International Journal of Medical Education.

2015;6:47-55
ISSN: 2042-6372
DOI: 10.5116/ijme.5523.2b9e

How do students' perceptions of research and

approaches to learning change in undergraduate
research?
Rintaro Imafuku, Takuya Saiki, Chihiro Kawakami, Yasuyuki Suzuki
Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan

Correspondence: Rintaro Imafuku, Medical Education Development Center, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
E-mail: rimafuku@gifu-u.ac.jp

Accepted: April 05, 2015

Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed to examine how students’ knowledge construction processes. Furthermore, acknowl-
perceptions of research and learning change through edgement of the linkage between research and learning
participation in undergraduate research and to identify the processes indicated an epistemological change leading them
factors that affect the process of their engagement in re- to take a deep approach to learning in undergraduate
search projects. research. Themes included: an inquiring mind, synthesis of
Methods: This qualitative study has drawn on phenome- knowledge, active participation, collaborative and reflective
nography as research methodology to explore third-year learning. However, they also encountered some difficulties
medical students’ experiences of undergraduate research in undertaking group research projects. These were at-
from participants’ perspectives (n=14). Data included semi- tributed to their prior learning experiences, differences in
structured individual interviews conducted as pre and post valuing towards interpersonal communication, understand-
reflections. Thematic analysis of pre-course interviews ing of the research process, and social relationships with
combined with researcher-participant observations in- others.
formed design of end-of-course interview questions. Conclusions: This study provided insights into the poten-
Results: Phenomenographic data analysis demonstrated tial for undergraduate research in medical education.
qualitative changes in students’ perceptions of research. At Medical students’ awareness of the linkage between research
the beginning of the course, the majority of students ex- and learning may be one of the most important outcomes in
pressed a relatively narrow definition of research, focusing the undergraduate research process.
on the content and outcomes of scientific research. End-of- Keywords: Undergraduate research, perceptions of re-
course reflections indicated increased attention to research search, approaches to learning, continuing professional
processes including researcher autonomy, collaboration and development

Introduction
Research activity is considered one of the high-impact necessary for future professional practice. Inquiry and an
educational practices in that the vital skills and attitude for evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach are complimen-
lifelong learners can be cultivated through inquiry.1-3 tary processes in that they include recognition of important
Undergraduate research was defined as any teaching and questions, search for the best research evidence, critical
learning activity in which undergraduate students are appraisal of the evidence, and application of the evidence to
actively engaged with the research content, process or practice.10-12 Modern clinicians, therefore, have to under-
problems of their discipline.4 That is, research is not merely stand both the principles of research and how evidence is
pursuit of academic career and advancement of knowledge derived.13
(i.e., content). Rather, it also includes an aspect of learning Integration of EBM elements into the undergraduate
process.5-7Development of research skills is also important medical curriculum now has increasing significance. For
in health professions education.8,9 instance, in the first edition of Tomorrow’s Doctors issued in
Research activities by undergraduates are a powerful 1993, the General Medical Council (GMC) urged innova-
way of enhancing medical students’ basic skills and attitude tion in UK undergraduate medical curricula in order to
47
© 2015 Rintaro Imafuku et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use of
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Imafuku et al.  Learning through undergraduate research

