Editors’ Introduction to the Thematic Issue: Mad about Methods? Teaching Research Methods in Political Science

Adriaensen, Johan; Kerremans, Bart; Slootmaeckers, Koen

doi:10.1080/15512169.2014.985017

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…A secondary motivation for conducting our study was that we wanted to design a built-in field experiment in a methods course that made the various steps of research design and analysis more tangible to students. Our hope was that working with data that they helped generate would increase student interest in and engagement with material that often is outside of “students’ sphere of interest” (Adriaensen, Kerremans, and Slootmaeckers 2015, 4) and causes unusually high student anxiety (Bernstein and Allen 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, our investigation goes beyond simply evaluating the equivalence of test modes by providing an explanation for why performance might be higher in computer-based exams. Finally, by using student-generated data to answer a question of direct interest to students and faculty alike, we provide another tool for engaging students with research methods in political science (Adriaensen, Kerremans, and Slootmaeckers 2015; Rosen 2018). Moreover, our investigation goes beyond simply evaluating the equivalence of test modes by providing an explanation for why performance might be higher in computer-based exams.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Evaluating Student Performance on Computer-Based versus Handwritten Exams: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Classroom

Ceka

O'Geen

2019

APSC

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The use of course-management software such as Blackboard, Moodle, and Canvas has become ubiquitous at all levels of education in the United States. A potentially useful feature of these products is the ability for instructors to administer assessments including quizzes and tests that are flexible, easy to customize, and quick and efficient to grade. Although computer-based assessments offer clear advantages, instructors might be concerned about their effect on student performance. This article evaluates whether student performance differs between handwritten and computer-based exams through a randomized field experiment conducted in a research methods course. Overall, our findings suggest a significant improvement in student performance on computer-based exams that is driven primarily by the relative ease of producing thorough responses on the computer versus by hand.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Student Performance on Computer-Based versus Handwritten Exams: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Classroom

Ceka

O'Geen

2019

APSC

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“…Research design and operationalization present unique challenges because students must acquire knowledge and skills to successfully conduct independent research (Adriaensen, Kerremans, and Slootmaeckers 2015). Students struggle to acquire these crucial skills when material is dry and there are few engaging experiences.…”

Section: Active Learning and Research Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fast Food Delivery: Operationalization and Research Design

Thunberg

2021

APSC

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Active learning is an important component of political science instruction in which instructors use innovative active-learning techniques across the subfields. These methods are crucially important in methods courses, which contain some of the most difficult and important topics for the discipline, making it optimal for conveying challenging concepts using active-learning approaches. This article describes an active-learning exercise to engage students with operationalization, research design, data collection, and analysis. Students develop an observational study for a “fast” food delivery service. They operationalize the dependent variable—“fast delivery”—and determine which independent variables will impact delivery speed. Students collect data when the instructor orders food and has it delivered to the classroom. This exercise moves away from abstract concepts found in political science journals and makes research design more concrete, relatable, and engaging.

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“…However, subjects on quantitative social research do not tend to be students' favourites ( [6]). Computer, math and statistic anxiety have been discussed widely as one of its underlying reasons ( [7]; [8]; [9]; [10], 2007;DeCesare, 2006). Also, research argues that students ignored that an important part of Sociology is based on numbers ( [1]; [4]; [5]); the same authors argue that the technical terminology of methods is not easy to apprehend ( [1]; [4]; [5]).…”

Section: On Teaching Quantitative Techniques In Social Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research on teaching quantitative techniques in social science makes various proposals in order to minimize the difficulties listed a above, for example: teaching techniques practically and not isolated, working with a wide range of examples appealing to a heterogeneous public and its context, introducing group work and formats which facilitate to talk about methods, and re-signifying the paper of the teacher in a sense of mentoring a practical and guided learning experience ( [1]; [4]; [5]; [8]; [9]).…”

Section: On Teaching Quantitative Techniques In Social Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Quantitative Techniques in Times of Corona. Evaluation of an Innovative Teaching Project Taking Into Account Gender and Abrupt Virtuality

Freude¹,

Amorós²,

Catone³

et al. 2020

ICERI Proceedings

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Quantitative research techniques are an important part of any Undergraduate program of sociology and other social sciences. Previous research shows that there is a need to innovate in order to improve the students' fluidity with quantitative techniques. Also, research indicates a gender gap in this field. Empower students in the usage of quantitative techniques is important, also considering its growing importance in terms of employability. In conclusion can be said, that the activity itself was unable to dissolve the gender gap in quantitative research technique courses in Sociology, but that offering gender sensible topics is appreciated by female students. Also, we have seen that virtuality has helped to improve women's self-perceived competences.

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Editors’ Introduction to the Thematic Issue: Mad about Methods? Teaching Research Methods in Political Science

Cited by 25 publications

References 41 publications

Evaluating Student Performance on Computer-Based versus Handwritten Exams: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Classroom

Evaluating Student Performance on Computer-Based versus Handwritten Exams: Evidence from a Field Experiment in the Classroom

Fast Food Delivery: Operationalization and Research Design

Teaching Quantitative Techniques in Times of Corona. Evaluation of an Innovative Teaching Project Taking Into Account Gender and Abrupt Virtuality

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