Undergraduate Research Office, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
PLoS One. 2019 Mar 13;14(3):e0212873. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0212873. eCollection 2019.
Enhancing evidence-based practice and improving locally driven research begins with fostering the research skills of undergraduate students in the medical and health sciences. Research as a core component of undergraduate curricula can be facilitated or constrained by various programmatic and institutional factors, including that of choice. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provides a framework for understanding the influence of choice on student motivation to engage in research.
This study aimed to document the enablers and constraints of undergraduate research at a South African Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) and to explore how the presence or absence of choice influenced students' engagement with research in this context.
An exploratory descriptive design was adopted. Undergraduate students who had conducted research and undergraduate programme staff were recruited through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings were interpreted using SDT, focusing on how choice at various levels affects motivation and influences research experiences.
Many of the programmatic and institutional enablers and constraints-such as time and supervisory availability-were consistent with those previously identified in the literature, regardless of whether research was compulsory or elective. Choice itself seemed to operate as both an enabler and a constraint, highlighting the complexity of choice as an influence on student motivation. SDT provided insight into how programmatic and institutional factors-and in particular choice-supported or suppressed students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, thereby influencing their motivation to engage in research.
While programmatic and institutional factors may enable or constrain undergraduate research, individual-level factors such as the influence of choice on students' motivation play a critical role. The implication for curriculum development is that research engagement might be enhanced if levels of choice are structured into the curriculum such that students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are met.
提高循证实践和改善本地驱动的研究始于培养医学和健康科学专业本科生的研究技能。研究作为本科课程的核心组成部分，可以通过各种课程和机构因素来促进或限制，包括选择。自我决定理论（SDT）为理解选择对学生参与研究的动机的影响提供了一个框架。
本研究旨在记录南非医学院和健康科学学院（FMHS）本科研究的促进因素和限制因素，并探讨在这种情况下，选择的存在与否如何影响学生参与研究。
采用探索性描述设计。通过目的性抽样招募了从事过研究的本科生和本科课程工作人员。对半结构化访谈进行了转录和主题分析。使用 SDT 进行解释，重点关注选择在不同层面上如何影响动机并影响研究经验。
许多课程和机构的促进因素和限制因素，如时间和监督的可用性，与文献中先前确定的因素一致，无论研究是必修还是选修。选择本身似乎既是促进因素，也是限制因素，突出了选择作为影响学生动机的复杂性。SDT 深入了解了课程和机构因素，特别是选择，如何支持或抑制学生的自主、能力和关联性需求，从而影响他们参与研究的动机。
虽然课程和机构因素可能会促进或限制本科研究，但个体层面的因素，如选择对学生动机的影响，起着关键作用。课程发展的启示是，如果选择水平被纳入课程结构中，以满足学生的自主、能力和关联性需求，那么研究参与可能会得到加强。