reduce direct instruction of factual content and provide Method

more inquiry-based, student-centred learning environ-
ments.8 One radical change was the introduction of exten- Research approach
sive student choice of study modules, which is currently Qualitative research methods were used for this study,
termed ‘student selected components’ (SSCs). Basically, which was particularly underpinned by phenomenography.
these curricula provide medical students with opportunities The rationale of drawing on phenomenography in this
to select study areas of interest and to pursue what they study is that the changes in people’s ways of interpreting the
want to know through inquiry. This can potentially be nature of research generally take place through their own
pedagogically effective vehicles for critical appraisal and experience of research and interaction with others.20 Phe-
research skill development.13,14 Likewise, in Japan, 63 out of nomenography allows an examination of “the ways in
80 medical schools have implemented a research-based which people experience, conceptualise, perceive, and
course in the undergraduate curriculum.15 Although the understand a phenomenon from their own perspectives.”21
duration, study area and assessment method are different Investigations with a phenomenographic orientation thus
among the schools, the common educational purpose is to focus more on exploration of what is experienced and how
provide opportunities leading to the development of re- it is experienced (i.e., “second-order perspective”) than
search skills and basic skills necessary to continuing profes- description of the world itself (i.e., “first-order perspec-
sional development. tive”).17,20,21 Within this setting, students’ learning processes
Although research activity as an educational practice in undergraduate research are not analysed in terms of what
has been increasingly employed in a variety of disciplines as students learned or remembered but rather attends to the
well as in diverse cultural contexts, students might relationship between students and the phenomenon. In
take different preferred approaches to learning across particular, we briefly describe how phenomenography
cultures.16-19For instance, Asian students have been por- interprets a relationship between students’ approaches to
trayed as typically passive, uncritical and rote learners. learning.
Asian students’ strong perceptions of teachers as knowledge Phenomenography enables a mapping of the qualitative-
providers are considered one of the influential factors that ly different approaches to learning that students adopt.
affect their passive participation in a classroom.16 On the Students’ approaches to learning are not regarded as the
other hand, there is a paradox between such a description of personality traits or fixed learning styles, but determined
Asian learners and their academic attainment.17-19 Marton through interaction of a student with a specific learning
and Dall’Alba indicated the qualitatively different ways of context.22 Phenomenographers have identified three main
experiencing learning in different cultural contexts.19 Given types of approaches to learning: deep, surface and strategic
the variation in ways individuals experience various phe- approaches.22-24 A deep approach to learning involves
nomena, it is important to understand how Asian learners relating new ideas to previous knowledge and examining
participate in a student-centred learning environment. As the logic of the argument critically, and leads to under-
students need to undertake a collective research project in standing and long-term retention of concepts. Thus, learn-
this study, mutual engagement is essential to the process of ers who take a deep approach to learning primarily focus on
undergraduate research. seeking meaning. In contrast, a surface approach to learning
While there is a plethora of discussions on learning is associated with information reproducing. For instance,
outcomes in undergraduate research based on the findings students who take a surface approach to learning try to
underpinned by a quantitative research paradigm, few make use of rote learning, memorize information needed
studies have examined epistemological changes in research for assessment, take a narrow view and concentrate on
and learning through qualitative analysis of students’ detail. A strategic approach to learning is taken to obtain
research activity.13 Therefore, this study was undertaken as high grades and other rewards. The learning strategies of
an initial investigation into this area. A better understand- this approach include identifying the assessment criteria
ing of students’ research experiences from an emic view- and estimating the learning effort, following up all suggest-
point allows educators to clearly identify why and how ed readings, and using previous exam paper to predict
research activity promotes meaningful learning. Further- questions. Although deep and surface approaches are
more, identifying factors that affect students’ research mutually exclusive, a strategic approach can be linked to
activity can provide important practical implications to either, that is, surface-strategic or deep-strategic approach.
effectively encourage and facilitate research opportunities These three pre-identified categories were examined simul-
for students. In order to make contribution to this gap in taneously with the more inductive labelling process.
the literature, this study aimed to investigate 1) how stu-
dents’ perceptions of research and learning change through Research site
participation in undergraduate research; and 2) what factors Generally, Japanese medical schools have a 6-year under-
affect the process of their engagement in undergraduate graduate curriculum which consists of general education
research. (the first year), pre-clinical studies (the middle 2.5-3 years),

