Research Methods Course Work for Students Specializing in Business and Technical Communication

To achieve better research outcomes, all countries, especially the developing countries, focus on improvement in the research skills of the academia, in particular that of novice students. Research Methods (RM) course is the common first step whereby students gain their initial skills in designing, conducting and reporting research. This research aims to significantly improve the way Research Methods course is taught in higher education settings. As part of this research, this study investigates the following research questions. First, can Lean-Agile practices infused in a Research Methods course help improve the research skills? Second, if so, what kind of customization is needed to make it a) acceptable to the Student Researchers (SRs) and Research Supervisors (RSs), and b) measurable and suitable for learning Research Methods? Finally, is there an additive causal influence on learning efficiency from Lean-Agile methods and Self-regulated learning methods? This research has designed an online educational platform for a Research Methods (RM) course that is infused with novel pedagogical approach / processes, to scaffold their learning processes with analytical solutions and interactive visualizations. The first iteration of this Design Science Research (DSR) commenced with a survey of SRs and RSs in a young university in India, as part of the Relevance Cycle; As part of Rigor Cycle, Systematic & Explorative Literature reviews are underway. Design Cycle to build an MVP based on survey inputs is also in progress; Evaluation Cycle is being planned. This DC paper elaborates on these research processes and identifies a few challenges facing a DSR-based approach.

Courses in research methods play a critical role in postgraduate education. However, postgraduate students face considerable challenges in learning the subject matter. The present paper introduces iMethod, a software application designed to track students' engagement with the content of research methods courses. iMethod harvested data, analysed students' engagement, and presented the outcome to a teacher through a dashboard rendered in real-time. As a proof-of-concept, a usability study on iMethod was conducted with a sample of postgraduate students and early career academics (n=37) at a research-intensive university in New Zealand. Key findings suggest that students and academic staff found iMethod a valuable application for enhancing research methods learning. In particular, students value its content for understanding fundamental concepts while valuing its inquiry facilitation and providing helpful information on research methods. Participants said iMethod could expand knowledge, offers guidance, and the content is accessible to a diverse range of students. Lastly, participants reported that iMethod facilitated easy knowledge sharing, and the interface design was user-friendly and intuitive. The paper contributes to the growing need to promote research into the curriculum design of research methodology programmes and the quality of teaching research methods courses.

The growing volume of data generated by machines, humans, software applications, sensors and networks, together with the associated complexity of the research environment, requires immediate pedagogical innovations in academic programs on research methodology. This article draws insights from a large-scale research project examining current conceptions and practices of academics (n = 144) involved in the teaching of research methods in research-intensive universities in 17 countries. The data was obtained through an online questionnaire. The main findings reveal that a large number of academics involved in the teaching of research methods courses tend to teach the same classes for many years, in the same way, despite the changing nature of data, and complexity of the environment in which research is conducted. Furthermore, those involved in the teaching of research methods courses are predominantly volunteer academics, who tend to view the subject only as an “add-on” to their other teaching duties. It was also noted that universities mainly approach the teaching of research methods courses as a “service” to students and departments, not part of the core curriculum. To deal with the growing changes in data structures, and technology driven research environment, the study recommends institutions to reimage research methodology programs to enable students to develop appropriate competences to deal with the challenges of working with complex and large amounts of data and associated analytics.

The undergraduate curriculum in Indonesia generally requires students to take a research methods course as a prerequisite course for the preparation of scientific reports. The objective of this course is to teach students how to present research results both orally and in writing using the styles and forms of each university. However, this course is not popular among students because the material is complex and technical. As a result, there is a gap between learning outcomes and their application when students prepare scientific reports. Improving pedagogy and teaching interventions through student-developed research projects is important in complementing lectures. The purpose of this study was to analyze the improvement of students' ability in writing scientific reports through research method courses using problem based learning (PBL). This research was a case study to report the integration of scientific report writing in research methods courses through PBL at the Universitas Islam Bandung in Indonesia. PBL was implemented by involving students in research-related tasks with the following stages: writing research questions, determining the research design, collecting data, analyzing data, and presenting research results. The research results showed that there was an increase in scientific writing skills in the good category. Normalized gain for indicators of increasing accuracy using research report formats, suitability for using literature and research methods is 0.064 and 0.209, including the low category, and the plagiarism level is 0.509, including the medium category. This finding implies that assigning students to write scientific reports using PBL in the research method classroom is useful for improving learning outcomes, presentation, reasoning, communication, ambiguous problem-solving, and reducing plagiarism. The findings of this study strengthen the findings of previous researchers, namely increase students' abilities in using formatting to prepare scientific reports, using appropriate literature, mastering research materials as well as reducing the level of plagiarism.

The way research methods course has been taught across disciplines was a combination of hands-on experience and research activities. The applied activities came in different forms such as conducting literature review, applying peer review, writing papers, etc. In class activities, which are outside the silo of research methods, are not widely popular. The activity in mind is the “Marshmallow Challenge” which gained popularity in domains such as Management, yet it has not been reported to be used in research methods courses. In this paper we report our experience in applying the “Marshmallow Challenge” in a research methods course taught to master students of Information Technology degree and discuss the lessons learned from this experience.

