Effective methods to teach research

Studies of research and research methods courses have revealed that a variety of pedagogical approaches help students develop positive attitudes and orientation to research, increase interest in research, lessen research anxiety and, as a result, develop research competences, and increase research self-efficacy and self-confidence. Some of the approaches below are more effective than others. All help attain one or more of the goals of research education. All have been found to have a positive impact. The list below presents all the effective teaching and learning approaches found

14 It is not in the scope of this study to discuss metaphysics and the philosophy of research in more detail, so let this simplified explanation suffice here.

15 Again, the wide range of educational sub-disciplines is not within the scope of or relevant for this study.

in relevant literature when focusing mainly on UG research education. List format was chosen for two reasons: to present the methods briefly and informatively, and to allow a more in depth discussion of research reported in chapters 1.4.6–1.4.9 and 1.4.11. Many of the methods were applied in the educational design of the bachelor’s thesis process researched in this study. More details on the specific methods used can be found in chapter 2.2.

Effective teaching and learning approaches in research and research methods education:

- Ensure positive instructor characteristics and behavior, such as, conducive instructor

personality, positive attitude and behavior including instructor’s encouragement and flexibility (Onwuegbuzie & Wilson 2003, 18); skillful teaching staff and demonstrations of the relevance of the research course, lecture contents, tutorials and course readings (Halcomb and Peters 2009); utilizing human-mediated services as opposed to computer-mediated ones, for example, in the form of one-on-one coaching on assignments, faculty comments to drafts, and support from librarians; staff that explains clearly their expectations research implementation, production of high-quality papers, and evaluation of outcomes (Head 2008).

- Offer information literacy instruction to improve students’ IL competence (Head 2008, 437).

- Offer individualized training, one-on-one coaching sessions and the possibility to write drafts for instructor comments. All these are methods ”to close the gap students know exists between their own knowledge of the research process and that of their instructors” (Head 2008, 343, 437); individualized plans and pace of instruction, and developing a feeling of empowerment (Bolin et al. 2012).

- Provide students with a basic orientation to the importance, usefulness and validity of research, and offering a variety of hands-on research experiences to show the relevance of research to practice (Bolin et al. 2012.).

- Utilize project based courses (as opposed to contact class based course) especially in large compulsory research courses in an authentic environment benefiting a commissioning company (Winn 1995) and agency-based projects based on a service learning approach (Kapp 2006);

combine service-learning approach with a research course and a practicum to allow the student to find a topic arising from the needs of the host organization and to experience the complexity of a full research process from topic definition to delivery of a resarch report, which may also include an instrument for the organization’s use.

- Ensure the development of a combination of knowledge (conceptual competence) and ability (doing, procedural competence) by linking reading tasks with activities to facitate application of concepts on ‘real life’ problems (Strayhorn 2009).

- Utilize a stratified approach in class and library based research courses allowing each student to work simultanously on the same phase of his own term paper (Leckie 1996).

- Use well structured student-centred tutor led approaches (as opposed to traditional didactic approaches) relying on well trained and mentored student tutors (Edwards & Thatcher 2004).

- Make use of cooperative small-groups with a predefined “step-by-step” experiential approach that facilitates learning complex topics more thoroughly, helps students synthesize their thinking, gain depth of understanding, help one another find flaws in their reasoning, develop new perspectives, and improve their ability to explain ideas (Garrett 1998; see also

Onwuegbuzie, Leech, Slate, Stark, Sharma, Harris & Combs 2012, 40); activity based class room sessions making use of "cooperative and collaborative small group activities, class discussions, case studies, role play, formative quizzes, brainstorming" (Edwards & Thatcher 2004, 200); group work and class interaction (Halcomb & Peters 2009); participatory learning techniques (PLT) (Duze 2010); active collaborative-based research projects in small groups (Campisi & Finn 2011).

- Apply the living-data technique by relying on active-learning exercises, where students

“become living data, respondents and/or researchers conducting the study” and are “also asked to report their research experience from their unique perspective”. (Rohall, Brown, Moran &

Caffrey 2004, 404-405.)

- Require students to write reflective journals to reflect, among others, on their biases toward research, their investment in and commitment to the course (Onwuegbuzie et. al. 2012, 38).