48
and clinical clerkships and preparation for national board obtained students’ consent to observe their learning activi-
examinations (the last 2 years). Sixty out of 80 Japanese ties. These observational data were rigorously analysed to
medical schools implement a research-based course in the gain emic understandings of the context of student research
pre-clinical study periods.15 activity and to inform the development of the second (post)
The context of this study was Gifu University School of interview guide as to more closely situate it to each individ-
Medicine. There was a mandatory course of “Research ual’s context.
Experience” in which all third-year students (n=106) Each participant was invited to be interviewed twice
selected a 10-week subject or two 5-week subjects from 23 during the course. The first interview (pre) was conducted
research themes of basic, social or clinical medical sciences, in the second week of the course, and the second interview
such as anatomy, legal medicine and paediatrics, and then (post) was in the final (fifth or tenth) week of the course.
pursued a research topic of interest. It predominantly Each interview lasted around 25 to 45 minutes, and was
involved project work, and there were no other classes audio-recorded. Japanese transcripts were translated into
during the ‘research’ weeks to detract from their learning English by the first author.
experiences through inquiry. As a summative assessment, In the first interviews, we attempted to elicit infor-
they were required to give poster and oral group presenta- mation on students’ prior experiences, perceptions of
tions in front of all third-year students and faculty in the research, understanding of student roles and on-going
final week. experiences in this programme. Prior research findings in
Medical education research was a 5-week course in phenomenography have informed the first interview
2013, and was altered to a 10-week course in 2014. Class schedule.22,25 In the second, follow-up interviews, we fo-
meetings (2-3 hours) were basically scheduled three days a cused on eliciting information on challenges which they
week, and the rest of class time in a week (21 hours) was found in the process of undertaking a group research
allotted to self-directed research activity. In every class, project; their approaches to researching; perceived benefits
students were encouraged to discuss research design and to of undergraduate research; and; changes in their percep-
give a progress report. Academic staff in medical education tions of research and learning. Moreover, we also asked
centre participated as mentors who encourage students to some questions which were informed by the observational
undertake a research project as autonomously as possible. data (e.g., I felt you participated more actively than before.
Why did your participation pattern change over time?).
Participants
A purposive sampling was adopted, and 14 third-year Data analysis procedures
medical students (9 male, 5 female: S1-S14) who selected Interview data were qualitatively analysed based on the
medical education research in 2013 or 2014 agreed to principles of phenomenography as an empirical approach to
participate in this study. They conducted medical education describing the qualitatively different means of people’s
research projects about medical students’ perceptions of experience.19, 21 There are seven common steps of data
career choices, learning experiences in PBL tutorials, or analysis in phenomenography.26 The first step is familiariza-
gender differences in perceptions of career and family tion in which the researchers need to read through tran-
among students. S1 has had some research experience as a scripts to become familiar with empirical data and obtain a
student research assistant and S8 holds a Master’s degree in sense of the whole. The second step involves compilation of
psychology. However, the rest of participants has little answers from all respondents to a certain question. The
experience in conducting research. most significant elements in the answer need to be identi-
In order to achieve the consistency of research context, fied here. The third step is a condensation of the individual
we carried out data collection only in the medical education answers to find the central part of longer answers. The
centre, because the course structure varied according to the fourth step contains a preliminary grouping, and the re-
research field, such as the role of tutor and dura- searchers allocate answers expressing similar ways of
tion/frequency of class meeting. This study was approved by understanding the phenomenon to the same category. The
the Institutional Review Board at Gifu University. fifth step is a preliminary comparison of categories with
regard to similarities and differences. The sixth step consists
Data collection of labelling to express the core meaning of the category. The
This qualitative study drew upon methods of direct obser- seventh step is a contrastive comparison of categories.
vation and semi-structured interviews. Observations allow Comparing the categories through a contrastive procedure,
for insight into contexts, relationships and behaviour by the unique character of the categories and its relationship
better understanding what participants do. The first author between them are described.
as a participant observer in the two academic years of the Following these steps above, the data were carefully
study made records to capture the details of students’ reviewed multiple times by the research team, and we
participation in the course. To deal with observer effect, we inductively generated salient categories. In this process, peer
did not reveal the specific focus of the observation, but debriefing was used as a technique to establish credibility

