Background: Psychology has seen a recent explosion in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) to understand cognition. The prevalence of techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in published research has grown immensely in the past decade; however, there has been little effort to incorporate these techniques into…

Introduction: This paper merges two neglected components within the psychological sciences broadly and research methods courses specifically: Critical whiteness and qualitative methodologies. Statement of the Problem: In psychology programs, regardless of discipline, research courses remain one area where issues of race and racism, such as…

Introduction: APA's 2017 Multicultural Guidelines ask teachers to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the psychology curriculum. Statement of the Problem: However, there are few resources outlining best practices for DEI instruction outside of diversity/multicultural courses. Moreover, instructors for skill-based courses such…

Introduction: Designing and conducting an intervention study is an arduous task for students that requires strong teaching and mentoring practices from psychology instructors. Statement of the Problem: Most research methods textbooks simply describe how an intervention is incorporated into a research study design (Johnson & Christensen, 2016),…

Identifying impediments to learning can help both instructors and students. In this study students (N = 222) from across the nation listed concepts from research methods they found the most challenging--"potholes" or impediments to learning, and also rated the difficulty of various concepts from the class. We also measured student…

Background: Online crowdsourcing platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), have become popular alternatives to the ubiquitous student samples used in psychology research. r/SampleSize, an alternative pool on the website Reddit, allows for online participant recruitment without compulsory or immediate payment, making it potentially useful…

Background: Many students report negative attitudes toward research methods and statistics (RMS), and these attitudes are associated with impaired performance. Student interest in clinical psychology suggests that clinical courses may provide a promising venue for integrating RMS instruction. This approach may be particularly valuable for students…

Background: College students majoring in psychology often report low interest and engagement in statistics and research methods courses. Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine potential benefits of integrating movement with learning activities in Introduction to Statistics and Research Methods courses at the college level.…

Courses including lab- or experiential-based learning may shy away from an online lab format. Using an empirically driven approach, an online research methods in psychology lab section was developed and compared to a face-to-face lab section. Results indicated that there were no differences in student knowledge regarding the American Psychological…

A transcript analysis by Freng, Webber, Blatter, Wing, and Scott found that methodology course performance and enrollment timing predicted grade point average in advanced psychology courses. The present study attempted to replicate and extend Freng et al. by using a larger sample and controlling for additional variables (methodology course…

Psychology teachers have likely heard about the "replication crisis" and the "open science movement" in psychology, and they are probably aware that psychologists have proposed new standards for research practice. How should our psychology courses reflect these new standards? We describe several modern practices that have…

Researchers often rely on undergraduate students to participate in psychological studies and so ethical guidelines state that there must be educational value to their participation. In previous studies that have asked undergraduates whether they felt they learned something new from participating in research, students have generally said yes.…

In this study, we assessed instructor and student attitudes and knowledge toward research methods (RM). Instructors (N = 62) answered questions about course format, topic importance, and resources. Students (N = 166) of some of those instructors answered questions regarding attitudes toward research. Five major factors organize topics that…

In this article, the author describes an exam review activity in which students answered questions and solved puzzles in order to escape the review session. In a general psychology (100-level) course and research methods in psychology (300-level) course, students solved a series of puzzles and review questions. This format is similar to popular…

Reading and critiquing journal articles is a way in which instructors can promote learning and critical thought among students, particularly in the undergraduate research methods course. However, articles that have survived the peer-review process are often lengthy and have only nuanced drawbacks, rendering them less useful for such pedagogical…