Teaching Research Methodology Through Participation in a Collaborative Research Project

1
Teaching Research Methodology Through
Participation in a Collaborative Research Project
Kevin E. Finn, MA, ATC, CSCS Jay Campisi,
Ph.D. Merrimack College Department of Health
Sciences North Andover, MA
2
Background

• Our presentation describes a project designed to
  expose first-year undergraduate sports medicine
  majors enrolled in a Research Methods course to
  an active, collaborative-based research
  experiment on campus
• Our goal was to teach research methods by doing
  research methods
• We assessed if incorporating an experiential
  learning component to our course was effective

3
Evidence in Support of Experiential Learning

• The educational literature demonstrates that
  experiential learning benefits the academic
  development of students
• Harkness (2007) reported that students who
  participated in a research methods experiential
  learning project received significantly higher
  grades and evidence of greater content knowledge
  than students who did not engage in experiential
  learning

4
Course Previously Taught with Traditional
Lecture-based Approach

• The Research Methods course had previously been
  taught in a lecture based pedagogical approach
• Students were required to read peer reviewed
  journal articles and understand the major
  concepts of research methodology

5
Potential Benefits of Adding Experiential
Learning to the Course

• One way to capture the undergraduate attention is
  by actively involving students in research
  methodology and mentoring them throughout the
  process
• Learning by doing
• We believe this pedagogical approach creates a
  culture of ownership over the research process
  and excites students as they engage in the
  collaborative experiential learning process

6
Potential Benefits of Adding Experiential
Learning to the Course

• Many of the components of the research process,
  such as developing a hypothesis and designing an
  experiment, require analytical thinking
• Research process inherently is a collaborative
  process
• Therefore, we believed the project would foster
  critical thinking and communication skills

7
Potential Benefits of Adding Experiential
Learning to the Course

• We believed that incorporating a participatory,
  collaborative and experiential learning component
  to this course would
• Allow students to grasp relevant research
  methodology theories and principles
• Acquire increased appreciation for the value of
  research methodology and the scientific process
• Develop interpersonal and professional skills
  through group work/interactions

8
Research Questions

• 1.) What are the effects of a collaborative and
  experiential teaching approach on students
  knowledge of research methodology?
• 2.) What are the effects of collaborative and
  experiential learning project on the students
  attitudes of sports medicine research?
• 3.) What were the students perceptions of group
  work?

9
Experimental Procedure
10
Group Hypothesis Development Activity

• Break up into groups of (max 4/group) to choose a
  topic (Blood Pressure or Body Composition) that
  you want to investigate
• Develop a research question and/or hypothesis
• Example Do males have a higher blood pressure
  than females?

11
Assessment Tools

• Pre and Post-course Attitude Survey
• Pre and Post-course Knowledge Test
• Group Work Attitude Survey
• Open Ended Questionnaire
• In-depth Interviews

12
Attitudes of Students Toward Research Methods

• Students filled out attitude survey on first and
  last day of class anonymously
• Survey adapted from Vodopivec et al. (2002) used
  Likert scale (1-5) to examine 45 statements
  related to research methods and science

13
Attitudes of Students Toward Research Methods

• Students initial (pre-course) views regarding
  research were generally positive
• Students answered in a positive manner on 38
  out of 45 statements (84)
• Agreed with positive statements (gt3-5)
• Disagreed with negative statements (lt3-1)

14
Positive Responses Pre-Course Mean SD
Numbers indicate answers on Likert scale from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)
15
Attitudes of Students Toward Research Methods
Students initial (pre-course) negative views
largely changed over the course of the semester
Numbers indicate answers on Likert scale from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)
p 0.05
16
Students Knowledge About Research Methods

• A 30 question multiple choice knowledge test was
  administered on the first and last day of class
• Test did not count towards grade in course
• Knowledge test asked about the basic principles
  of scientific research including research
  process, methods and basic statistics

17
Students Knowledge About Research Methods

• Students knowledge of scientific research prior
  to taking the course was poor
• Out of 30 questions, class averaged 15.9 2.9
  correct answers (56.7)
• 2 questions were dropped from analysis because
  overwhelming majority of class got them wrong on
  the pre and post-test

18
Students Knowledge About Research Methods
Students knowledge increased over the course of
the semester however, post-test scores remained
relatively low


p 0.05 relative to pre-test score
19
Students Knowledge About Research Methods

p 0.05
20
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work

• Students filled out group work attitude survey
  adapted from Garcia-Boyonas et al. (2008) on last
  day of class anonymously
• Participants completed a Likert attitude scale
  (1-5) and also selected the positive and negative
  aspects of group work