Int J Med Educ. 2015;6:47-55 49

Imafuku et al.  Learning through undergraduate research

and validity of the data analysis. That is, the authors worked life in that research tended to be regarded as an activity only
together on the coding of data to prevent some critical by people who pursue academic career, such as postgradu-
problems of analysis, such as misinterpretation of data and ate-level and faculty-level:
vague descriptions of coding. Member checking was also
undertaken to confirm whether researchers’ interpretation “I don’t feel familiar with research activity because I haven’t
of interview data was congruent with what participants conducted it. Since I think research is an activity for becom-
ing academics, I’m not really interested in conducting re-
intended to express.
search, and it is irrelevant to medical students, who want to
Results actively take part in clinical practice, not research position,
in the future, like me.” (S2, Group 1, Week 2, 2013)
Changes in perceptions of research
In addition, medical students in this study conceived
We examined Japanese medical students’ reflection on and
research as experiment, hypothesis testing or lonely activity
perceptions of their experiences in undergraduate research.
of scientists. The term “research” tended to give the medical
In particular, the focus of the data analysis was on under-
students a certain impression in association with science
standing how students’ perceptions of research changed
experiment.
through their experiences of conducting research a project
and how the change in epistemological belief regarding
“In my understanding, research is to make a microscopic
research relates to students’ approaches to learning. The
study in a scientific laboratory all the day. There is no
labelling procedures (see below) produced two core catego- chance to communicate with others. So, I have a negative
ries, ‘content-oriented’ and ‘process-oriented’ approaches to impression that research is a lonely activity.” (S6, Group 2,
study. Contrastive comparison indicated that, of the total Week 2, 2013)
number of 14 students, 10 students’ perceptions of research
(S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S7, S8, S10, S11, and S14) qualitatively “I think that research means verifying hypotheses through
changed from ‘content-oriented’ to ‘process-oriented’ ones repeated same experiments. So, it is conducted so as to re-
during the undergraduate research course. The remaining veal the truth logically based on objective data. I feel it bor-
ing and time consuming.” (S13, Group 3, Week 2, 2014)
four students’ perceptions of research (S6, S9, S12, and S13)
remained ‘content-oriented’. In what follows, we detail the
Lastly, their perception of research was related to its out-
establishment of these categories and the result of contras-
come and output. Students emphasized “an epoch-making
tive comparison.
discovery” and “advancement of knowledge” as keywords
Students’ perceptions of research in Week 2 regarding research. They tended to regard research as
scientists’ activity which presents new perspective of a
As to students’ perception of research at the early stage of
certain study field and solution to complex problems. That
the programme, three main themes emerged from the first
is, at the early stage of the research project course, the
(pre) interview data: irrelevant activity to undergraduates’
majority of participants in this study thought that under-
life, research methods and outcomes (Table 1). In the first
graduates’ life was unrelated to research involvement:
interview, the majority of students expressed a relatively
narrow definition of research, focusing on the content and “Research is conducted in order to advance knowledge in
outcomes of scientific research. your academic field, such as medical sciences. I think publi-
Table 1. Summary of students’ perceptions of research in cation of journal article and conference presentation can be
Week 2 central to research activity.” (S10, Group 3, Week 2, 2014)

Themes Codes “For me, research means discovery of what nobody knows or
invention of new devices. I haven’t conducted research be-
Irrelevant activity to Unfamiliar activity
fore, so it’s just my impression, but I research works would
undergraduates’ life No appeal
be achieved by the limited great figures, experts, in academic
Research Methods Experiment
fields.” (S12, Group 3, Week 2, 2014)
Hypothesis testing
Data gathering
Students’ perceptions of research in final week (tenth or fifth
Research outcomes Advancement of knowledge
New attempt and discovery of truth
week)
Solutions to problems Data analysis of the second (post) interview showed their
Academics’ activity increased attention to research processes, including auton-
omy, collaborative working and knowledge construction
In response to what students mean by research in the first processes. Furthermore, through participation in research
interview, some students were not clear about what research project, they realised that research has something to do with
is due to their less experience of conducting research. They learning process in their own context of studying at the
said that research was irrelevant activity to undergraduates’ medical school. That is, their perceptions of research were
50
related to experiment, solitude and exhaustive work in research could be seen as not a special activity of scientist
Week 2, whereas they could view research as social and but a daily activity of people.
cognitive processes of daily activity in the final week. Table
2 provides a summary of their perceptions of research in the “Investigating on your own initiative is pivotal to conduct-
final week. ing a research project. So, research is to investigate what I
want to know on my initiative. In the first interview, I said I
Table 2. Summary of students’ perceptions of research in the had no idea about research, but now I feel research can in-
final week clude not only scientists’ work but also our daily activity of
learning.” (S2, Group 1, Final week, 2013)

