Abstract
Undergraduate psychology majors are encouraged to engage in research to improve understanding of research methods and increase research skills. This study examines the potential of volunteering as a research participant to increase student perceptions of knowledge and interest in research. Undergraduate students completed a survey regarding the value of research participation. Results showed that across all classifications (i.e., freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior), students reported higher levels of both understanding research and interest in research after research participation. Given these results, we suggest that including research participation as a part of the psychology undergraduate curriculum can serve as an effective hands-on experience for all undergraduate students.
Psychology faculty benefit greatly from research participant pools that typically consist of undergraduates enrolled in lower level psychology courses and are comprised of students from a variety of majors. The faculty are able to use this pool to collect data in research studies that are often necessary for job security and/or advancement. However, for participant pools to be incorporated justifiably into psychology departments, the benefits must extend to the participating students as well.
Faculty often view research as a way for students to engage in critical thinking, academic development, departmental citizenship, and research dissemination (Kardash, 2000; Kierniesky, 2005; Page, Abramson, & Jacobs-Lawson, 2004). A handful of studies have indeed found objective and subjective educational benefits to research participants. For example, Rosell et al. (2005) found research participation increased general knowledge in introductory psychology courses, Landrum and Chastain (1995) found favorable student perceptions of the educational value in research participation, and Bowman and Waite (2003) found increased student satisfaction and more favorable perceptions of psychology among social science majors in introductory courses following research participation. However, these studies are somewhat limited, as the authors did not consider class status (i.e., freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior), interest in psychology (e.g., major, minor, or neither), or previous research experience (e.g., none, moderate, or substantial) of the students. More importantly, beyond an interest in psychology, it would also be advantageous to find an increase in student interest in research following research participation. The effect of research participation on student research interest has not yet been examined.
Without a research pool, students might be introduced to research methods through required coursework. Common undergraduate psychology requirements often include at least one research methods course and a corresponding statistics course (Perlman & McCann, 1999). Sizemore and Lewandowski (2009) found that well-designed research methodology coursework led to increases in a variety of research skills (e.g., formulating a hypothesis, understanding control in research, and writing a research article), as measured by the Undergraduate Research Experience (URE) questionnaire developed by Kardash (2000). However, these courses, while increasing student perceptions of many URE components, have shown no similar increase in student interest in the topics. Interestingly, after completing such courses, students instead have found research and statistics to have less utility than when they began the course (Sizemore & Lewandowski, 2009). Although coursework may be able to achieve a basic increase in research knowledge, it is important to find an avenue that will increase research interest as well.
Few studies have examined predictors of research interest among undergraduate students. One of the most comprehensive studies on the topic found that greater research interest was associated with higher levels of the personality factor openness to experience, higher mathematics scores on a college entrance exam, and a perception that research would be directly related to postgraduation goals (e.g., entering a psychology doctoral program; Vittengl et al., 2004). According to this finding, preexisting student factors may partially explain students’ varying levels of research interest. In addition, faculty members may promote interest in research if they explain how it is connected to various vocational goals.
Faculty members may also promote research interest by providing students with opportunities to collaborate on projects as research assistants. High faculty–student ratios often make it unreasonable to allow each student to complete an independent research project or to provide each student with an undergraduate research assistant position in a faculty-directed lab. Consequently, some instructors have designed classroom assignments that require undergraduate psychology students to work collaboratively to conduct a study. The limited findings examining the potential effect of this strategy are inconclusive. One existing study found that undergraduate research methods students’ participation in a collaborative research project was associated with greater research interest and enjoyment of the research process (Chapdelaine & Chapman, 1999). However, McConnell and Marton (2011) found that introductory psychology students were no more interested in engaging in research upon completion of a collaborative research project, although students did report that they had greater understanding about research and a stronger belief that research was worthy upon completion. The authors suggest that undergraduates’ research interest might be resistant to change and that interest may increase only after repeated research experiences throughout the undergraduate career.
In contrast to the demands required to conduct a project, undergraduate research participation may be a simple approach to increasing student interest in psychological research methods as well as to increase the perception of educational value. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived value of research participation by undergraduate students. Additionally, to examine other important factors, such as research experience, class status, and interest in psychology, the sample is being extended past introductory psychology courses to include upper-level psychology courses.