A small number of LIS degree programs have adopted a diversified approach to research methods education, including offering an array of specialized research methods courses in addition to a general introductory course. The current study conducted an in-depth investigation of the diversified research methods curriculum of the LIS program at San Jose State University. The curriculum featured ten different research methods courses, and permitted students to make a selection to fulfill the requirement. Students tended to base their selections on individual interests, and reported a high level of satisfaction with their learning experience. The current study examined different aspects of the diversified curriculum from the student perspective, and reviewed the implications of this curricular model.

This article presents results from an evaluation of an online statistics lab as part of a foundations research methods course for master's-level social work students. The article discusses factors that contribute to an environment in social work that fosters attitudes of reluctance toward learning and teaching statistics in research methods courses. Students' evaluations (N = 25) suggest that implementing online statistics labs as a part of a foundations research methods course may help students form more positive attitudes toward statistics and improve their ability to read scholarly articles. Description of the course is provided, and challenges to implementation are discussed.

The provision of undergraduate statistics teaching varies across UK dental schools, but some challenges are faced in all schools. These include the need to (i) demonstrate the relevance of statistics to dentistry, (ii) address the phenomenon of statistical anxiety likely to be experienced, and (iii) deliver the teaching with a limited number of statistically trained staff. Our objective was to design a research methods course that combined epidemiology and statistics teaching for undergraduates at Bristol Dental School (University of Bristol) that was clinically relevant, focused on concepts and interpretation rather than calculation, and was sustainable, using new technology to enhance learning. The research methods course was introduced in 2008, extensively developed over the next two years based on student and tutor feedback, and has run with only minor updates ever since. The aim of the course is to introduce year 2 dental students to the skills needed to practice evidence-based dentistry, i.e. understand and critically appraise published research. Basic epidemiological concepts, different types of study design, summarising and interpreting data, and choosing appropriate statistical analyses are covered. The course is introduced by a face-to-face lecture. This emphasises the relevance to future careers, and pre-empts the feelings of statistical anxiety by presenting evidence that exam results for this course are not associated with having achieved an A-level in mathematics. The rest of the course is delivered using the flipped classroom approach. Didactic teaching is in the form of nine e-lectures, each lasting 20-25 minutes. These are split into chapters to allow easy navigation, and include pop-up questions. Small group (up to 10 students) structured tutorials (one per e-lecture) are used to reinforce the material covered in the e-lectures, drawing on real clinical examples from research publications. They are interactive, and also include e-voting quizzes to allow the tutors and students to gauge the level of understanding that is being achieved. At the end of the course there is a revision session and written assessment, which must be passed before students can progress to year 3 of the dental degree. Approximately 70 students take the course each year, split into eight groups, and tutorials are based on pre-prepared materials. Tutoring on this course provides an attractive opportunity to gain teaching experience, with only a modest investment in time. Therefore, it has always been possible to recruit enough statisticians or epidemiologists in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bristol to act as tutors. At least 89% of the students have passed the exam on first sitting each year, and all students have passed their re-sit exam. Marks ranged from 50-86% in 2019, and similar ranges were seen in previous years. Student feedback is consistently high, with virtually all students rating all components of the course at least satisfactory, and high percentages rating them good or excellent (e-lectures and tutorials were rated to be good or excellent by 72% and 95% of the students respectively in 2019). External examiners have been very complimentary, and only ever requested minor changes. Hence it has been possible to run a sustainable research methods course that engages students’ interest and produces excellent learning outcomes.

This article describes the evolution of a required Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) research methods course moving to a focus on evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP). It describes how a research methods course was revised, beginning with results from a “typical” course review and morphing into work that is now informing a broader program review. Implications of this work include a reconsideration of how best to provide a quality education while allowing for grace for faculty and students.