Themes Codes
As students in this study were engaged in research work as a
Linkage of research and Pursuing a subject of interest
learning
group, some participants viewed research from a social,
Process of understanding the reality
Extension of learning activity interpersonal perspective. In the first interview, research
Motivation and An inquiring mind was seen as scientist’s lonely activity, whereas students
autonomy Active contribution mentioned in the second interview that research was
Collaborative working Mutual engagement collaborative work. S3 said:
process Identity as a member
Knowledge construction Synthesis of evidence “All group members needed collaboratively work to find out
process Identification of the principle our own way to attain the shared goal of the research pro-
ject. It is important for each member to actively make con-
As shown in Table 2, students recognised the linkage of tribution to the research project. I needed to understand
how I could contribute to group work, like my own role in
research and learning through participation in research
this group. Before I participated in this course, I thought
project. In Week 2, they perceived research and learning as
research should be done alone, but now I realize that re-
separate activities. Specifically, research was viewed as an search also includes group work, and collaborative work
irrelevant activity to undergraduates’ life and also as an with members is really essential to the research project.” (S3,
activity which was undertaken only by someone who Group1; Final week 2013)
pursues an academic career. However, they began to relate
the process of research to their learning experiences during From a cognitive perspective, research was viewed as a
the course. S2 said: knowledge construction process by them in the final week.
S14 said:
“Recently, I gradually became aware that the processes of
learning might be similar to those of research. Like, it in- “I could realise that research includes the processes of inte-
cludes investigation of what I want to know, information grating a variety of data into the meaning, and presenting
gathering necessary to the goals, and a study meeting with the findings to people. It was very difficult to answer our
my friends outside classroom. I think what I did in our re- research questions based on such an extensive data obtained
search project was exactly congruent to the process of learn- from interview and questionnaire survey and we struggled
ing.” (S2, Group 1, Final week, 2013) to interpret those data, but I noticed that this process of
thinking was research.” (S14, Group 3, Final week, 2014)
In addition to students’ awareness of linkage between
learning and research processes, research could be viewed as Therefore, analysis of interview data shows that students’
process of inquiry by them in the final week. Students said perceptions of research have changed qualitatively through
that researcher autonomy or inquiring mind is a core experience in conducting research.
concept of research. S11 emphasised the importance of
inquiring mind in doing research: Relationship between perceptions of research and
approaches to learning
“Research is a process of approaching to the truth, which is
driven by your inquiring mind. For example, we researched Deep approach to learning
students’ perceptions of career choice as medical doctor and
Students who could have a process-oriented perception of
family, umm, sharing housework with partner. People’s per-
research took a qualitatively deeper approach to learning
ceptions vary according to their background, and we
couldn’t draw one definite conclusion from data. However, I during the course. Five themes regarding deep approach to
really enjoyed working in this process, and my inquiring learning emerged from the analysis of interview data:
mind made me participate more actively in the research inquiring mind, synthesis of knowledge, active participa-
project.” (S11, Group 3, Final week, 2014) tion, collaborative learning and reflective learning.
Firstly, their inquiring mind intrinsically motivated
S2 said that researcher’s autonomy during the research their engagement with the research. As S4 mentioned, he
process is important for inquiry. Moreover, he noticed that did not feel that he was forced to do the research project by

Int J Med Educ. 2015;6:47-55 51

Imafuku et al.  Learning through undergraduate research

someone in a mandatory course. Such motivation has led to Lastly, each student continuously reflected on the progress
their deep approaches to learning. of their research work, their underlying belief on research
and areas of improvement in order to attain the shared
“I have a research stance that seeks what I want to know for goals. For instance, S5 attempted to better understand the
its own sake. Now, I’m not reluctantly doing research under nature of qualitative research during this course, and he
someone’s instruction. Rather, with tutor’s advices, I’m car-
noticed that this reflective process actually led to his mean-
rying out the research on my own initiative, umm, pursue
ingful learning.
what I want to know for my own sake.” (S4, Group1; Final
week 2013)
“During the research project, I was always thinking of what
qualitative research is and how I could qualitatively analyse
“I want to do further investigation by interviewing with the
data obtained. This kind of reflection on what I did and
students which can be useful for a deeper analysis of PBL. I
repeatedly thinking of qualitative research connected to
felt only questionnaire was not enough to better understand
meaningful learning. Although I couldn’t find out the exact
their attitudes toward PBL.” (S7, Group 2; Final week
answer during this course, this was a good experience for
2013)
me.” (S7, Group 2, Final week, 2013)

