Social Sciences - Other (89) Many undergraduate students in the social sciences enter research courses believing that they will never perform or evaluate research outside of class, or that they do not need to understand how research is conducted. Meanwhile, the level of sophistication and the skills necessary to comprehend and conduct research in the social and behavioral sciences are rapidly increasing. Further aggravating this mismatch between belief and reality is the lack of opportunity that students enrolled in undergraduate research methods courses in the social sciences have to plan and carry out authentic research projects due to the short duration of an academic semester (16 weeks) or term (10 weeks). Moreover, many students lack intrinsic motivation for learning about research, often do not understand how research methods principles find application in real-life settings, and frequently do not consider themselves to be potential researchers. This Phase 1 Project addresses this serious issue through the development of a cognitive tutor (CT), called "REsearchMentor," a computerized application that provides a contextualized, interactive, scenario-based environment to present research methods principles in an integrated "real life" setting. The objectives of this project are to develop and assess the effectiveness of this computerized research methods tutoring system in research methods courses. The assessment is measuring (1) its ease of adoption by instructors, (2) whether it is engaging and motivating to learners, (3) whether it provides an integrated and contextualized exposure to research methods principles, and (4) its effectiveness in increasing student knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The expected outcomes of the project include: attainment of established usability criteria, an indication from social and behavioral sciences instructors of their willingness to adopt the CT into courses, and measurable increases in students' knowledge of research methods principles, skill in applying these principles, and attitude towards science and research methods. REsearchMentor is being designed for undergraduate students planning careers in social and behavioral science fields. Its design uses interactive tutorials that incorporate corrective feedback, continuous performance feedback, audio and video segments, and graphical aids. These features are expected to help sustain student interest and subsequently enhance student comprehension of research methods principles.
