Rock Adam J, Coventry William L, Morgan Methuen I, Loi Natasha M
School of Behavioural, Cognitive, and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale NSW, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2016 Mar 10;7:339. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00339. eCollection 2016.
Generally, academic psychologists are mindful of the fact that, for many students, the study of research methods and statistics is anxiety provoking (Gal et al., 1997). Given the ubiquitous and distributed nature of eLearning systems (Nof et al., 2015), teachers of research methods and statistics need to cultivate an understanding of how to effectively use eLearning tools to inspire psychology students to learn. Consequently, the aim of the present paper is to discuss critically how using eLearning systems might engage psychology students in research methods and statistics. First, we critically appraise definitions of eLearning. Second, we examine numerous important pedagogical principles associated with effectively teaching research methods and statistics using eLearning systems. Subsequently, we provide practical examples of our own eLearning-based class activities designed to engage psychology students to learn statistical concepts such as Factor Analysis and Discriminant Function Analysis. Finally, we discuss general trends in eLearning and possible futures that are pertinent to teachers of research methods and statistics in psychology.
一般来说，学术心理学家都意识到这样一个事实，即对许多学生而言，研究方法和统计学的学习会引发焦虑（Gal等人，1997年）。鉴于电子学习系统的普遍性和分布式性质（Nof等人，2015年），研究方法和统计学的教师需要了解如何有效地使用电子学习工具来激发心理学专业学生的学习兴趣。因此，本文的目的是批判性地讨论使用电子学习系统如何能让心理学专业学生参与到研究方法和统计学的学习中。首先，我们批判性地评估电子学习的定义。其次，我们研究与使用电子学习系统有效教授研究方法和统计学相关的众多重要教学原则。随后，我们提供基于电子学习的课堂活动的实际例子，这些活动旨在促使心理学专业学生学习诸如因子分析和判别函数分析等统计概念。最后，我们讨论电子学习的总体趋势以及与心理学研究方法和统计学教师相关的可能的未来发展方向。
