Research skills

One of the significant challenges of the university today is the growth and expansion of the research student population. Research training and doctoral education has exploded around the world, including doctoral education in the creative and performing arts. This development has occasioned many debates – none of them simple. Positions intersect, overlap, concur, and contrast. This paper examines several key issues about the doctorate and doctoral study to ask what aspects of doctoral writing ought to remain the same across all fields.

A challenge to the value of referencing and citations is sometimes heard in design research circles. This challenge questions the value of good referencing and citations to research and practice in design. This article will address the misunderstandings that give rise to these challenges. This article outlines the foundations of referencing and citation. It clarifies central issues in referencing and citation. It discusses literature review as an exercise linked to good referencing and it offers resources and tools for design research. Most important, it discusses the role of evidence in analyzing and solving problems in design research. While some design problems involve taste and interpretation, most design arguments rest on statements of fact. Statements of fact have truth-value established by evidence. References make evidence accessible distinct from the person and claims of the writer. By providing evidence for reasoned argument, good referencing and citation serves both the field of design practice and the discipline of design research. Good referencing is central to the growing literature of design research for four main reasons: reasoned argument, access to common evidence, building the field, and improving the intellectual and practical quality of the discipline.

"With the complexity of today’s business transactions, accountants are continuously challenged to cope with the changes to survive in the profession. Such changes require academic institutions to emphasize the development of knowledge and skills among accountancy students.

This paper focuses on the development of three skills: analytical, communication, and research skills in the accountancy education as perceived by Accountancy students and faculty members. Using the data from the surveys gathered from accountancy students and faculty members of De La Salle University, results show that all problem solving, evaluating and interpreting financial data/systems, business cases, and design of theoretical questions discouraging memorization are perceived by students to be highly significant to the general development of analytical skills. On the other hand, faculty members only perceive business cases, evaluating financial systems, and design of theoretical questions to be significant in the analytical skill development. Despite this result, both students and faculty agree that problem solving is the number one factor in the development of the skill, while on-the-job training is considered to be the least factor.

In terms of communication skills, students perceive all areas such as oral communication, written communication, non-verbal communication, and listening skills, with the exception of essay writing, to be highly significant with the general evaluation of communication skills. Faculty members, on the other hand, perceive writing essays, debates, and graded recitation to be highly significant factors in the development of the skill. It was also found out that preparing written reports is the number one sub-skill that develops the communication skills, as evidenced by high mean scores.

For research skills, all factors such as awareness on plagiarism, reference to other school materials, basic and applied research, taking research methodology courses and other related subskills are highly significant as perceived by students. Faculty members perceive only preparing basic and applied research, feasibility and industry studies, and formal course on research methods to be the highly significant factor in the development of research skills. It also noted that awareness on plagiarism and reference to other school materials are the main factors in the development of the skill, as perceived by students and faculty members, respectively.

Students perceive Mandatory CPE programs to be helpful in the development of ACR skills, whereas faculty members do not. While the notion that the development of ACR skills is developed more through experience than classroom learning are not highly significant to both faculty and students, students placed high significance on DLSU’s participation in the development of the skill in contrast with the faculty perceptions. At the end of the paper, conflicting opinions as to why the development of ACR skills is hampered in accounting education are presented. 

Future research for this study should be geared towards formulation of policies and programs toward the development of ACR skills, increasing the geographical scope of the study, the consideration and assessment of other skills necessary in the accountancy profession.

N.B. This paper was written for the course ACT612M (Philosophy of Science and Scientific Methods) taken during Term 3, SY 2005 - 2006. Please do not cite. Thank you."

The accurate assessment of research self-efficacy may help identify a given self-identified strengths and weaknesses with respect to research, thereby facilitating research training and guidance. This study focused on the Master Teachers' (MTs) skills and attitudes towards research as basis for research capability building program for MTs in the Schools Division of Zambales. The study used the descriptive-survey design. The data gathered were organized and processed through the SPSS. Majority of the MTs were middle aged, female and married, earned MA/MS units, and have served as Master Teacher I for 1-4 years. A very small percentage of the MTs have attended research-related trainings or conferences and undertaken, published or presented researches. They have average skills in searching, using and evaluating information including their awareness on the various sources of information and where to obtain them. They have fair skills in designing experimental study as well as selecting and developing research instruments, choosing appropriate statistical tools and preparing manuscript for publication. They strongly value training in educational research but moderately apply research findings to real life context. They have high regards relative to the value of doing research to become better educator. Time, efforts and resources in learning about research findings were essential elements to create positive attitudes towards research. A research capability training program is hereby proposed as the output of the study. The program consists of various levels from lectures, hands-on workshop, and writing research articles for colloquium and for possible publication.

