Dr. Catherine Rawn, Professor of Teaching and Associate Head, Undergraduate Affairs, Department of Psychology
After engaging in qualitative research of her own, Dr. Catherine Rawn was inspired to restructure PSYC 217: Research Methods in Psychology focusing on researcher positionality and building a toolkit of research methods and frameworks.
By empowering students to see quantitative methods as one set of tools in a potentially larger toolkit, they are positioned to take responsibility when choosing their research methods, topics, and how they incorporate other frameworks to inform their research.
In addition to reflective practice built into class periods, Dr. Rawn designated one class for a Career Educator from the UBC Career Centre to introduce the concept of career development as a research project.
“When students ask us about our careers, it’s important that they know the path we took in academia is just one of many possibilities.”
Reframing career development as research enabled students to imagine how they can apply the skills they develop through PSYC 217 in a new context. Whether taking an exploratory approach, or beginning with a clear hypothesis, students can collect evidence for and against certain career decisions based on a variety of data sources including qualitative information obtained from informational interviews.
- Identify practical applications of basic concepts in research methods beyond academia
- Apply the method of informational interviews as a qualitative research approach to career development
- Discuss elements of planning for informational interviews, such as identifying prospective candidates, managing pre- and post-interview expectations, and facilitating an effective interview
Learning Activities
Delivery
Large class facilitation, including lecture with Q&A, small group discussions, and individual reflection
Method
The course focused mostly on quantitative research, with some mention of qualitative approaches for comparison. This guest lesson addressed the application of qualitative research within a career development context. Career Educator, Dr. Danielle Barkley, introduced the concept of informational interviews as part of a data gathering exercise for career development, and reviewed strategies for implementation
What motivated you to incorporate this type of activity into your course?
As someone who has made a career in academia and hasn’t written a resume for the purpose of post-graduate job search, I recognized my limitations in supporting students who will pursue careers in different fields. Bringing in an Educator from the UBC Career Centre allowed me to better understand as well as showcase the connection between research methods and career development.
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
If I were to share the information captured in this lesson again in the future, I would incorporate additional active elements to ensure students are leaving with a tangible tool to implement. Additionally, I may add a question focused on applying qualitative research for individual career development to the series of Researcher Notes Reflection activities I already embed in my course.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
If you’re interested in helping students know how to take aspects of what they’re learning in their class into their own career search or career, talk to the Practical Learning Team! Upon sharing my course goals with the team, they were able to provide tailored recommendations that fit my syllabus and approach to teaching. This partnership could be on-going, or a one-time collaboration which you can build upon independently.
Level of Difficulty: Low
Course: PSYC 217 (Research Methods in Psychology)
Number of Students: 192
Delivery: In-person, 2 sections
Time: 50 minutes
Keywords: qualitative research, career exploration, informational interviews