- Assess through on-line quizzes, and offer instructor feedback on assignments (Halcomb &

Peters 2009).

- Offer technology-mediated undergraduate dissertation courses (e.g. 10 weeks), whose design includes a complex, structured working process with several deadlines, and in-class and on-line dialogues aimed at building a learning community as resource for the students’ learning and formative peer assessment (Jaldemark & Lindberg 2013).

- support students with the development of functional writing habits and increasing writing productivity through one ore more of the following methods: working with small and easy weekly objectives; using word processors; writing in an adequately set-up working area;

writing intensively 2–4 hours a week; writing section by section; writing drafts; checking and rewriting drafts; asking for frequent comments on drafts; accepting and considering critique;

taking risks and learning from mistakes; learning new writing and creativity techniques; asking supervisor’s help to manage research tasks supported by a contingency system facilitating internal personal control; controlling impatience and procrastination through time and task

structuring; maintaining a log of writing time to grasp the time-work perception; and

participating in writing support groups utilizing social activity. (Valarino & Yaber O 2002, 77).

- Offer ways to diagnose the symptoms of research writer’s block, provide information about the phenomenon and aid staff to deal with it (Valarino & Yaber O 2002, 76).

- Ensure instructors’ immediate awareness of students’ anxiety, sensitivity to it and purposeful methods to lower it (Papanastasiou & Zembylas 2008, 165).

- Reduce anxiety by applying a variety of techniques, offering courses utilizing social-learning theories and cognitive behavioral anxiety-reduction techniques, such as, lectures on anxiety, progressive muscle relaxation and examination of distorted thinking patterns (Fabelo-Alcover 2002); attending to students’ cognitive-intellectual and emotional-affective aspects during the course (Ryan 2008). A thorough literature review by Onwuegbuzie and Wilson (2003, 202–

205) found several statistics anxiety reduction methods, such as: humorous carton examples;

biofeedback training; cognitive intervention; teaching gimmicks (e.g. students as the source of the data); journal writing; requiring students share apprehensions and anxiety at the beginning and end of the course: students discussing anxiety followed by a lecture on ways to cope with it; utilizing current news stories to introduce and explain basic statistical concepts and research methods; reading and critiquing research articles; applying statistics to real-world situations;

blending content with process; using in co-operative groups; untimed examinations where supporting material is allowed: open book or open note examinations: performance assessments related to everyday life (projects, tasks, assignments, investigations) and evaluation of student products as opposed to examinations; not only assessing what students know but also what they can do by observing, documenting, and analyzing student work.

- Employ carefully designed qualitative and quantitative assessment processes and tasks in methods instruction to promote and consolidate student learning, to set clear expectations, and enhance student motivation. Key areas in education design include: using competences to design, research curriculum and assessment tasks, balancing theory and practical assessments, using multiple assessment tasks, developing assessment that builds on previous knowledge, balancing group and individual projects, and providing and receiving feedback. (James, Ward, Dickson-Swift, Kippen & Snow 2009, 139.)

Fowler (2014, 207) brings all the above advice together by pointing out that "research is a skill that requires a foundation of knowledge and its applicability to practice or "real life". Fowler's (2014, 205-207) literature review of effective research tuition methods lists as innovative interactive strategies, for example, putting research into context by applying knowledge to the real world,

making the added value of research skills visible, utilizing blended methods including role plays and practical activities, using problem-based learning, applying modern possibilities of edutainment, and ensuring learners are in contact with others undertaking research so that they can share failures and successes. Fowler points out that since research is a process, educators need to coach students in steps throughout the process. Additionally, she stresses the importance of actively addressing students’ attitudes toward research, anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed.

Information literacy instruction should ideally build on an integrated or tiered approach to information literacy skills throughout all the study years of a higher education curricula (ACRL Association for College and Research Libraries 2014; McNicol & Shields 2014. Miller 2014;). An effective way to do this is to deliver course-intergrated literacy skills. The University of Richmond’s Boatwright Library’s (2010) four-year plan is an excellent example of the year-by-year integration of IL competences throughout the bachelor curriculum from the first year-by-year’s focus on foundational knowledge and availability of reseources to the third and fourth year’s wider and more in-depth IL competences.