Volunteering in Research: Student Satisfaction and Educational Benefits

Bowman, Laura L.; Waite, Bradley M.

doi:10.1207/s15328023top3002_03

Cited by 41 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Bowman and Waite (2003) found that students who participated in a research option (i.e., participating as a volunteer in research projects, participating in a "mass testing" session, or writing a brief summary of published research articles) had more positive perceptions of psychology and psychological research. Bowman and Waite (2003) found that students who participated in a research option (i.e., participating as a volunteer in research projects, participating in a "mass testing" session, or writing a brief summary of published research articles) had more positive perceptions of psychology and psychological research.…”

Section: Pacific Lutheran Universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pedagogical Value of Experimental Participation Paired with Course Content

Rosell

Beck

Luther

et al. 2005

Teaching of Psychology

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This study investigated the educational value of research participation by assessing the accuracy of student perceptions regarding the scientific status and methodology of psychology at 3 times during a semester: during the first week, following introductory and methodology lectures, and at the end of the term. Students' understanding of contemporary psychology and research procedures improved across the term. Findings indicate that students' increased understanding of psychological research procedures may be due to their participation in research in addition to course content.Two goals that appear to be germane to most introductory psychology courses are that students gain an understanding of (a) the breadth of contemporary psychology and (b) the scientific methods psychologists employ. College students taking their first psychology course often have misinformed opinions about psychology based on exposure to the popular media. For example, the prevalence of psychological television talk shows and self-help books, in addition to the iconic status of Sigmund Freud as representative of the field of psy-chology, might lead students to overestimate the extent to which psychology is a clinical field that relies on armchair observation methods (Stanovich, 1986). Often, teaching students to appreciate contemporary psychology necessitates attempting to correct these popular misconceptions (McKeachie, 1960;Vaughan, 1977). Indeed, several instructors explicitly mention on their syllabi that one of the goals of the course is to debunk popular myths regarding psychology (Project Syllabus, 2003), and correcting common opinions based on media misinformation is an avowed objective of popular introductory texts (e.g., Wade &Tavris, 2003) and supplements (e.g., Stanovich, 1986).Does the common practice of requiring introductory students to participate in research help to meet these pedagogical goals of introductory psychology classes? Sieber and Saks (1989) found that 74% of the universities they surveyed used a participant pool, 93% of which recruited participants from introductory courses. Universities often claim educational value as the rationale for requiring introductory psychology students to participate in experiments (Jung, 1969; Landrum Vol. 32, No. 2, 2005 95

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Section: Pacific Lutheran Universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pedagogical Value of Experimental Participation Paired with Course Content

Rosell

Beck

Luther

et al. 2005

Teaching of Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent research (e.g., Bowman & Waite, 2003;Rosell et al, 2005;Trafimow et al, 2006) has indicated that students in introductory psychology courses benefit more from direct participation in psychology experiments when attempting to meet their research experience requirement than from the alternatives to direct participation, such as writing papers. Based on such findings, our current goal was to develop a standardized method of familiarizing students with psychological research that would increase their enthusiasm in direct participation in a noncoercive manner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Video Introduction to Psychology: Enhancing Research Interest and Participation

Sacco

Bernstein

2009

Teaching of Psychology

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To assess the extent to which a video about psychological research would heighten introductory psychology students' interest and participation in research studies, we created a video about ongoing research at our university, the value of research participation, and course requirements for the research experience. Instructors in 4 courses (N = 471 students) verbally explained the research requirement and distributed a document detailing alternatives for completing it. In 2 of these courses, students also saw the video. Results indicated that students who viewed the video reported greater interest in research and completed more research participation hours than did students who did not view the video. We discuss the potential advantages of standardized, noncoercive procedures to encourage student participation in research.

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“…The study is renewed with the McMaster Research Ethics board annually and students are re-informed of the study each year. We use participation in a pedagogical consent process as part of the overall learning experience for our students, exposing them to all varieties of academic research, in this case the concept of informed consent (Bowman & Waite, 2003). Indeed, many students go on to pursue independent, pedagogical research studies during the program.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Student Perceptions of Staged Transfer to Independent Research Skills During a Four-year Honours Science Undergraduate Program

2017

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We describe interim results of an ongoing longitudinal pedagogical study investigating the efficacy of the Honours Integrated Science Program (iSci). We describe the pedagogical methods we use to prompt research skill development in a model from instructor-dependence to independent original research. We also describe a tool we use to help students organise their group research during their first attempts. Finally, we discuss students’ perceptions of how well iSci develops their research skills. Our results show that students are attracted to the iSci program because of the opportunities for research-based learning and skills development. We also found that in-program students value research skill development as a tool for successful completion of their degree and for their future academic or career plans. We conclude that our study methods help identify areas where we can support our students by building their research confidence and, in particular, their time-management skills. Nous présentons une description des résultats intérimaires d’une étude pédagogique longitudinale qui vise à évaluer l’efficacité du programme spécialisé intégré de sciences (iSci). Nous faisons une description des méthodes pédagogiques que nous utilisons pour déclencher le développement des compétences en recherche au sein d’un modèle qui va de la recherche qui dépend de l’instructeur à la recherche indépendante originale. Nous décrivons également un outil que nous utilisons pour aider les étudiants à organiser leur recherche par groupe au cours de leurs premières tentatives. Pour finir, nous discutons les perceptions des étudiants sur la manière dont le programme iSci développe leurs compétences en recherche. Nos résultats indiquent que les étudiants sont attirés vers le programme iSci à cause des occasions d’apprentissage basé sur la recherche et de développement des compétences. Nous avons également remarqué que les étudiants inscrits au programme apprécient le développement de compétences en recherche en tant qu’outil qui leur servira à terminer leurs études et à obtenir leur diplôme, ou pour leurs projets de carrière, à l’avenir. En conclusion, nous déclarons que nos méthodes d’études aident à identifier les domaines où nous pouvons soutenir les étudiants en renforçant leur confiance en matière de recherche et, en particulier, leurs compétences en gestion du temps.

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Volunteering in Research: Student Satisfaction and Educational Benefits

Cited by 41 publications

References 14 publications

The Pedagogical Value of Experimental Participation Paired with Course Content

The Pedagogical Value of Experimental Participation Paired with Course Content

A Video Introduction to Psychology: Enhancing Research Interest and Participation

Student Perceptions of Staged Transfer to Independent Research Skills During a Four-year Honours Science Undergraduate Program

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