Hatch, D. L., Zschau, T., Hays, A., McAllister, K., Harrison, M., Cate, K. L., Shanks, R.A. & Lloyd, S. A. (2014). Of Mice and Meth: A New Media-Based Neuropsychopharmacology Lab to Teach Research Methods. Teaching of Psychology, 41(2), 167鈥�174.
This article describes an innovative neuropsychopharmacology laboratory that can be incorporated into any research methods class. All seven authors are from the Department of Psychological Science, University of North Georgia, USA. The lab consists of a set of interconnected modules centered on observations of methamphetamine-induced behavioral changes in mice. It was designed to simulate the traditional research process by providing students with a set of hands-on activities that guides them from an initial literature review to a final research report. To assess the practical utility of this new laboratory, an empirical study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of the live methods lab with an identical media-based lab. To replicate the observational component for the media-based treatment group, the mouse behaviors during the live lab were digitally recorded. Psychology students from two instructors鈥� research methods courses (n=26 and n=27) participated in the study. Using a pretest鈥損osttest design, participants completed the Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) questionnaire. Results suggest that both the live and the media-based variations of this lab are similarly effective. To facilitate the adoption of the lab, all necessary materials are made available on a dedicated website.