A CURE Model of Incorporating Research Skills in a Social Psychology Course

Thursday, January 5, 2023
11:40 AM - 12:30 PM
Zoom

Presentor: Emily Stark, Ph.D., Psychology

In this presentation, I will describe how I utilized a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience [CURE] to build research skills in a large undergraduate course [Psy 340: Introduction to Social Psychology, enrollment of 47 students]. The goal was to go beyond a typical research paper assignment to give students opportunities to develop skills in data collection and analysis, information search and article analysis, and effective written and oral communication.
Students were first tasked to identify a misconception from the field of psychology, such as the idea that opposites attract in relationships, or that we only use 10% of our brains. Once they identified a misconception, students wrote survey questions to assess the general belief in that misconception, and learned how to use Qualtrics to develop an online survey. As a class, data on misconception beliefs was collected from the general public. Students then wrote an annotated bibliography of empirical research articles that directly tested the misconception, learning how to use PsycINFO to find empirical journal articles. Finally, students summarized what they learned from the survey as well as the background research in two ways—an oral presentation in class, and a written infographic or blog post designed to communicate accurate information in a way accessible to the general public.
Overall, CUREs are a useful way to encourage equitable access to research experiences for students. In the discipline of psychology, students are encouraged to take part in faculty research teams, but students don’t always learn about these opportunities or the importance of research experiences to their future career and schooling goals. Embedding research projects in courses gives students more exposure to the scientific nature of this discipline, builds a foundation that could make students more effective at pursuing advanced research opportunities, and develops skills that will be useful resume-enhancers regardless of their specific future goals. This presentation will provide this specific example and general tips for instructors interested in also using a CURE project in their own courses.