Teaching Research Methodology between Theory and Practice. Investigating Students' Deficiency

Abstract

Researching in higher education is seen as a way to practice knowledge to enhance one's cognitive, linguistic and methodological skills. From this perspective, this study attempts to investigate the reasons behind students' needs and deficiencies in research methodology. Meanwhile, it highlights the significance of teaching research methodology as a module through the use of both teacher-cantered and learner-cantered approaches. It was conducted at the English department of Ahmad Draïa University. It arose from the observation which stated that the quality of Master dissertation research works is low. We assume that research methodology is the major problem that hinders graduates during their research journey which results in unqualified research works. In order to test our assumption, we collected our data using questionnaires. The qualitative mode was deemed to meet the sub-objectives of the study which are: First, to investigate the relevance, reliability and compatibility of research methodology program and courses to students' needs. Second, to investigate in students' attitudes towards research methodology as a module. Therefore, the sample size consisted of ninety-four students (94) and four teachers of methodology (04). It has been found that the way and the programmed courses of research methodology have an impact on students' performance, on research, affecting both MA and BA students.