Ten years after the Medical Library Association (MLA) adopted its first research policy, the 1995 Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice [1], MLA President Joanne Gard Marshall, FMLA, appointed a task force to research and publish a new official statement [2]. The resulting MLA research policy statement, The Research Imperative, was approved by the MLA Board of Directors in 2007 and “challenges MLA members to build a supportive culture that values and contributes to a research base that is recognized as an essential tool for future practice” [2]. It describes domains of research as well as basic, advanced, and specialized research skills sets. The Research Imperative encourages health sciences library and information science (LIS) practitioners to take advantage of different educational opportunities to acquire and build on that skills set. Specifically, it recommends, “4. MLA will provide and promote education and training to support health sciences information research. To accomplish this recommendation, MLA will work with academic programs to ensure that opportunities to develop quantitative and qualitative research knowledge and skills appear throughout the curriculum, provide a complete range of basic and advanced courses in quantitative and qualitative research methodology through MLA's continuing education (CE) program, and encourage graduate LIS schools to require master's degree students to undertake a research project in information science” [3]. Curricular decisions for programs leading to the LIS master's degree (MLIS) are shaped by many factors, not the least of which is the very wide variety of careers that holders of such degrees can expect to have. Many will undoubtedly work in school, public, academic, or special libraries. Many others will be information professionals in archives, museums, corporations, and other organizations. In any case, a major driver for MLIS curricula is program accreditation by the American Library Association (ALA). The ALA Standards for Accreditation do not specify exactly what courses should be taught, but the accreditation seeks evidence of various curricular elements. In particular, the standards require that a program's mission, goals, and objectives include: “the importance of research to the advancement of the field's knowledge base…the importance of the contributions of library and information studies to other fields of knowledge [and]…the importance of the contributions of other fields of knowledge to library and information studies.” Furthermore, they seek evidence that the curriculum of an accredited program “emphasizes the evolving body of knowledge that reflects the findings of basic and applied research from relevant fields” [4]. Do MLIS academic programs “ensure…opportunities to develop quantitative and qualitative research knowledge and skills?” Do they “require master's degree students to undertake a research project in information science” [3]? Evidence of such opportunities would include (but not be limited to) courses and evidence of whether research projects are required for graduation from such programs. In a comparison of LIS research course requirements with those of other master's level programs in related disciplines, Park studied the 2002 graduate catalogs of fifty-two of the then fifty-six ALA-accredited MLIS programs as well as the catalogs of master's of business administration, master's of social work, and master's of education programs at some of those schools. She found that all but three of the MLIS programs offered research methods courses, but only twenty required such a course for graduation [5]. Park reported that “LIS does not use consistent terminology across schools to identify what constitutes a ‘research methods’ course” and that the courses “vary from comprehensive coverage of both quantitative and qualitative methods to superficial inclusion of simple survey methods.” Park discussed aspects of the MLIS degree that related to research “at the consumer level” and “at the contributor level” [5]. Evidence-based LIS (and other types of evidence-based practice) are examples of the use of the consumer level of research expertise. Practitioners in many fields can confuse the two functions, especially when the word “research” is taken to include searching literature for published scientific studies, as opposed to actually carrying out such studies. The Research Imperative quite rightly calls for health sciences librarians to practice as consumers of and contributors to research in the discipline. This study seeks evidence of the current availability of required or elective research methods courses and research projects as a graduation requirement in ALA-accredited masters' programs in library and information science.

Providing practical and relevant experience with the data investigative process is known to help engage students in quantitative research methods courses; however, limited student experience, time constraints, and ethical concerns present serious challenges to this goal. Recent advances in technology may provide innovative solutions. This paper reports on the development and implementation of a series of two-hour weekly computer laboratories that simulated the data investigative cycle in a research methods course for psychology students. The technologies included an online virtual human world, known as the Island, cloud collaboration technology and a statistical package. Each laboratory session aimed to engage students in all stages of the data investigative cycle, specifically: stating a problem, planning a study, gathering and analysing data and drawing conclusions. Student feedback from the sessions was overwhelming positive, which highlights the potential of combining innovative technologies to actively engage students in learning research methods and statistics.

A pragmatic approach to introducing mixed methods research training for pharmacy students in Namibia

Research methods course(s), a standard in psychology programs, often use multiple textbooks to address conceptual and data-analytic information. This study involved transitioning from traditional textbooks to open educational resources in a research methods course. Two psychology instructors, each offering course sections, identified open-access textbooks that aligned with course learning objectives and developed instructional materials to accompany those textbooks. All materials were organized publicly in an institutional subject guide. We compared students’ grades, pretest-posttest scores, and survey reports of resource use and evaluation in a spring semester, when traditional/costly textbooks were used, to the following fall semester, when no-cost textbooks were used. Student grades and pretest-posttest growth, and reported use and ratings of course materials, were similar across semesters. Though the present findings are limited in scope, they suggest that no-cost resources can be used successfully for teaching research methods with minimal transition difficulties and without student learning deficits.

Although distance education courses have become commonplace in most colleges and universities, the introduction of online research methods courses in the preparation of doctoral students has been slow in developing. This qualitative study explores the online learning experiences of doctoral students who have taken 1 or more of their research methods courses in a completely online format. The findings of the study illustrate the complex relationships between course delivery tools, course content, learning communities, and the perceptions and preferences of students in their preparation for dissertation research. The research findings indicate that online research methods courses may not be preferable for some students, whereas they offer other students expanded opportunities to grow and develop their learning community.

The central concern of this paper is to investigate students’ perceptions about the Research Methods Course taught in English at the Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, Tangier (FSTT). The study results reveal that students find research methods extremely valuable as there has been a genuine attempt to seriously participate in mini collective research projects under constant supervision by their mentor. Students expressed a predisposition toward research. This is merely indicative of their prior mindfulness of the paramount importance of research not only in their academic trajectory, but also in their professional endeavors. Students’ familiarity with and exposure to research terminologies, such as research proposal, literature review, citing and referencing, research designs, data collection methods, data analysis and discussion, and many more has been fundamentally crucial to preparing them to take part in research activities and practices. The researcher utilizes both quantitative and qualitative research analyses by dint of an online questionnaire and focus group sessions in order to be at a better position to investigate the issue at hand, and simultaneously create an opportunity of growth. Furthermore, it is conspicuous that the findings of the current study indicate more useful implications pertinent to students’ engagement, participation and commitment in the Research Methods Course.