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At the front of the classroom, a guy with an intelligent face, thick glasses, and a bitter expression recites phrases from an author with an almost unpronounceable name in the “Methodology of Research” class – a class to sleep through, leave to go out to eat, daydream, or do homework for the following subject. “What good is this class?” the students ask. Well, to pass the grade, of course! It is a typical scene witnessed in high school, prep school, undergraduate universities, and, yes, even in graduate school. The challenge is clear: how to convince these learners that the most boring subject in the world can transform the actions of their daily lives and work into a scientific analysis of reality? In this article, I will discuss the challenges of opening minds in the intricate world of graduate-level research and the significance of personalized mentorship in transforming the degree process.
Over the past three years, I have been an advisor to master’s and doctoral students of diverse ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. The reality is that I do not find a significant difference between teaching them and high school students: they have the same shortcomings. However, it would not be fair to harshly judge their previous teachers in primary, secondary, or higher education because they probably did not know research methodology well. In the best of cases, these teachers may have written a thesis a thousand years ago, but they did not dedicate themselves to research; they devoted themselves to teaching. Remember, in the Mexican educational system, the methodology class is a required but uncomfortable course for graduation. Thus, dear colleague, your graduate students do not know how to do research; they are unprepared for it. And yes, you will have to teach them everything again, becoming a tutor-facilitator to awaken in that amorphous, bland, and ignorant being the critical thinking, investigative spirit, and the power of their own will, with infinite patience.
Common research gaps among students
Entering the world of research methodology requires skills we assume our graduate students have already developed, but this is not always the case. Here are some common academic deficiencies I’ve identified among my prep school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate students.
- Information searches: It is common to find poorly referenced sources in students’ blogs, notes, presentations, and dubious websites, even in theses.
- Involution of copy-paste: It’s the same, but more refined. Students do not know how to use AI as an academic tool; instead, they treat it as a crutch to avoid thinking. It is a more modern version of copy-and-paste. We have moved from direct plagiarism to AI plagiarism, and with it comes the question of how to cite it.
- Comprehensive reading: We know that secondary school students have low analysis skills, but finding this in a doctoral student is alarming, and sadly, it is becoming more commonplace. The PISA 2022 report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that, in Mexico, 47% of 15-year-old students did not attain the minimum reading level proficiency, that is, they could not identify the main idea in a text of moderate length or reflect on its purpose when explicitly indicated. These shortcomings do not disappear with advancing age or degrees. “Teacher, I didn’t understand anything in the text you gave us.” This is a typical sentence from 12-year-old students, and I also hear it from professionals with bachelor’s degrees who are pursuing master’s degrees.
- Following instructions: No matter whether the instructions are written or delivered via video or audio, the student will look at the teacher to explain in detail what they must do at least twice. Don’t be surprised if they tell you they never read, saw, or heard the instructions, or if they ask for guidance shortly before the deadline ends.
- Activity deliverables: Students will allege work, fatigue, extra tasks, academic load, family commitments, etc., when trying to “negotiate” a later delivery date. Also, you will receive crocodile tears and reproaches, such as “Because of you, I am one step away from withdrawing from the course.”
- The highest grade: You may receive a call from your coordinator when the student who did not comply 100% with their activities accuses you of subjectively grading their performance, even if you were clear in the handling of the rubric. The tantrums have evolved: now the students involve a “coordinator parent” rather than a parent directly.
Recognizing these deficiencies is the first step to understanding that academic skills do not come with age, degrees, or work experience. Developing skills, striving, and achieving goals depend on each person. Our students are not buying a degree as if it were a consumer transaction. They decided to be students, so they must assume their roles and the commitments that come with them. This reality requires willingness on both sides: the student must assume their responsibility, and the teacher must provide punctual and personalized accompaniment.
Evolving from academic survival to research awakening
Below, I share some strategies that have worked for me to turn the ordeal of teaching research methodology into discovery, because, as we well know, dear colleague, our students are here, and they should graduate. There are four key actions: 1) transforming theory into practical workshops, 2) gamifying to sustain motivation, 3) offering templates that provide structural certainty, and 4) establishing personalized tutoring that turns teaching accompaniment into a bridge to the degree.
Fewer words and more experience
Forget boring monologues and turn your classroom into a workshop where your students’ professional experience becomes the starting point for investigation. Allow the following:
- Each student should present their research problem or idea in two minutes.
- Encourage their classmates to suggest different methodological approaches.
- Help students align the research design with the real problem to resolve.
- As a team, analyze research protocols based on real cases.
Magic happens when collective intelligence takes action: one classmate sees what the other does not, they question instruments, connect ideas, and refine approaches. Students broaden their methodological panorama and learn to defend their decisions with determination and, incidentally, practice their thesis defense without realizing it. Thus, your class will become a workshop-consultancy where everyone learns from one another, including you.
Let’s Gamify!
If you want to make an adult happy, reward them with a sticker. No kidding. Gamification works because, deep down, we are still children who need a little golden star to feel validated. In your protocol, design a point system for progress, badges for completing the theoretical framework, medals for designing instruments, certificates for data analysis, etc. The dopamine this generates is the same as when we were little, only now this is called “professional recognition.”