Secondly, students expressed synthesis of knowledge which

S1 tried to improve the consistency of their work through
is a more complex cognitive process in Bloom’s taxonomy.27
reflection on the research purposes which were discussed at
For instance, S11 fully enjoyed drawing a conclusion from a
the early stage. S1 acknowledged the importance of reflec-
large amount of data. S11’s comments implied that interpre-
tion in doing research:
tation of the phenomenon involved comparison, integration
and categorisation of data: “It was very important to take the consistency of the re-
search into account. Don’t forget what we originally wanted
“I felt really interesting in interpreting the common or dif- to know and clarify. When I was stuck with research plan-
ferent ideas on family and career planning among male and ning and data analysis, I always reflected on what we dis-
female medical students from extensive data obtained cussed with respect to research questions in Week 1.” (S1,
through interviews and questionnaire survey. Apparently, I Group 1; Final week, 2013)
supposed that those data were not interrelated, but, in fact, I
realized that there was a story on what human being is be-
Strategic approach to learning
hind the data.” (S11, Group 3, Final week, 2014)
Students who had only a content-oriented perception of
Thirdly, in transition from direct instructional context to research tended to take a strategic approach to learning,
student-centred learning context, necessity of active learn- which aims to earn the (highest possible) grades of the
ing was strongly acknowledged by them. In doing research course, such as well organised study methods and effective
project, students needed to collect and analyse data on their time management.23 However, there was a slight change
own initiative in order to investigate what they want to from surface-strategic to deep-strategic approaches. For
know. S4 said: instance, at the early stage of research project, S6 attempted
to manage what he needed to do in his group by minimal
“I’ve got used to obtaining knowledge by listening to teach- effort and only followed tutors’ suggestions. S6 stated:
ers since I was a child. It was a kind of first time to work out
a plan for the research project by ourselves. I realised the “I felt my ideas were not insightful, and I couldn’t effectively
importance of actively study something in my career as a make contribution to the group work. That’s why I focused
medical doctor through research design, data collection and on just listening to others and following others’ suggestions,
analysis in the course.” (S4, Group1, Final week, 2013) which was the most efficient way of completing the task.”
(S6, Group 2; Week 2, 2013)
Fourthly, in the context of collaborative work, the im-
portance of teamwork was also emphasised. Although S3 His main focus was on finding an efficient way of complet-
felt it difficult to make contribution to the group work, she ing the task in this course. He did not build knowledge
realised that sharing her opinions can be essential to elabo- through active interaction with members but keep quiet to
ration of research planning and data analysis in group. avoid interrupting others’ discussions. However, as he
experienced a group situation where others were stuck and
“Through research, I realised the importance of expressing there was frequent silence during research planning, his
my opinion explicitly. At the beginning, I hesitated to do it, approach to research project appeared to change to a deep-
because I worried if my opinion would be off the point in the strategic approach. S6 stated:
group discussion, but now I can say any opinions can con-
tribute to the research work, which can be also related to “I started to think that I had to share my opinions in our
teamwork.” (S3, Group 1, Final week, 2013) group, otherwise we couldn’t finish this project on time.

52
 When they were completely stuck in the meeting, I strongly analysis. It was hard for them to obtain a clear image of
felt that I needed to do something. Once I made contribu- what research is and what to do next during the course. S7
tion in the discussion, I started to enjoy participating in this commented:
project.” (S6, Group 2; Final week, 2013)
This was the first time to conduct qualitative research, so we
Although his main aim was to complete the task and to couldn’t even imagine what it is, and I didn’t know what to
obtain safe grade in this research course, he could take a do next in the research process. If we had to carry out re-
leadership in the group and share his opinions more search project by ourselves, I had no idea, like what I should
actively. do. (S7, Group 2, Final week, 2013)

