Mentoring Psychology Research Experiences through Replication with the Collaborative Replication and Education Project

Avila University, Kansas City MO

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving undergraduate research training in psychology through the use of direct replication as a learning tool. The project will accomplish this through a series of virtual summer workshops for psychology instructors who will learn how to teach students to conduct research by having students complete their own study from start to finish. The workshop series would introduce instructors to the Collaborative Replication and Education Project (CREP), a group that supports direct replication of published work by encouraging instructors to have students conduct these replication studies in their courses. Replication is a hallmark of good science, and work that supports replication through education is a priority for the National Science Foundation. Additionally, the field benefits from direct replication of published work and students are excellent candidates to carry out direct replication, as demonstrated by recent calls for students to engage in this work for their projects and theses (Quintana, 2021). The proposed workshops will take an existing system for student replications, CREP, and provide instructors time and support in developing teaching materials and preparing their courses to use this approach. This series of workshops for undergraduate psychology faculty will be held virtually in Summer 2023 and will be delivered to up to 14 participants. The workshops will introduce CREP and demonstrate how it can be used in the context of courses, and then provide resources to support instructors in teaching students how to write meaningful extension hypotheses related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. During the series, the facilitators will meet with instructors individually to assist in tailoring each instructor’s work to their specific institution and students. Participants will contribute to a teaching manual for CREP projects and, following the workshop series, will also be invited to contribute to a manuscript related to this manual and their experiences teaching with CREP. Teaching materials and select workshop recordings will be available for other instructors. This project will therefore not only impact these 14 instructors and their students, but also any other instructor who is interested in adopting these projects in the future. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.