"Teaching research is more than evaluating questionnaires" – Interview with Dr. Kristina Schick

Teaching research - what's the point? Isn't it enough if students get good grades in the end? We spoke to Dr. Kristina Schick, postdoc at the Institute for Didactics and Teaching Research in Medicine, about misconceptions, false expectations and the actual added value of teaching research.

Doreen Pretze (DP): Dr. Schick, hand on heart: what do you actually do all day? Many people think of teaching research primarily as statistics tutoring with evaluation forms.

Kristina Schick (KS): That is actually a widespread misconception. Teaching research is much more than just evaluating whether students are satisfied with lectures or seminars. Our aim is to find out: Which teaching methods really work? Under what conditions do students learn not only facts, but also complex content or skills?
We also investigate psychological factors such as empathy, emotional intelligence and stress levels. For example, we ask ourselves: How does stress influence learning performance? Or: What role do attitudes play in the doctor-patient relationship? This is all part of our field of research - traditional evaluation is only a small part of it.

DP: That sounds very complex. Can you give us a specific example?

KS: Gladly. Let's take the topic of stress. Last winter semester, we carried out a project called SP-Rea . It was about the connection between the experience of stress and performance in resuscitation training. We investigated which stressors - such as darkness, loud noises, crowds or even smells - increase stress. At the same time, we measured how these factors affect resuscitation performance. The next step is then to ask: how can we help students to deal better with such stressful situations? In the end, it's not only the trainee doctors who benefit from this, but also patient safety as a whole.

DP: So you could say that teaching research is a science in its own right?

KS: Yes, definitely. I would describe it as a sub-discipline of educational science - just applied to a specific field, such as medical training in our case.

DP: What qualifications do you need to work in educational research? Do you have to have studied medicine?

KS: Doctors can of course also work in teaching research, but the classic route tends to be via psychology, education or educational science. I myself have a degree in empirical educational research and later specialized in medical didactics. A background in nursing science can also be helpful. Above all, it is important to acquire methodological skills - in other words, to know how to investigate research questions empirically.

DP: To conclude: How would you summarize the benefits of teaching research in one sentence?

KS: Teaching research not only shows us whether students are satisfied with a course. It helps us to understand how students can learn more effectively - and whether teaching actually leads to a gain in skills or a change in attitude.

DP: Thank you very much for the interview. We are looking forward to seeing what projects will follow next!