How can we develop competence in research and professional practice? This essay tries to answer the question from the perspective of critical systems thinking, that is, through an approach that aims to promote reflective research and practice. The paper is written for research students and practitioners in different professional fields. It addresses them in a direct and personal way.

Note: This article is a considerably expanded version of the Lincoln School of Management Working Paper No. 22 of June 1998 (also available in this site).
A further-expanded and updated version was prepared for Ulrich's Bimonthly, July-August 2017 (Vol. 15, No. 4, 28 August 2017) and is equally available in the Academia.edu site, see Section "Philosophy for Professionals – on Good practice," entry "Ulrich, W. (2017)".

After more than a decade of teaching the course of research skills, I believe that the need for reference works on proposal writing for students and researchers is an essential handout. Not only to acquire the ability to write successful researched proposals but also to share my experience with them. The purpose of this review is to screen research skills literature to identify how and why proposals are written. Ultimately, to provide a document that guides students and researchers to write an effective proposal for their research projects. I found following accredited proposal guidelines will help to produce an effective successful document. However, there is no one single format but general template. Every institution, journal or funding agency has its own format. But all have this sequence: introduction, objectives, methodology, workplan, budget, references and annexes. 1) Background: There is no single formula for a strong effective proposal. There are a number of precepts that are consistently found in successful proposals. The sooner one learns them, the better. (1) When a social scientist desires to conduct an experiment, he first develops a proposal. The proposal introduces the problem, the significance of a study as well as the experimenter's research question and hypothesis. It also gives a brief explanation of the theory guiding the study, a review of relevant literature pertaining to the theory, and the procedure for the experiment. (2) The goal of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a research problem. As well as, to show design elements and procedures for conducting the research. It goes without saying the proposal must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. (3)

Aim: This paper considers how changes in the research landscape are simultaneously changing the skills needs of library staff, and opening up new opportunities for researchers to pursue careers within libraries. It explores what skills, competencies and knowledge staff with doctoral qualifications can bring to library research support services. Context: Librarians working in research support areas need different skills to the skills academic librarians have traditionally needed. There is currently a gap in the training which those undertaking professional librarianship qualifications receive, in relation to the skills needed for research roles. Simultaneously , expansion in the numbers of PhD students in the UK in recent years has been accompanied by the professionalisation of researcher skills development , equipping students with transferable skills for careers outside, as well as inside, academia. Methodology: This paper compares the skills' needs of research librarians with the competencies and skills of doctoral graduates, specifically in the UK context (as articulated in the Vitae Researcher Development Framework). It also surveys and discusses the skill-set and qualifications of research support staff employed at three UK research libraries. Results: Understanding the needs and, importantly, the behaviours, of researchers is integral to the provision of a successful library research support service. Many of the skills which are necessary for library graduates to have, are those that are already identified as essential researcher skills. The peer-level support offered by library staff with research backgrounds has a role in developing stronger relationships between the library and the academy.

Reading comprehension depends on how students approach texts. Too often students are not told or forget why they have to read what is assigned to them. This can lead to a lot of frustration. After all, reading critically is very different from reading for facts. Analyzing descriptions is also very different from analyzing analysis. Sociological texts, like Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Weber’s Economic & Society (1978), Durkheim’s Rules of the Sociological Method (1982) and Goffman’s Behavior in Public Places (1963), cannot be read like a newspaper. This guide aims to assist undergraduates seeking a critical education in learning how to tackle reading the kind of writing that is dense as a necessity of the arguments themselves. Rather than seeking to reduce it to “plain language”, students can break in down into its orders and classes of abstraction such that the arguments reveal themselves. Instead of emphasizing the instrumental task of coursework, as in the idea of higher education as “knowledge factories”, through briefing, this pedagogy offers a means of showing students how to read for understanding and patience. This prepares students for class discussions where instructors can have students compare their points of confusion, interpretations, and contrast the outlines the students produce. Sample briefs are provided to illustrate the differences formatting makes in sharing understanding with others. By showing students these samples, it is hoped that students will understand that expectations are set high not because instructors are trying to be difficult or “hard graders”, but because of the obligation to assist students in learning to think for themselves. This concludes with a grading analysis of the sample briefs to give students insight into the challenges of evaluation faculty face when grading.

