Learning by doing: Teaching research methods through student participation in a commissioned research project

ABSTRACT Teaching research methods to social science undergraduates presents a number of dilemmas, including the development of effective means of providing students with practical research experience and the difficulty of engaging the interest of students in a subject which for many is not intrinsically appealing and to which some have a long-standing aversion. One way of addressing these issues is to enable students to participate in a ‘real˚s research project, often commissioned by an external agency. Reports of this approach have demonstrated its benefits to student learning and have identified some logistical problems of project-based teaching. This paper reports on a project-based research methods course which has been running for 5 years and which has some distinctive features: unlike most such courses it is compulsory and is taken by a relatively large number of students; the research project is funded each year by a commissioning agency; considerable emphasis is placed upon the assessment of students' contributions to the research. These distinctive aspects of the course are discussed in relation to one particular project in which students participated, a patient satisfaction study of an accident and emergency department, funded by a Regional Health Authority. The results of a student evaluation of the learning benefits of involvement in this project are reported. It is concluded that project-based learning of research methods on courses that are larger than those reported in the literature and which are compulsory can be beneficial to both students and commissioners, and that through detailed planning of student participation and formal assessment of students' research activities, some of the problems reported by those running such courses can be resolved.