Factors affecting students’ engagement with The fourth factor is social relationships with tutors and
undergraduate research peers. They sometimes felt that their participation was
restricted by tutors’ presence and instruction. S11 said:
This study identified four main inclusive factors which led
to the Japanese medical students in this study expressing “I think tutors had a strong presence. I know a tutor’s opin-
practical difficulties in the course: ion can be better than ours. I wasn’t confident enough to
express a thoughtful opinion in group discussions. So, some-
 Prior learning experience times I waited for tutor’s suggestions rather than sharing my
 Values towards interpersonal communication idea.” (S11, Group 3, Week 2, 2014)
 Understanding of research process
 Social relationships with tutors and peers Furthermore, some students found it difficult to identify
The first factor is their prior learning experiences. Students their own role in the group. For instance, S1 who was a
identified a gap in the instructional approaches between more experienced member struggled to find a way to
their prior learning experiences and undergraduate re- effectively contribute to the group work. S1 said:
search. In Week 2, most students regarded learning as an
“I have to find a suitable position in the group. It was diffi-
activity where students are taught by a teacher’s highly
cult to identify my own role in this group. I felt other mem-
structured direction and provision of knowledge. On the
bers were getting more independent, not relying on me. So, I
other hand, undergraduate research is a more open-ended, need to think about how I can contribute to this group.” (S1,
inductive and student-centred activity. They appeared to Group 1, Week 2, 2013)
struggle to work out the research project due to this peda-
gogical gap. S2 said: This interview excerpt shows that identity formation as a
member is a key element of students’ research activity,
“There isn’t a clear answer in advance, and no one will give particularly in a collaborative learning context.
an answer in doing research project. We have to build up
hypothesis, and to verify it, we need to collect relevant data, Discussion
and then analyse them in depth. So, research is totally dif-
This study has drawn on phenomenography as research
ferent from learning. It puzzled me what to do in this re-
methodology to explore students’ experiences in under-
search project.” (S2, Group 1; Week 2, 2013)
graduate research from the lens of study participants.
The second factor is their values of interpersonal communi- Specifically, the focus of this study was on examining how
cation. Although students acknowledged that active partici- research experiences informed students’ perceptions of
pation was essential to their research project work, they research and approaches to learning. Whilst all students
tended to hesitate in active self-expression in the group. The were originally identified as aligning to a ‘content-oriented’
major source of their reticence was not their fear of making approach to studying, by the final week of the research
mistakes itself, but an anxiety of whether they would disturb project, ten out of 14 students in this study changed percep-
the collective work. For instance, since S6 highly valued tions of research to a process-oriented view. By tracing
intelligible explanation, he could rarely give uncertain changes in perception over time, data analysis revealed that,
information in the group. S6 said: through participation in research project, their approaches
to learning became qualitatively deeper, (-an inquiring
“I’m a poor talker by nature, and I don’t want to bother
mind, synthesis of knowledge, active participation, collabo-
others by sharing my uncertain idea. When I was not fully rative learning and reflective learning). Although four
confident, I tended to hesitate to make contribution to the students’ perceptions of research remained content-
discussions.” (S6, Group 2; Week 2, 2013) oriented, their strategic approaches to learning were also
qualitatively changed. Although students took different
The third factor is an understanding of research process. approaches to learning in the undergraduate research, this
Practical difficulties during the research process include study fully described the processes of changes in their
information searching, literature review, data collection and perceptions of research and approaches to learning.

