The Utilization of Collaborative, Peer-Assisted, and Web-Enhanced Learning Approaches in an Introductory Psychology Research and Learning Enhancement Laboratory

Old Dominion University Research Foundation, Norfolk VA

Investigators

Abstract

Psychology - Biological (71), Psychology - Cognitive (73) The Research and Learning Enhancement Laboratory (R&LE) project is designed to enhance introductory-level undergraduate students' comprehension of research and statistical methods in the psychological sciences. To achieve this goal, the project is building on the LEARN program, developed at the University of Rhode Island, to create research and learning enhancement laboratories that incorporate collaborative, peer-assisted, and web-enhanced pedagogies for introductory psychology students. Students spend one hour of a three hour Introduction to Psychology course in an R&LE lab; the other two hours of the course are spent in a lecture-based classroom. Performance of students in the experimental R&LE lab course is being compared to students in a control course that consists only of lecture classes. Performance measures include increases in students' quantitative skills, knowledge of basic psychological concepts, research and statistics self-efficacy, motivation, cognitive learning strategies, and sense of belonging. The results and methods of the project are being disseminated to STEM faculty at several institutions. Through papers, manuals and workshops, faculty are learning how to incorporate these methods in their courses, and how to engage students in collaborative research activities very early in their educational training.