What key research competencies will researchers and professionals need to have in the future? Summary and critical discussion of a comparative study undertaken by two major international consulting companies on the situation in eight research-intensive countries.

This article considers digital curation in doctoral study and the role of the doctoral supervisor and institution in facilitating students' acquisition of digital curation skills, including some of the potentially problematic expectations of the supervisory relationship with regards to digital curation. Research took the form of an analysis of the current digital curation training landscape, focussing on doctoral study and supervision. This was followed by a survey (n=116) investigating attitudes towards importance, expertise, and responsibilities regarding digital curation. This research confirms that digital curation is considered to be very important within doctoral study but that doctoral supervisors and particularly students consider themselves to be largely unskilled at curation tasks. It provides a detailed picture of curation activity within doctoral study and identifies the areas of most concern. A detailed analysis demonstrates that most of the responsibility for curation is thought to lie with students and that institutions are perceived to have very low responsibility, whilst individuals tend to over-assign responsibility to themselves. Finally, the research identifies the most common types of support system for curation and suggests ways in which students, supervisors, institutions, and others can effectively and efficiently address problematic areas and improve digital curation within doctoral study. The International Journal of Digital Curation is an international journal committed to scholarly excellence and dedicated to the advancement of digital curation across a wide range of sectors. The IJDC is published by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of the Digital Curation Centre. ISSN: 1746-8256. URL: http://www.ijdc.net/ Copyright rests with the authors. This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution (UK) Licence, version 2.0. For details please see

Desde una perspectiva analítico-reflexiva las instituciones de educación superior (IES) deberán cuestionarse ¿de qué manera el currículo aprovecha las potencialidades de las tecnologías de la información y comunicación (TIC) y el internet para el desarrollo de competencias de los universitarios?. Particularmente las IES deberán reconocer el paradigma de la educación mediada por tecnología (EMT) asociado con los procesos cognitivos, la usabilidad pedagógica de las TIC y las competencias para la investigación, lo anterior con el propósito de establecer la fundamentación didáctico-pedagógica para el empleo de los recursos digitales y tecnológicos en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, así como para la formación de jóvenes investigado- res. Por otra parte, el paradigma de la EMT deberá explicar ¿de qué manera internet contribuye con el desarrollo cognitivo?, es decir, ¿cómo la usabilidad tanto de las TIC como de la red de redes (www, por sus siglas en inglés) estimulan los procesos de pensamiento básico y avanzado de los universitarios? y ¿de qué manera impacta en su desarrollo de habilidades para la investigación formal?. Así mismo, resulta apremiante que las IES clarifiquen ¿cómo el empleo deliberado de internet se deberá insertar en su planeación curricular?, permitiendo valorar los aportes didácticos de la mediación tecnológica, así como su relevancia para el logro de los objetivos de aprendizaje.

Palabras clave: Competencias universitarias, desarrollo cognitivo, TIC, formación de investigadores, planeación curricular.

There is a growing concern in scholarly literature indicating that college students struggle with conducting research and using information effectively (Head, 2013; Lawrence, 2013; Head & Eisenberg, 2011). This research study examines the elements and causes of information illiteracy from a secondary education perspective. The methods used assess the information literacy skill levels of high school juniors, intervene with information literacy instruction, and evaluate the merit of the intervention. The project purpose is threefold: (1) establish a baseline of students’ ability to seek, use, disseminate, and communicate information; (2) determine what instructional strategies (including self-paced resources, collaborative instruction, and assessments) will increase student capacity to locate and integrate information; and (3) measure student and teacher perceptions of the importance of information literacy.Currently, the Common Core State Standards Initiative (2012) treats information literacy as a skill component to be integrated into the curriculum. Since there is not a state-sanctioned assessment examining information literacy within North Carolina, this study will serve as a springboard for capturing data related to information literacy. Whenimplemented at the district level, this intervention method will use existing standards (specifically curriculum) to increase student readiness for career and college-level course work.

