Refocusing Undergraduate Research Teaching

Abstract

While acknowledging the consumer/producer debate prevalant within the teaching of social work research literature, this paper accepts each goal as appropriate for undergraduate research. The paper focuses therefore not on the debate but rather on the task of teaching udnergraduates how to be both consumers and producers of research as necessary correlates of entry level practice and preparation for graduate training. Micro-computes often distinguish progressive educational practices from those considered to be old-fashioned. While micro computers can provide interactive learning, investigative labs, and hands-on experience, they do so mainly in the realm of data analysis. It is argued here that such approaches inadequately address the need for students to obtain comparable experience in the realm of problem conceptualization. This paper reports on a successful attempt to provide equivalent interactive, investigative and hands-on training in conceptualization and discusses curricular ways to strengthen undergraduate research training in this area. Such an approach is helpful in moving students beyond consumption to research production.