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Research Assignments

Teaching Research Process of the Discipline

Begin by familiarizing students with practices and literature of your discipline
Introducing undergraduates to the research processes of your discipline presents a great opportunity to engage students with your subject on a deeper level while helping them become better-rounded researchers. Familiarizing students with the literature of the discipline is especially important in introductory, general education courses, as it might be the only opportunity for students to learn the subject.

Badke, William B. Teaching Research Processes: The Faculty Role in the Development of Skilled Student Researchers. Chandos Publishing, 2012. EBSCOhost.
Chapter 6: Research Process in the Classroom 
Chapter 7: Tentative case studies in disciplinary research process instruction

Examples:

  • Original research
    Read and discuss an original research article. Discuss the study methodology. Discuss whether the experiment has been well designed. Discuss results and implications of the experiment.

  • Literature review
    Read and discuss a literature review article. Discuss the purpose of the review articles.

  • Evidence-based practice literature
    Read and discuss an evidence-based practice article. Discuss evidence-based practice for health or social science fields. Discuss the role of systematic reviews. Discuss how to search for evidence-based practice literature.

  • Qualitative and quantitative research
    Read and discuss a qualitative and a quantitative research article on the same topic. Discuss how the two research methodologies are used in your discipline.