An investigation of psychological investigations

Successful psychology students are required to understand and apply skills and concepts from research methodology from the outset of their undergraduate career. These transferrable skills are central to accredited psychology courses, and are also highly desirable to future employers. Psychology is a science which attracts a diverse cohort of students from arts and science backgrounds, however, which can present difficulties to students and challenges to educators. To help students to master research methodology, I propose a module with a new, applied approach, Psychological Investigations. This would provide a bridge between the current first year undergraduate psychology modules: Introductory Psychology and Research Methods. In so doing, students would be encouraged to link their learning from across their curriculum. I describe how the module is supported by pedagogical theory, primarily though research-based teaching and contextualised learning which are thought to encourage a deeper learning approach.