Student reflections on a graduate course for developing research thinking

Abstract

Developing a researcher’s mindset as the main learning outcome can ameliorate the absence of discipline specificity in a research methodology course. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching such a course conceptualized with Self-Determination Theory. The effectiveness of the course was assessed by analysing student’s course evaluations and one to two sentence reflective pitches of the course targeting entering graduate students that may want to assess the value of the course. The pitches from 98 students (six semesters) were coded and qualitatively analysed by two independent coders, and placed in one of three categories that, 1) directly captured the research thinking theme, 2) indirectly captured the research thinking theme, and 3) did not capture the research thinking theme. An inter-reliability of 82% was initially achieved and followed by coders resolving cases where they differed. Seventy-one percent (71%) of the pitches were in either the first or the second category, exceeding the 67% judged as the minimum threshold of success. The course successfully achieves its objective of developing, strengthening, or nurturing research thinking of graduate students. The findings from this study inform practitioners’ efforts to structure courses with researcher mindset, research identity, or research thinking development outcomes. Also, this paper fulfils a need for conceptualizing and implementing instructional material for graduate students new to research in multidisciplinary settings.