Onderzoeksvaardigheden in humane wetenschappen. Cognitieve en motivationele uitdagingen.

The rapidly evolving world in which we live has stressed the importance of complex learning. Consequently, the last decades have seen an increasing interest in the question as how to foster students' complex learning. Among the skills requiring complex learning, are research skills. Over the years, several problems have been observed related to students' research skills level on the one hand, and students' motivation towards learning research skills on the other hand. Consequently, a considerable amount of literature has tackled the question as how to foster students' research skills. However, these attempts are almost exclusively situated in natural sciences domains (Engelmann et al., 2016), leaving behavioral sciences domains understudied. As research skills have been found to be at least partly domain-specific (Fischer et al., 2018), the underrepresentation of such research can be considered problematic. In addition, students' motivation in relation to learning research skills is understudied. To this end, the opportunity arises to investigate the instructional design of learning environments fostering students' research skills in the understudied domain of behavioral sciences, tackling students' cognitive and motivational outcomes. In order to design such learning environments, instructional designers can draw on what is known from research situated in other domains, and on instructional design principles for complex learning (the 4C/ID model; van Merriënboer, 1997). The 4C/ID model has been proven effective for cognitive outcomes, but has seldomly been investigated in relation to motivational outcomes (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018). Combining insights from the research skills literature, complex learning literature and self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the current research tackles the question as how to assess and foster students' research skills and students' motivation towards learning research in the understudied domain of behavioral sciences. In order to assess research skills, a first attempt in this research was to construct a test instrument measuring research skills suitable for the understudied domain of behavioral sciences. Results revealed that the test could be considered a valid instrument. The test was then used in order to investigate the relationship of students' research skills with students' learner characteristics. Results revealed that students' track and grade contributed to students' research skills scores, possibly indicating the importance of instructional characteristics. Surprisingly, students' autonomous and controlled motivation did not contribute to students' research skills scores. A third study was set up adopting the 4C/ID model in order to construct a baseline online learning environment fostering students' research skills. This baseline learning environment was then compared to an online learning environment additively providing support for students' need for autonomy. As was expected, both learning environments proved effective for improving students' scores on the research skills test. However, the intervention did not succeed in manipulating students' motivation. Therefore, a study was set up implementing integrated need support (the need for autonomy, competence and relatedness) in the online learning environment. Although, again, student' need experiences seemed to be unaffected by the condition, students in the need supportive condition reported lower amotivation compared to students in the baseline condition. Students' autonomous and controlled motivation did not differ between the conditions. Theoretical links were investigated between students' need experiences, students' motivation, and students' cognitive outcomes. These findings are discussed in light of the literature.

Jaar van publicatie:2022

Toegankelijkheid:Closed