Method
Participants
The Psychology Research Pool (PRP) is a newly created, extra credit–based, research participant pool at the University of West Florida (UWF). In most courses offered in the UWF School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, students have the opportunity to earn extra credit of a value no greater than 5% of the final grade. Of the 434 students who used the PRP for at least one extra credit study, 204 undergraduates (mean age = 22.68; females = 144) also completed an online evaluation of the research experience. Participants were classified by completed semester hours into four categories of class status (in percentages; freshmen = 24.1, sophomores = 16.2, juniors = 28.8, and seniors = 30.9) as well as current psychology interest (in percentages; psychology majors/minors = 55.5, nonmajor/minor = 44.5). The majority of participants, 40.8%, had little self-reported experience in psychological research, 28.3% had no experience in research, 28.3% had moderate experience in research, and only 2.6% had substantial experience in research. At the time of completing the evaluation, students had completed a minimum of one study (M = 3.04, standard deviation [SD] = 1.37) either online or in an on-campus psychology laboratory.
Materials and Procedure
A 23-item questionnaire was developed to assess student interest in research and student learning perceptions (the questionnaire also included questions unrelated to this article such as PRP ease of use). Specific questions are described in more detail subsequently. The questionnaire was available online as an additional extra credit opportunity.
Results
Learning Perceptions
Students reported perceived learning by responding to a single item, which asked, “Compared with what you previously knew about research, did you learn more about research through participation in a study?” Overall, 71.2% of students answered “Yes” to this question. A χ2 test of independence showed this to be significant, χ2(1, 190) = 17.17, p < .01. This finding remains consistent regardless of class status, research experience prior to participating in the PRP, completion of prior research courses, or number of studies completed (see Table 1).
Percentage of Students Who Reported Learning More About Research After Participating in Research.*
*All chi-squares were significant, ps < .01.
To ensure there was no coercion to participate in a study, students were also given the option of reading a research article and answering five essay questions regarding the article. Only 26 students completed the alternative assignment. Of those 26 students, 66% reported that they did not learn more about research through the alternative assignment. This finding demonstrates that mere exposure to research components, as found in research articles, may not be sufficient for students to perceive learning; however, being exposed to research components through research participation favorably increases learning perceptions.
Research Interest
Students were asked to report their interest in research prior to participating in the PRP and after participating in the PRP. Participants were able to respond with 1 = No Interest, 2 = Little Interest, 3 = Moderate Interest, or 4 = Very Interested. A paired samples t-test showed a significant increase in overall research interest after participating in research (M = 3.11, SD = 0.76) when compared to interest prior to participating in research (M = 2.39, SD = 0.89), t(189) = 11.67, p < .01. Only four participants indicated a decrease in research interest after participating in research.
To assess the amount of change in research interest, a variable Interest Change (Post-PRP interest − Pre-PRP interest) was created. In the following analyses, the dependent variable is always Interest Change.
Class status
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was done with Class Status (Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, Senior) as a between-subjects variable. There was a significant main effect of Class Status, F(3, 186) = 3.11, p < .05. Post hoc tests showed that Seniors had a smaller change in research interest (M = 0.41, SD = 0.02) than any other class status, which did not differ from each other (M FRESHMEN = 0.84, M SOPHOMORE = 0.77, M JUNIOR = 0.85). However, the research interest for seniors prior to participating in the PRP (M = 2.86) was significantly higher than any other class status (M FRESHMEN = 2.15, M SOPHOMORE = 2.03, M JUNIOR = 2.30), F(3, 187) = 9.56, p < .01.
Interest in psychology
An independent samples t-test was done for students who either majored or minored in psychology and students who did not (i.e., interest in psychology). There was no significant effect of Interest in Psychology, t(188) = 0.75, p = .45. The interest in research increased equally after participating in the PRP for students who were interested in psychology as minors/majors (M = 0.67, SD = 0.81) as for those not interested in psychology as a major/minor (M = 0.72, SD = 0.95).