Design weekly or monthly challenges, e.g., an escape room, word searches, crossword puzzles, Jeopardy, or invent your own version of “100 Researchers Said.” There are sites like Mobbyt, Educaplay, and Genial.ly that offer pre-designed formats for you and your students to create your own games. You will see how they compete to demonstrate their ability to conduct high-quality research.
Saving templates
Your students need structure, not creative freedom that leaves them lost in the methodological void. Do you remember the “fill in the blank” templates in the book Methodology of Research, 6th edition, by Hernández Sampieri, that made our lives so much easier? These help avoid blank-page syndrome and guide students in writing research items correctly, without starting from scratch (see chapter 3). You can take a few examples, update them, and create fillable forms for each section of the protocol:
- Problem statement template: Have specific spaces for context, delimitation, justification, and research questions.
- Goal matrix: Automatically connect the overall goal with the specific goals and the variables.
- Theoretical framework format: Use a funnel structure, from the general to the particular.
- Step-by-step methodological design: like a cooking recipe, but for research; add a final writing example.
The templates serve as a practical guide to ensure that research writing maintains the correct academic structure, includes all required elements, and saves time while facilitating learning.
Personalized tutoring
In my previous experience working with middle and high school students, I found that personalized support yields measurable results. My postgraduate teaching experience has not been different; the effort has paid off: the students I have taught from one year to date have completed their theses, published, or are in the process of publishing research articles. Personal commitment makes mentoring work. I am a witness to how a professional discovers their potential to share their work experience and turn it into a model for others. Your students need 24/7 support, not isolated weekly classes.
If someone had told me I would end up guiding graduate students to write their theses, receiving messages after hours and on weekends, and taking a few vacations, I wouldn’t have believed it. But here I am, it’s not a complaint. At the end of the day, you choose your path, and mine has brought me to this place, where I work with a heterogeneous group of students aged 25 to 70, with varied academic backgrounds and life experiences. After the COVID-19 pandemic, distance learning became popular, and teachers were forced to adopt digital media. Personally, migrating was not difficult: I completed my master’s and doctoral studies in a mixed modality, so I was no stranger to using platforms such as Meet, Zoom, Moodle, email, and databases.
WhatsApp has been a lifesaver. My reality as a teacher and business trainer does not allow me to take calls; I only receive messages, so I have become an expert at responding promptly, providing feedback, and grading promptly. The chat group has a schedule and rules: all class questions are shared openly; there are no memes, emojis, racy jokes, or anything that could obscure a critical question. The study documents and platform activities are also shared via this means as a backup. I also send audio or video messages to follow up and encourage students.
Be a bridge
Colleague, be willing to learn from your students, especially if you teach at a higher level, listen to them, their experiences are invaluable; question them, do not resolve everything for them; make them reflect. Dear teacher, do not be afraid! Repeat after me: I am not the owner of knowledge, and there is more than one way to reach the goal. Being a bridge involves looking for paths, hosting video calls, answering messages, accompanying the entire process, reviewing, reviewing, and reviewing.
Remember that you, as a teacher, are the first contact, the person they think of when they doubt, get frustrated, or move forward. Therefore, the openness to accompaniment, patience, listening, and willingness you show your students makes the difference. It is not enough to send the activities every week; we must give feedback, correct, encourage, guide, and congratulate. You are already at the top and can see the horizon; it is time to become a means, a bridge, so that others can continue to the summit.
Reflection
We have students who have been living with deep deficiencies since primary education, but we must understand that this is our reality, and it is no use saying they are a generation of glass, apathetic, and spoiled; they are our raw material. It is up to us to transform their vision, awaken their critical thinking, and kindle their curiosity. It takes effort on both sides: teaching students how to be students and providing them with the tools to develop their skills.
The degree is not for a small group of enlightened people, either; the application of the scientific method, which turns a question into a reproducible result, should not be limited to a privileged few. Certainly, not everyone has the means to attain a postgraduate degree, but making it possible should become our goal.
Invite graduates to share how they use their research in their current work, so your students see that it is not just an academic requirement but also a powerful professional tool and a source of personal and social transformation. They will also see that their research has impact and value, and that their thesis ceases to be a mere support for washing machines and dressers and instead fulfills its mission as a gateway to science in the service of society.
It’s deeply satisfying to hear students say, “Doctor, when do we address the next article?” or “I already liked this!” and my favorite phrase, “Thank you for being an inspiration, for helping me believe in myself.” My work as a member of the thesis examination committee has given me the privilege of witnessing adult children hand their theses to their elderly parents and kiss their hands in thanks for the efforts of those who did not even manage to finish primary school. The face of a master’s or doctoral student who has completed his thesis after sleepless nights, fatigue, overcoming the fear of learning to use SPSS, Mendeley, and databases, and seeing his effort pay off is priceless.
About the Author
Ana Lucía Pérez Cano (lucia.cano@ceu16.edu.mx) holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University and is a professor-researcher with more than twenty years of teaching experience at the primary, middle school, high school, university, and postgraduate levels. Currently, she works as a university and graduate professor, curriculum designer, and facilitator in professional training, specializing in research methodology, organizational behavior, and human development. She has participated in the curricular redesign of Master’s and Doctoral programs in Education, integrating competency-based approaches and innovative methodologies.
References
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Editing
Edited by Rubí Román (rubi.roman@tec.mx) – Editor of the Edu bits articles and producer of The Observatory webinars- “Learning that inspires” – Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education at Tec de Monterrey.
Translation
Daniel Wetta
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