Students from equity backgrounds face particular challenges seeking out and accepting professional workplace experiences while studying. These can include maintaining part-time work commitments in light of financial hardship, managing mental/physical health difficulties, and other factors. The First Year Experience Unit used HEPPP funding in 2012 to create a paid research internship program, based on action learning principles, specifically for equity students. The key elements in action learning are learning through action and experience, and questioning and critically reflecting on the learning experience. Through tackling ‘real problems in real time’, the student interns learned about themselves, discovered and enhanced new skills, and participated in experiences that transformed them personally, professionally and intellectually. This paper offers a description of the program, outlines the highly successful outcomes, and suggests a framework for other institutions. The discussion will address development issues, strategies in promotion of these programs and a model for successful implementation.

La actitud hacia la investigación es un tema a tomar en cuenta para quienes desean iniciar a los estudiantes universitarios en el mundo de la investigación, ya que los prejuicios y actitudes negativas pueden obstaculizar el aprendizaje. El objetivo de esta investigación fue diseñar y validar un cuestionario para evaluar la actitud hacia la investigación en estudiantes universitarios. A partir de la técnica de redes semánticas, se creó un cuestionario de 28 reactivos, que fue aplicado a 212 estudiantes de Psicología de 3 universidades. Se obtuvo un Alpha de Cronbach de .726 y en el análisis factorial resultaron  2  factores  (actitud  positiva  y  negativa)  que  explicaban  el  30.24%  de  la varianza. Se encontró que los estudiantes de primer año tienden a tener mejor actitud hacia  la  investigación  y  esta  va  disminuyendo  conforme  avanzan  en  la  carrera.  En conclusión, el cuestionario mostró valores psicométricos aceptables para su uso.

The present paper intends to focus on research training in Moroccan universities through investigating doctoral students' perceptions of this training and drawing conclusions and suggestions for the improvement of higher education research practices. This study used a mixed research method with an explanatory survey design. First, a survey was conducted with 144 Moroccan doctoral students to answer research questions on the integration of research courses in undergraduate curriculum, the quality of this research training and the difficulties facing students while conducting research. Then, interviews were carried out with 40 subjects to seek further explanations and triangulate data obtained through the questionnaire. The findings of this study indicate that doctoral students receive little practical training in research prior to starting doctoral studies. Thus, they undergo a myriad of challenges while writing their doctoral theses as they lack autonomy when it comes to carrying out their investigations. Most often these challenges are linked to narrowing the scope of their research, using appropriate methodology, and publishing their research findings. Besides, the students reported difficulties linked with the quality of supervision they get and the lack of financial support to conduct their research in optimal conditions. Based on these findings, some practical implications and recommendations have been drawn.

The ability to design appropriate experiments in order to interrogate a research question is an important skill for any scientist. The present article describes an interactive lecture-based activity centred around a comparison of two contrasting approaches to investigation of the question Can you smell fear?  A poorly designed experiment (a video clip from the TV series Brainiac Science Abuse) is considered alongside the methods used in a peer-reviewed paper examining the same issue. The exercise is applicable both for students in their later years of secondary education and during the first year of a university-level bioscience course.

Background. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the process by which a clinician evaluates the quality of evidence before applying it in the management of a patient. Many practitioners struggle to integrate this research-based evidence into their professional practice. Blogs have been identified as useful pedagogical tools that can facilitate the sharing of ideas and clinical experiences among peers to reflect on diverse learning experiences.
Objectives. A qualitative research design was used to examine the use of reflective blogging to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy.
Methods. A conveniently selected group of postgraduate students who were registered for an EBP module participated in the study. Blogging was used to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy using Kolb's cycle as a guiding and an evaluative framework. Students reflected on and shared their learning experiences in ways that exposed the limits of their understanding around certain concepts.
Results. The results reflect how students moved from assisted to independent performance by identifying gaps in their own understanding and finding the answers themselves.
Conclusion. Reflective blogging was found to be a valuable tool for promoting meaningful learning activities among participants and assisted students in making sense of their shared experiences. It was also an effective tool to be used in teaching the process of EBP

In this article, the authors, based on a process developed in the context of US higher education, demonstrate a model for undergraduate student research skill development that involves academic staff writing collaborative book reviews with undergraduate students and librarians, especially librarians that are also academic staff with relevant content expertise. This model can and should be modified to fit various disciplinary contexts and academic circumstances, potentially around the world. The authors acknowledge that this model will be more useful for academic staff in the social sciences and humanities as compared to the so-called hard or natural sciences. The authors reimagine book reviews based on the notion of ‘scholarship as conversation’ in library science. As evidence, the authors describe the origins of this unique collaborative process and document the impact of academic staff, librarians, and undergraduate students partnering to increase the academic rigor of book reviews. Contributing to scholarship at the intersection of research skill development, information literacy, and embedded librarianship, this article identifies a strategic opportunity for collaboration that makes writing reviews more engaging and educationally productive for students, academic staff, and librarians.

