Abstract

ORDONEZ MORALES, Oscar. Replicate to Understand: Research Practices for Developing Scientific Reasoning in Psychology Students. Pensam. psicol. [online]. 2014, vol.12, n.2, pp.7-24. ISSN 1657-8961.

Objective. The threefold purpose of this descriptive study was (a) to assess the role played by replication in developing scientific reasoning skills in psychology undergraduate students, (b) to determine whether this teaching strategy contributes to the improvement of comprehension regarding relations between theoretical and methodological aspects involved in the development of short research projects over the course of a term and (c) to determine the extent to which replication improves academic achievement with regard to the content domains included as a part of a cognitive processes course. Method. Student participants were 90 undergraduates recruited from two academic programs in a public university in Colombia. They were asked to carry out three short projects that provided them with hands-on experience of experimental cognitive psychology, design and use of cognitive tasks, data interpretation, reading and writing research reports. Results. They showed that replication contributed to improve students' use of critical scientific reasoning skills such as control of variables and analyses of evidence. Moreover, it was found that the relationship students established between theory and method gradually changed as a consequence of their involvement in replication projects. Furthermore replication was demonstrated to have an effect on students' achievements. Conclusion. These results are consistent with previous studies, especially with regard to the importance of the use of replication as a teaching strategy in cognitive psychology courses. Discussion poses that replication may constitute an encouraging context for students to appreciate the logic of research in experimental psychology.

Keywords : Problem-based learning; comprehension; teaching; Educational Psychology.

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