Creation and Implementation of Scientific Research Methods Modules in PSYCO 104Brandon E. Hauer1,2, Paul Croome1, Deanna Singhal11Department of Psychology, 2Neuroscience & Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta

PROJECT BACKGROUND

CURRENT PROBLEM Department of Psychology requires

ONE statistics course (STAT 151), taught by Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences

Psychology students not receiving sufficient amount of research methods and statistics education, with limited demonstration of its applicability and usefulness in psychology

Resources to support offering and teaching more mandatory statistics courses to a large Psychology student body are limited

Incorporate statistics education into currently existing course(s)

Create eClass teaching and testing modules to pilot in section of PSYCO 104

Incorporate 4% course credit Use automatic grading and

uploading of results to eClassgradebook, limiting instructor’s workload

Gather student feedback Pilot project supported by TLEF

grant from CTL, and approved by Research Ethics Board at University of Alberta

FINDINGS

Software used was successful in creating module videos with animation

All eClass elements functioned well, with no errors in administration of videos, tests, or surveys

eClass response reports useful for occasional student grade query (easily rectified)

Students demonstrated mastery of learning (average test performance was 9/10)

Increased overall course average, with most students receiving full 4% course credit

Following module completion, survey feedback suggested students:

found modules easy and intuitive to use would recommend modules to a friend were less anxious when statistics were mentioned were more comfortable with statistics in general

MODULE IMPLEMENTATION

Students completed a feedback survey at beginning and end of term

Each module consisted of one video, with accompanying script and test

Each module posted on eClass at a different time over course

Module test unlocked once video viewed Completion deadline set for each module test Two test attempts allowed, with best score

uploaded to eClass gradebook

MODULE CREATION

ONLINE TEACHING VIDEOS

PILOT PROJECT

Videos created covered: scientific method measures of central tendency Software used: PowerPoint Mix (e.g., Figure 1) Video recording on green screen in

CTL (e.g., Figure 2) Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro

for video animating (e.g., Figure 2) PDF files of video scripts also created

ONLINE TESTS STUDENT SURVEYS

Tests generated using eClass QuizQuestions created in various

categories and randomly selected for each test generation

Feedback provided for each response (e.g., Figure 3)

Mastery of learning approach used, with attainable 10/10 score

Test scores automatically uploaded to eClass gradebook

Student surveys created using eClassFeedback

Requested information related to such things as:

ease of module use perception of module usefulness perception of statistics in field of

psychology (e.g., Figure 4)

SURVEYS

VIDEOS AND TESTS

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 4Figure 3

TECHNOLOGY

GRADES

STUDENT FEEDBACK

CONCLUSIONS

Online modules can be: useful for teaching materials related to statistics and

research methodology integrated into a large section of PSYCO 104 easy for instructors to implement with prefabricated

materials made available easy and beneficial for students to use

Continued development of modules on more topics for both PSYCO 104 and 105

Continue to pilot modules in various sections Consider replacing 4% course credit with guaranteed

midterm and final exam questions

FUTURE DIRECTIONS