Researchers’ Theater: Enhancing Student Engagement in an Introductory Research Course

Figures & data

Table 1. Assignment design elements and their correspondence to student engagement.

Design element	Engagement dimensions	Supporting evidence
Activities led by small groups of students	Affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement for presenters	Planning academic activities for peers requires significant consideration of the topic and enhances the student leaders’ confidence and content knowledge (Hernández Coliñir et al., 2022; Larkin & Hitch, 2019).
	Affective engagement for audience members	Student learners experience a safe, comfortable, and motivating environment during peer-led learning activities (Dennis et al., 2020; Hernández Coliñir et al., 2022; Larkin & Hitch, 2019).
Use of creative media	Affective engagement for presenters and audience members	Novel learning activities may increase student interest and engagement (Ciarocco et al., 2013; Ghani & Taylor, 2021; Squire, 2023).
Low-stakes assignment	Behavioral engagement	Low-stakes assignments enhance class participation and completion of assignments (Schrank, 2016).
Reviewing previously covered content	Cognitive engagement	For progressive topics, ongoing review of concepts may support the integration of learning (Donham et al., 2022).

Figure 1. A Bingo game card created by a Researchers’ Theater group.

Note. During a Researchers’ Theater, each audience member was provided a Bingo game card, similar to the one in this figure. A presenter would verbalize a description of a research concept, audience members would attempt to answer, and then all audience members who knew the correct answer (by honor system) would mark the corresponding square on their game cards. This image is used with the creators’ permission.

Table 2. Student Feedback Survey results for likert scale items.

	Frequency of response
Survey item	Strongly Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree Nor Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Strongly Agree
Researchers’ Theater was fun.	0 0%	1 3%	4 12%	4 12%	25 74%
The Researchers’ Theater activities elicited my active participation.	0 0%	1 3%	1 3%	7 21%	25 74%
The Researchers’ Theater activities provided the right level of challenge for my learning.	0 0%	0 0%	3 9%	11 32%	20 59%
The immediate feedback I received (whether I answered a question correctly) during the Researchers’ Theater activities was helpful for my learning process.	0 0%	0 0%	1 3%	11 32%	22 65%
Participating in the Researchers’ Theater activities as an audience member helped to reinforce and review course content.	0 0%	0 0%	1 3%	11 32%	22 65%
Planning for my Researchers’ Theater led to a clearer and deeper understanding of the target concepts.	0 0%	0 0%	0 0%	20 59%	14 41%

Table

Criterion	Points
Written Summary Group submits completed summary on time	5
Teamwork Evidence of collaboration. All members participate in the implementation	5
Preparedness Evidence of planning. Students demonstrate understanding of target course concept.	5
Total Possible Points	15

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