Int J Med Educ. 2015;6:47-55 53

Imafuku et al.  Learning through undergraduate research

This study found that students’ perceptions of research were individual-morally, personally, psychologically, and emo-
(re-)formed through their actual research experiences, and tionally, as well as cognitively”.33 Learning journals and
these epistemological changes led to the adoption of deep feedback are effective ways to further enhance their reflec-
approaches to learning in this course. The findings con- tive learning in undergraduate research. In particular,
curred with the previous studies which specified the key provision of feedback from tutors is essential for promoting
learning outcomes related to research skills.28,29 Specifically, students’ deep approach to learning.
two types of learning outcomes would be expected in Learners’ cultural assumptions in relation to a collective
research-based education.28 activity are considered one of the elements that shape new
The first type is professional skills learning outcome learning process.34,35 In this study, students’ values towards
which includes management of resources and time, self- interpersonal communication were highly influential in
directed learning, and communication skills. Students in their research experiences. Students addressed some diffi-
this study could regard research as an activity with inquir- culties in self-expression during the discussions, for in-
ing mind and mutual engagement within the context of stance, S6 said that “I don’t want to bother others by sharing
“Research Experience” course. Thus, a given context, my uncertain idea”. Such a tendency came from not only
perception, and approaches to learning are reciprocally their limited experience of student-initiated learning but
related.23 also their values that prioritise a collective activity. Howev-
The second type is research skills learning outcome er, as they recognised the importance of active self-
which includes critical appraisal and synthesis of evidence, expression in the group, the influence of their cultural
formulating a research question and study design, data assumptions gradually diminished. Medical educators need
analysis and management.28-30 This learning outcome is to understand that learning is shaped through students’
fundamental not only to pursuing a research career but also ongoing participation, and they can adapt to the new
to the routine practice and scholarly activity of all clinical learning context. Therefore, Japanese students, like other
professionals. Therefore, introduction of research-based Asian students, cannot simply be categorised into a stable
education into the early undergraduate curriculum allows perception of quiet, passive and dependent learners.
medical students to cultivate both research-specific skills Exploring the process of individuals’ participation allows
and transferable skills, which are basically necessary for for better understanding variation in their ways of knowing,
continuing professional development.31 The corroboration doing and being a member in a context of student-centred
of this phenomenological study’s findings with those from classroom.
prior studies on undergraduate research in medical educa- An important aspect of facilitating students’ active
tion indicate that collaborative research-based education participation in research lies in keeping a balance between
should be implemented at the level of medical undergradu- tutors’ intervention and students’ autonomy at each step of
ate curriculum as an essential springboard for becoming a the research process.5,36 This study found that as the rela-
medical professional. Findings from this study also demon- tionships between tutors and students in undergraduate
strate that students’ awareness of the links between research research were socially dynamic, the roles of tutor needed to
and learning is an important outcome in undergraduate be defined according to students’ prior research/learning
research.32 Through the research experience, students in this experiences, the quality of research questions set by the
study could identify the vital link between research and students, and difficulties encountered during the research
learning. For instance, S2 mentioned in a final reflection process.4-7 A better understanding of cultural, social or
that “I feel research can include not only scientists’ work but experiential factors that affect students’ research activities
also our daily activity of learning”. As development of are, thus, critical for enhancement of their active learning
research skills is seen as an underlying principle in all through undergraduate research.
education, learning through research is also pivotal to
health professional development.13,28 Specifically, the Conclusion
inductive process of inquiry is closely connected with the Medical education studies in undergraduate research to
principle of lifelong learning, clinical reasoning and EBM date have tended to focus on students’ perceptions of
approach.10 Thus, research activity as an educational prac- research and curriculum descriptions of research-based
tice provides undergraduates with an opportunity not only education. This phenomenographic study revealed qualita-
to understand how the research process can contribute to tive changes in students’ perceptions of research and
the advancement of knowledge but also to enhance their approaches to learning over time through observation of
research skills and active learning. and reflection on their on-going participation in the re-
Research activity promotes students’ active and reflec- search project. Although the sample size appeared to be
tive learning. In this study, some students were regularly relatively small, these findings could provide insights into
reflecting on the progress of their research project and their the potential for undergraduate research in health profes-
own contributions to collective learning. Branch and sions education, which can further enhance students’
Paranjape stated that “reflection leads to growth of the deeper approach to learning and cultivate their basic skills
54
necessary to continuing professional development. Fur- 15. Association of Japanese Medical Colleges. Japanese medical education.
Tokyo: Association of Japanese Medical Colleges; 2014.
thermore, this evidence in this study can be a springboard
16. Cortazzi M, Jin, LX. Culture of learning: language classrooms in China.
for making more elaborative exploration of students’ In: Coleman H, editor. Society and the language classroom. Cambridge:
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Acknowledgments Erlbaum Associates Inc; 1997.
18. Marton F, Watkins DA, Tang C. Discontinuities and continuities in the
We are grateful to the students who participated, and
experience of learning: an interview study of high-school students in Hong
shared their experiences with us. Kong. Learning and Instruction. 1997;7(1):21-48.
19. Marton F, Dall’Alba G. Memorising and understanding: the keys to the
Conflict of Interest paradox? In: Watkins DA, Biggs JB, editors. The Chinese learner: cultural,
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. psychological, and contextual influences. Hong Kong: Comparative
Education Research Centre; 1996.
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