21
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work

• Students answered in a positive manner on ALL 9
  statements about group work (100)
• Agreed with positive statements (gt3-5)
• Disagreed with negative statements (lt3-1)

22
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work
23
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work
Positive Aspects A. Can generate more ideas B.
Learn how to work with others C. More heads are
better than one D. Develop relationship with
others E. Learn more of the class material F.
It increases my self esteem G. Forced to meet
classmates H. Learn more about myself I. I
have a deeper understanding of the course
content J. I have a greater sense of acceptance
by my classmates K. Develop a positive attitude
toward the course instructor L. Develop a
positive attitude toward college M. Less work for
me N. NONE
24
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work

• Top Three Positive Aspects of Group Work
• Can generate more ideas
• Learn how to work with others
• More heads are better than one

25
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work
26
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work

• Negative Aspects
• A. Difficult to coordinate schedules B. Difficult
  for all members to participate equally
• C. Free riders or slackers D. Would rather work
  alone
• E. We don't all think the same F. Do not like
  people to depend on me
• G. Can't develop own ideas H. See no sense of
  "self" in final project
• I. Don't like being responsible for my classmates
  grade
• J. Members do not share same grade expectation
• K. Disagreements are more likely to happen in
  groups
• L. Groups are just a way for teachers to do less
  work
• M. Working with others makes me feel less
  intelligent
• N. It's more work
• O. Instructors assign group work without enough
  expectation
• P. NONE

27
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work

• Top Three Negative Aspects of Group Work
• Difficult to coordinate schedules
• Difficult for all members to participate equally
• Free riders or slackers

28
Attitudes of Students Toward Group Work
29
Students Open Ended Responses about Project

• Students filled out a 5 question open ended
  survey that assessed their general feedback on
  the research project
• The questions assessed students positive and
  negative aspects of the project, suggestions for
  what to keep in project and recommendations for
  improvements

30
Students Open Ended Responses
31
Student Interviews

• In- depth interviews were conducted with 5
  students during finals exams week
• Students were selected by change from pre to
  post-course knowledge test
• Questions covered in the interviews ranged from
  topics about the overall project, research
  process, and group work/interaction

32
Student Interviews Overall Thoughts

• Student 1I understand that it is important to
  have questions and question why things are done
  because through research we can find better ways
  to treat injuries that could be quicker or more
  beneficial for the patient.
• Student 2With any health care field we would
  go into comes the need for research and the
  knowledge in this class will carry on with me.

33
Student Interviews Research Process

• Student 1Doing the data collection helped to
  show how researchers in the field actually do
  their projects. And the methods also helped
  because it showed how things are done in real
  world research projects.
• Student 3Going through the process of finding
  subjects, creating a survey, and having them sign
  informed consent was a hassle but it was overall
  a good learning experience.

34
Student Interviews Group Interaction/Work

• Student 3I learned that patience, cooperation
  and communication are key to group work. Everyone
  needs to be responsible or it is hard to
  distribute the work equally.
• Student 4It was a good way to interact with
  various members on campus and apply our skills,
  but time was very constrained as far as
  collecting data.

35
Conclusions

• Students initial (pre-course) views regarding
  research were generally positive Students
  initial (pre-course) negative views largely
  changed over the course of the semester
• Students initial knowledge or research methods
  was poor but increased over the course of the
  semester
• Need to examine how knowledge gain compares with
  previous non-experiential learning years
• Students expressed an overall positive attitude
  toward group work Most negative views were
  around planning and scheduling
• When incorporating group projects, instructors
  should take these attitudes into consideration
• Open ended/Interviews reinforced previous
  responses

36
References

• García-Bayonas, M and Gottschall, H. Student
  Attitudes Toward Group Work Among Undergraduates
  in Business Administration, Education, and
  Mathematics. Educational Research Quarterly.
  32(1) 3-26, 2008.
• Harkness, S. S. Experiential Learning
  Undergraduate Research Methodology Instruction
  Through Directed Research and Mentoring Paper
  presented at the annual meeting of the American
  Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency
  Chicago and the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and
  Towers, Chicago, IL, Aug 30, 2007 Online.
  2008-05-13. http//www.allacademic.com/meta/p20993
  8_index.html
• Vodopivec, I, Vujaklija, A, Hrabak, M, Lukic, IK,
  Marusic, A, Marusic, M. Knowledge about and
  attitude towards science of first year medical
  students. Croatian Medical Journal, 43 (1)
  58-62, 2002.

37
Acknowledgements

• Students from SME 1318 Research Methods in Sports
  Medicine course at Merrimack College
• Merrimack College Experiential Learning Davis
  Grant
• Merrimack College Faculty Development Grant award