be assessed before and after the change in the curriculum has been implemented. We predict increased proficiency in the content addressed by each of the two labs and enhanced practical training that better suits students’ likely post-graduation professional and academic paths.