Experience in research
Students who rated their prior research experience as substantial (N = 5) showed a population variance (i.e., SD = 1.75) that was at least twice as high as the population variance of the students who did not rate their research interest as substantial (i.e., SD = 0.08). As this violation of the ANOVA assumptions could potentially lead to a greater risk of Type I error, a one-way ANOVA with Prior Research Experience as a between-subjects variable was completed after removing those participants who rated their prior research experience as substantial. There was a significant effect, F(2, 182) = 6.84, p < .01, with students reporting modest research experience showing a significantly smaller increase in research interest after participating in the PRP (M = 0.40, SD = 0.65) than students with little experience (M = 0.76, SD = 0.82) or no experience (M = 0.96, SD = 0.86), which were not different from each other.
Previous research methods course
Students were also asked whether they had completed a prior research methods course. Of the 166 students who answered this question, 64% had not completed a research methods course. An independent samples t-test showed there was a significant effect, t(164) = 1.90, p < .05, with those completing a research methods course showing less change in research interest (M = 0.55, SD = 0.69) than those who had not completed a research methods course (M = 0.81, SD = 0.92).
Number of studies completed
Students were asked to indicate the number of studies completed for the PRP in one semester. Studies completed and interest change were not significantly correlated, r(189) = .13, p = .07. However, this may be due to a confound in research experience. Participants who had substantial experience with research prior to participating in research were previously shown to have unusually high variability in their interest change outcomes. Excluding these five participants led to a significant positive correlation between number of studies completed and interest change, r(184) = .15, p < .05.
Discussion
The results of this study suggest that students perceive research participation as a positive and beneficial experience. Generally, students reported learning more about research and greater interest in research after participating in research studies. With 96% of students responding that the PRP should be offered every semester, it would be reasonable to assume the students are not viewing participation as a heavy burden, and instead, value the opportunity to be a part of a research pool.
The Value of Research Participation
Gaining laboratory experience as a participant may enforce student perceptions of learning by making the abstract concept of research more concrete for students. Having the hands-on experience of being in a research study may help students understand concepts like informed consent, control, and independent/dependent variables as well as how they fit together in a research study (Rosell et al., 2005). This could be particularly true when researchers emphasize the educational experience during the debriefing session (e.g., providing references to research for more information). The results suggest that students continue to perceive research participation as a learning experience regardless of interest in psychology, prior experience with research, or class status.
Research participation may also increase student interest in research by dispelling common misconceptions about psychology research (Rosell et al., 2005). In introductory psychology courses, for example, the covered experiments tend to be high profile, controversial, and often social studies (e.g., Milgram’s obedience study, Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment, etc.). By participating in the actual studies done by a diverse psychology department, students may find the offered studies often cover a wide variety of interests from workplace issues to search strategies of animals. Thus, similar to perceptions of learning, interest in research can also be increased through participation regardless of interest in psychology, prior experience with research, or class status
Future research on the value of research participation could inform the most beneficial process to students, instructors, and researchers. For example, examining the frequency of research participation and how it relates to grade point average or letter grades in core classes would determine whether the self-report gains in learning shown here translate to better grades overall. It would also be helpful to know whether these benefits are similar for students who use research participation as extra credit opportunities or as course requirements. Finally, measuring research interest prior to participation in addition to after participation would help eliminate any possible demand characteristics or biases that may be present in this study.
Implications for Psychology Departments
Hands-on research experience is typically an upper-level experience that students may not pursue until too late in their academic career (i.e., as a senior while they are simultaneously applying to graduate school). This study shows that the interest in research can be increased much earlier in a student’s career through the use of research participation, as evidenced by larger increases in research interest from students who had not completed a research methods course or those with no to little research experience. However, by also including students from upper-level courses, we also see an increase in research experience for students who may already have sufficient research knowledge. This suggests that psychology departments should consider adding research participation as a requirement in at least some core psychology classes.
The rapid changes in the landscape of higher education demand pedagogical strategies that require fewer resources (i.e., faculty coordination and time) but also effectively impact a large number of students. Undergraduate research pools present one strategy to assist in fulfilling that challenge. Although providing a large number of students with experiential learning options, research pools may be organized in a way that demands minimal coordination and administrative time. Beyond providing benefits for students who hope to attend graduate school, psychology majors and nonmajors who do not wish to attend graduate school may benefit by obtaining a deeper understanding of the general research methods relied upon to inform a broad range of workforce fields.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.