Enhancing Undergraduates' Confidence in Research and Communication Through Integrated Course Design

Abstract

Knowledge and skills related to scientific thinking, practices and communication are essential, but they are rarely taught explicitly together in undergraduate research training. A course entitled “LSM3201 Research and Communication in Life Sciences” was introduced to teach these principles and skills explicitly to students engaged in ongoing research, hence combining course instructions to the process of scientific inquiry, in order to enhance their confidence and abilities in research and communication. This study was conducted to determine the impact of this course on students who took the course (the experimental group) by comparing with those who did not (the control group) through a quasi-experimental design of pre- and post- surveys as well as tests. The study clearly found that students’ confidence in their knowledge of and abilities in research and communication improved significantly after they had taken the course. The improvements were significantly greater in the experimental group than the control group, and were consistent with significant gains in specific knowledge. The control group showed minimal improvements in perception and levels of confidence in their abilities within the same duration of the study. The course was considered to have a medium to large impact on many of the items related to measuring levels of scientific thinking, practices and communication within the process of scientific inquiry. By concurrently providing instructions on scientific thinking, practices and communication to students engaged in ongoing research, the findings indicate that the course— in its design, delivery and assessment—has managed to enhance students’ confidence in their knowledge and abilities in research and communication.