Each language we have on earth seems to possess peculiarities that could bring us a lot of joy if ever correctly isolated, since we could be associating those with skills, and some of those skills might be priceless for those pursuing careers in Science. It is impossible to deny that each people could be described through a set of unique characteristics. Maybe it is time to talk about unique and supplementary skills that come associated with those descriptions because maybe it is time to have our systems turning to the side of perfecting and matching those skills to the point where we can select individuals in a way to optimize the processes involved in the resolution of major human problems, such as crime.

De enero a diciembre del 2004, desde los proyectos del CEPROS se fomentó, proactivamente, a través de capacitación EN EL TRABAJO, el desarrollo de competencias para la recolección, procesamiento, análisis y exposición de información en ciencias sociales.  Al finalizar el año, se procedió a certificar estas competencias.  El documento muestra diferentes modelos de informar sobre ello, por escrito.

In the current article, I describe a case of experiential learning that can be used to enhance learning, students’ research skills and motivation in academic institutions. We used the already existing process of hackathons – intense computer programming events – and conducted a social science research marathon. Fifty-two graduate students participated in the event working in seven research teams for 12 straight hours. The teams designed and ran empirical experiments ‘from scratch’ under a specific challenge (the Israeli elections) and then collected data, analysed it and shared their results. Our main goals were: (a) to enhance participants’ research skills and (b) to strengthen their intrinsic motivation through hands-on experiential learning, and finally, (c) to conduct high-quality empirical research that could be the basis of peer-reviewed scholarly articles if further developed. According to a post-event survey, all three goals were fulfilled successfully.

Se presenta la base de datos, conteniendo información recolectada a través de entrevistas estructuradas, de estudiantes a cargo de proyectos de investigación, en la División de Ciencias Sociales, Economicas y Administrativas de la UQROO en Chetumal.  En un ambiente académico formal que gira sobre el profesor, estas investigaciones, a menudo no reconocidos como tal,  adoptan la forma de trabajos parciales y finales de cursos, tesis, monografías, informes de estancias e informes de servicio social, entre otros.

Contributo presentato al VI Congresso CUCS (Coordinamento Universitario per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo) tenutosi a Trento dal 19 al 21 settembre 2019, durante la sessione parallela "Practices for engaging students in international development cooperation activities". Il lavoro presenta l’esperienza didattica realizzata, a partire dall’anno accademico 2015/2016, all’interno dell’insegnamento “Pedagogia Sociale dello Sviluppo Umano e Cooperazione Internazionale”, del corso di studi magistrale LM-57/85 in Scienze dell’Educazione degli Adulti, della Formazione Continua e Scienze Pedagogiche dell’Università di Firenze.

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of wiki tool and Google Drive in enhancing the motivation, project work, and research skills of the twelfth graders of a public school in Lebanon. The subjects of the study were one English as a Foreign Language EFL group (n=17) whose ages range from 16 to 19 years old. The data were collected by means of two questionnaires and the subjects’ projects, and Google Drive surveys. The findings conveyed that the subjects revealed great motivation towards group work and projects upon using the wiki tool and Google Drive, and proved that the structure of the wiki allowed for language learning, and the Google Drive helped students quickly obtain the data required for their project's findings. The researchers' recommendations are urging the teachers of all levels to use the wiki tool

To prepare students to face the world of work, universities should ensure that engineers graduating from their campuses demonstrate entrepreneurial skills and the ability to understand market forces alongside domain knowledge. This exploratory study focused on the design, application, and evaluation of a research-based coursework assignment in a business communication course offered to undergraduate level engineering students at a university college in Oman. The assignment aimed at developing students' entrepreneurship skills, basic business concepts, creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and research skills. Student perceptions on the role of assignment in developing the above-mentioned skills and in influencing their affective domain were gathered using a survey questionnaire carrying closed and open-ended questions. The data were analyzed using SPSS and frequency tables were generated. The results of the survey revealed that the students enjoyed working on the assignment and showed strong agreement for most of the items on the role of assignment in developing their skills and knowledge. The assignment model used in this study can support teachers in designing assessments that target the development of entrepreneurial skills alongside other meta-skills and can help solve the problem of unemployment in due course.

