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words on the cell phone as they walked the maze. The instructor analyzed and shared the
data with the students for inclusion in the Results section and for drawing conclusions in
the Discussion section as to how the findings relate to the possible effects of cell phone use
while driving.
Steps 1, 2, 3: “Literature Review”
For each of these three steps, students read an article on cell phone use and driving. For
each article students then answer 9 to 12 questions pertaining to the goal, methodology,
outcome, and conclusions. These modules expose the students to how to investigate a
question of interest. In class, lecture and discussions draw parallels between the scientific
method and the execution of a research study.
Step 1 (Strayer & Johnston, 2001) sample questions: “What are the two hypotheses
stated that guide the research on cell phone use and driving? (Hint: they
are set in italics in the introduction sections.) What is the focus of each?”
Step 2 (Spence & Read, 2003) sample question: “What was considered the single
task and what was considered the dual task?”
Step 3 (Radeborg, Briem, & Hedman, 1999) sample question: “What was the
principal result of the study as presented in the discussion section?”
Steps 4–10: Conducting, Writing, and Presenting the Research
Step 4: The Introduction
Here students use an “introduction template,” and they fill in the missing information
based on what they learned in Steps 1–3. They also correctly cite the sources, based on
provided APA-style examples (American Psychological Association, 2001), and create a
title page. This module allows the students to see the type of information included in an
introduction, how to write it, and, most importantly, how a hypothesis emerges from
exploring the literature.
Step 5: The Method Section
Students write this section after they conduct or participate in the in-class experiment.
They learn that the purpose of the Method section is to outline how to test the
hypothesis. They learn that it is important to be precise so that another researcher
could duplicate the study. To complete this step, students receive guidelines as to what
information they should include. They use a diagram of a simplified method section to
complete this section.