An inquiry-based approach to teaching research design: asking the right questions.

Full Abstract

To describe an inquiry-based learning activity and discuss the advantages of using such activities to demonstrate research design to undergraduate psychology students the authors presented students with the research problem of eyewitness memory recall and asked students to solve the problem, using the information provided by the course. Working in small groups, students reviewed eyewitness studies and designed their own research materials, including a videotaped theft and a CD-ROM version of the eyewitness survey and potential suspect line-up. Poststudy interviews showed that the students enjoyed the activity and felt that they had a better understanding of experimental research design than they had before the exercise. It is proposed that this activity may be a useful hands-on tool for instructors who have difficulty teaching students fundamental topics such as literature reviews, hypothesis testing, reliability and validity of research measures, and experimental design.

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Author information

Author/s: Yonts, Nikki (N); Abramson, Charles I (CI); McKenna, Jessica (J); DeBoer, Stacy (S); McMillin, Ann (A); Rice, Justin (J); Potts, Richard (R); Scott, Bill (B);

Affiliation: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Validation Studies

Journal: Psychological reports (Psychol Rep), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Jun; vol 90 (issue 3 Pt 2) : pp 1064-8

Dates: Created 2002/08/01; Completed 2002/08/28; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12150385, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Reproducibility of Results
Research - methods
Teaching - methods

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