There is sometimes an assumption that students coming onto post graduate study programmes have a good firm grounding in research skills and in particular that they recognise academic papers and are able to administer proper referencing techniques. Whilst this should certainly be the case in most circumstances, given the increasingly diverse international nature of the post-graduate cohort, this is not always so and quite often, it is necessary to instil and affirm these skills within the student cohort very early in the academic programme.
This paper shares our experience of engaging post-graduate students in a niche research sub-domain in cyber security. Students were required to perform a literature survey and review ten papers relevant to the domain. Their efforts contributed towards a portion of the module assessment mark. The task was designed to push students towards identifying papers that sat at the edge of the disciplinary domain and encouraged them to think about the interdisciplinary nature of some aspects of the subject domain.
A reward and penalty system was applied wherein points were awarded for identifying unique papers and penalties applied if other students had found a similar paper or if students reviewed irrelevant papers. A larger penalty was applied for papers that were not considered relevant to the domain or if papers were incorrectly referenced.

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of wiki tool and Google Drive in enhancing the motivation, project work, and research skills of the twelfth graders of a public school in Lebanon. The subjects of the study were one English as a Foreign Language EFL group (n=17) whose ages range from 16 to 19 years old. The data were collected by means of two questionnaires and the subjects' projects, and Google Drive surveys. The findings conveyed that the subjects revealed great motivation towards group work and projects upon using the wiki tool and Google Drive, and proved that the structure of the wiki allowed for language learning, and the Google Drive helped students quickly obtain the data required for their project's findings. The researchers' recommendations are urging the teachers of all levels to use the wiki tool and Google Drive as vital tools to enhance students' motivation and collaboration skills.

Serious games are games with a purpose beyond entertainment and are widely acknowledged as fruitful tools for learning and skills development across multiple domains, including specifically educational enhancement. ‘How To Fail Your Research Degree’ is a serious game developed to deliver knowledge and understanding of research processes and techniques, within the context of a postgraduate training programme at Glasgow School of Art which guides students transitioning from undergraduate to Masters. Development focussed on encouraging creativity and risk-taking within a safe game environment and learning by (potentially) failing. Intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are to: highlight various risks of research projects and suggest their impact on projects; reinforce dependencies between tasks at different stages of research; directly reinforce the interrelations of different risks with the activities taken to negate or ameliorate them; and replicate the time-critical nature of short resea...

Introduction: Scientific studies and their publication have always been messengers for future advances in medicine, as the primary tool for technological and scholarly advances in the field. They are an integral part of the professional life of specialists working in a university. Creating your own scientific publication of any kind is often an undervalued activity whose procedural stages and significance remain insufficiently known. The path to the final publication can be a monotonous and extensive process. While the road to a final draft could be tortuous and monotonous, the pace and mood of walking it are heavily determined by the researcher’s motivation. Postgraduate scientific work in academia is an area less preferred to a clinical career, and not favorite for medical graduation students. The main goal of higher education is to prepare students for work, so the introduction to scientific thinking is an important factor for better results in the professional field. During thei...

Background: The importance of medical research in developing academic and clinical excellence is widely acknowledged. Obstacles
hindering research in primary care include negative attitudes, lack of dedicated time, funding shortages, and a relative paucity of mentors.
Residency is the appropriate stage for developing research skills and encouraging research performance. In this article, we describe an
intensive research training program offered at the family medicine (FM) Department, Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel.
The program aims to engage residents in FM in constructing a research protocol to provide them with a positive experience, help them
to overcome barriers, and enhance their research performance. Methods: Learning is achieved through a course design that includes
the following six components: (1) course website: a platform for online collaborative learning; (2) inverted classroom: theory is learned
through website video lectures and presentations during resident’s own time according to a guided schedule, while weekly classroom
sessions are dedicated to step‑by‑step implementation of theory, group discussion, and individual mentoring; (3) Peer feedback; (4)
personal mentoring; (5) presentation of the protocol to peers and senior department staff at the end of the course; and (6) evaluation of
protocol presentation and engagement during the research course as well as possibilities for further development. Results: Five teams of
residents went on to conduct full research projects. Their studies have been presented at seven national and three international conferences,
and one has been published. The outcomes of these studies have been useful in FM practices and have inspired residents to continue
scholarly work in our department. Discussion: Innovation in teaching methods enhances engagement in learning research skills among
residents and may encourage them to conduct research in primary care.