Teaching research methods can be a real challenge, not because the concepts are inherently difficult, but because for many students their first encounter with data analysis software feels intimidating. For a long time, SPSS was the default (and often the only) option, but as open science practices have become more mainstream, a wider range of tools has become genuinely viable for teaching. I increasingly found that SPSS was slowing sessions down and adding unnecessary stress, pulling attention away from the underlying logic of analysis. Over the past couple of years, I’ve therefore shifted the core of my undergraduate teaching to JASP. It’s free, intuitive, and allows students to focus on understanding research design and statistical reasoning rather than wrestling with software menus. In practice, this change has led to clear improvements in both confidence and engagement.
Alongside the software switch, I’ve been rethinking how I deliver content. Instead of long, uninterrupted lectures, I now chunk material into shorter sections and pair them with bite-sized video clips alongside clear textual explanations. Hopefully this approach is more supportive and makes our sessions feel less like a firehose of information. The viewing numbers on these smaller clips are certainly better than when I used to put up the full lectures.
I’ve put these resources together in an open access book (written using rmarkdown) available online at richclarkepsy.github.io/NS5108/. Please feel free to adapt and use as you wish, and if you’d like to collaborate on future version please do get in touch (rclarke8@glos.ac.uk).
Richard M Clarke (PhD) 