Abstract
The teaching of courses related to research has become a significant part of the requirements for the award of degrees for students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. There are however some technical complexities with the materials used for some of these courses which have resulted in students’ having low interest in the subject area and therefore, low transfer of knowledge from lecturers to students. This paper examines the factors which influence students understanding of research methodology and the effect quality teaching has on student’s performance in research methods courses. The data for the study were collected from 113 MBA Year 1 and Year 2 students of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) - University of Sierra Leone (USL); out of 118 that registered for the course in 2010/2011 Academic Year. Other statistical tools used for the study are the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Pearson Correlation. The study revealed that the Cooperative learning method adopted by students assists them in better understanding Research Methods Courses. Also, quality of teaching has significant influence on students’ performance in research methods. The paper concludes that it is important to develop early in students - critical thinking, necessary research skills and sound pedagogy that would result in production of quality dissertation.