Introduction: Undergraduate research experiences prepare students for graduate training or employment. Statement of problem: At many teaching-intensive universities, there is a greater demand for research experiences than there are independent study opportunities. Students from typically underrepresented backgrounds may also be unaware of a…

Data collection can be a frustrating experience for student researchers due to difficulty in scheduling appointments with participants. To increase the efficiency of research project data collection, we organized a Research Participation Night in which volunteers were incentivized to participate in as many experiments as time allowed. By offering…

The current investigation tested the effectiveness of an online student research project designed to supplement traditional methods (e.g., lectures, discussions, and assigned readings) of teaching research methods in a large-enrollment Introduction to Psychology course. Over the course of the semester, students completed seven assignments, each…

A collaborative research grant from the National Science Foundation allowed the first two authors to provide students at primarily undergraduate institutions with a multi-faculty, multi-institution team research experience. Teams of undergraduate students at Western Carolina University and Washington and Lee University collaborated with one…

This activity offers a way to use the informed consent procedure to help students better understand the responsibilities of research participants. During a class activity, students completed a brief study. The study included presentation of consent forms and questionnaires before a surprise quiz over material from the consent form and a discussion…

Describes an approach to devising realistic laboratory projects to enhance research training for undergraduates. Students replicate all or part of an experiment from a core article that provides the framework for the research project in terms of scope, method, and reporting. Advantages and limitations of the method are discussed. (GEA)

I describe a career research project designed to increase students' knowledge of careers in psychology. Following a detailed outline, undergraduates enrolled in a senior seminar conducted research on a career of their choice, prepared a written summary of the career information, and presented the summary orally to their classmates. Reactions to…

A general laboratory course should include projects that familiarize college students with the variety of methods available to the researcher. Described are four research projects that address questions about human behavior by means of experimental, observational, survey, and archival research methods. (RM)

Outlines a small group activity that gives students a sense of the fervor surrounding cognitive psychology's rapid emergence between 1950 and 1970. Students perform a bibliographical analysis of the seminal text "Cognitive Psychology" and illustrate the analysis through a graph correlating the citations to historical decades. (MJP)

Describes and evaluates a method for involving large numbers of introductory psychology students as active researchers via an assigned project involving computer analyzed data. Results indicate students valued research more, understood statistical procedures better, and felt less anxious about statistics and computers. Suggests a viable way to…

Describes a collaborative honors project in psychology that allowed two students and two advisors to pursue a broad range of research issues. Discusses advantages and disadvantages of conducting such projects with undergraduates. Includes issues for student and faculty development such as stimulation of other joint research efforts, role models,…

Describes techniques for clarifying goals, improving organization, and evaluating students in research courses that are typically unstructured. Includes methods for assisting students in designing experiments, creating evaluation tools, and monitoring student progress throughout the course. These simple methods are appropriate for courses with an…

Outlines a laboratory group program for engaging large numbers of undergraduate psychology students in faculty research at small liberal arts colleges with limited research resources. Participating in the group enhances the students' interest in and understanding of research and improves their chances of being accepted into a graduate program.…