Teaching Graduate Student Practitioner-Scholars with Affordable Learning Materials (ALMs): Closing the Research-to-Practice Gap

Abstract

The research-to-practice gap is often discussed in higher education, particularly in practitioner-oriented programs geared for adult learners. Instructors are encouraged to design courses that support students to apply what they learn in their courses to their professional practice as “evidence-based practice.” When learning about research methods, students are encouraged to consider both how to use existing research to improve their professional practice and how to conduct new research to solve problems of practice. Course content, such as readings, lectures, and videos, serves as the foundation for this activity. But, which materials actually help students build this connection between the concepts in a research course, using research, and evidence-based practices in their professional lives? How do students learn from course materials to make meaning from them that can be applied outside the classroom? And how can instructors create learning environments that support these activities? In this paper, we examine these questions and present our experiences teaching an online introduction to research methods course as an example. Using Affordable Learning Materials (ALMs), we created an accessible and affordable online course geared toward encouraging students to apply research to solve problems of practice in their own professional lives. In using ALMs, we, as instructors, were forced to step outside the use of traditional, commercial textbooks and consider what may be more beneficial to adult learners. This essay describes a more student-oriented approach to teaching and learning research methods.