Teaching Research Methods – insights into a challenging area Becky Turner, Claire Gray, Carole Sutton, Julie Swain, Carolyn Petersen, Cathy Schofield & Demelza Thackeray

Teaching students to be enquiring or research-based in their approach is not just a throwback to quaint notions of enlightenment or liberal education but central to the hard-nosed skills required of the future graduate workforce (Jenkins et al., 2007)

But never that simple… Lack of a pedagogical culture around RM teaching Negative student attitudes / resistance to RM teaching Under resourced, limited investment in resources supporting & training of lecturers (British Academy, 2012; MacInnes, 2009; Rice et al., 2001; Williams et al., 2008)

Teaching Research methods in CBHE

Project aims Mapping RM provision within colleges Identify patterns of generic and embedded practice Ascertain student confidence in methods of data collection & analysis; Identify potential skills gaps & CPD needs for college-based HE lecturers

Methods National study (responses from 55 FECs) 2 questionnaires: –Student, RM teaching experienced, awareness of methodological concepts, preferred methods of learning about RM & availability of resources –Staff, RM delivery, knowledge / confidence in teaching RM, resources to support RM teaching and opportunities for CPD 16 telephone interviews

Format of delivery? Mirrors RM teaching in HEIs?

Who is teaching RM? “All stand-alone module by people with postgraduate research methods qualifications”. “Every member of staff at college may potentially be called upon to deliver research methods as it is seen as a generic subject – we don’t have the luxury of specialism in any meaningful sense”.

What RM are CBHE students experiencing? TopicPercentage Literature searching94 Research design79 Research paradigms47 Primary qualitative75 Secondary qualitative 74 Primary quantitative71 Secondary quantitative 65 Reporting research69 Some parallels with RM teaching in university-based HE Reporting research – experience issues? Research paradigms – too academic / relevance? Implications for progression?

Resources to support RM teaching Generally good access to online journals, concentrate on those accessed at FEC Data analysis software?! ResourceStrongly Agree/Agre e Online journals (FEC) 77.1% Online journals (HEI) 70.2% Other library (FEC) 88.5% Other library (HEI) 68.1% Data analysis (FEC) 42.0% Data analysis (HEI) 31.6%

Where did lecturers gain their knowledge / skills in RM? Strongly agree / Agree (%) Own academic qualifications 98 Own professional training 82 Regular professional training / CPD 54 Own practical experience 93 Learning by doing92 Provision of RM training to support teaching (%) Provision of opportunities to engage with research (%) FEC7151 HEI6556 Age profile of respondents Currency of knowledge???

Where did lecturers gain their knowledge / skills in RM? Contentious issue, acknowledged in the literature*, echoed by IV data: RM training from college or validating partner? “I wish there was a ‘you are having a laugh’ option”. Opportunities to engage in research? “Defo you are having a laugh now”. *e.g. Child, 2009; Hillier, 2010; Turner et al., 2009

Implications Increased progression – need for preparation for final year –Breadth of RM teaching covered –Bias toward primary research Allocation of (curriculum) space / resources to RM teaching –Wider academic learning needs of students –Potential for small group teaching (?) Support for teaching staff … mirrors some of the challenges facing RM teaching in universities

Where we are at now: Supporting Research Methods Teaching in College Higher Education Compare student data from CBHE / UBHE to examine competencies in quantitative and qualitative methods. Investigate & provide resources to support the teaching of RM in diverse college environments.