Rebecca Covarrubias

Top (left to right): Dr. Covarrubias, Lucas Alonso, Andrew O’Brien, Kat Quinteros, Melissa Rodriguez, Jennifer Ochoa, Amanda Sevilla
Bottom (left to right): Janai Dagdagan, Leslie Rodriguez, Michelle Barajas, Paulina Avila, Erica Okene, Xitlaly Reyes

UCSC has long enjoyed a reputation for providing undergraduate students with meaningful opportunities to participate in research. Among faculty exemplars of this tradition, Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias represents a standout. Her version of PSYC 100: Research Methods in Psychology organizes ~300 undergraduate Psychology majors into discussion section-based teams to conduct participatory action research (PAR), a change-oriented framework for generating new knowledge and conducting research in ways that center those who are most impacted by the work. The design of PSYC 100 reflects a servingness structure as it trains the next generation of scholars — many of whom are Latinx, first-generation, and transfer students — in conducting research that can inform practices at UCSC in its capacity as a Hispanic-Serving Research Institution (HSRI). TLC staff recently sat down with Dr. Covarrubias and several teaching assistants (TAs) and undergraduate students to learn more about what they took away from the experience. 

In keeping with Dr. Covarrubias’s course and overall program of research, student projects in PSYC 100 focused on student success. The unique pedagogical strategy behind PSYC 100 brings together a lead TA who works with a team of TA colleagues to guide and mentor undergraduate students through the research design and implementation process. Indeed, the course is a culmination of the collective expertise of dozens of TAs over the years who play a central role in shaping the learning experience for undergraduate students. The research questions and findings are deeply relevant to UCSC students’ lives, and include inquiries into concerns like the intersection of housing affordability and mental health and the impact of campus resources on student belongingness. 

Beyond the relevance of the research, Dr. Covarrubias’s work foregrounds students as highly capable knowledge creators. Lead TA Elise Duffau reflected, “I really appreciated how the course connected to what we’re learning in psychology. It wasn’t just theoretical — it was about applying those concepts to real-world problems.” Echoing Dr. Covarrubias’s conviction that PAR is “something that can make a difference, not just something that sits in journals,” TA Kat Quinteros added, “The PAR approach stood out because it wasn’t just about doing research but being a part of the change process.”

PSYC 100 offered undergraduate students opportunities to cultivate their skills in designing research, collaborating on a team, coding and analyzing data, and communicating their findings across different formats, including research briefs and infographics. Its pedagogical benefits also extended to a more personal level: “I discovered I’m a lot better at public speaking than I thought — I even presented our findings to the class, which was something I never imagined I could do,” recalled one student with pride. Said another, “Being both a student and a researcher gave me a unique perspective. I think it made the work feel more personal.”

Among the aspects of the course that produced a meaningful impact for the students was the chance it afforded them to use their disciplinary knowledge to better understand themselves and their peers, from identity formation to past educational experiences. Notions of belonging came up in several students’ reflections on their learning. In thinking back on the sense of class-level solidarity the course generated, a student noted, “One conversation really stuck with me — it was with a classmate who shared their struggles with feeling included on campus. It made me realize how important our work was.” Students also gained high-level insights into concepts like educational equity. One undergrad shared, “I felt like we were finally understanding what student success really means to different people.”

Dr. Covarrubias’s thoughtful teaching model incorporates multiple layers of support across a variety of roles related to the project. For example, students sometimes struggled with doubts around being first-time researchers. “At the beginning,” one student admitted, “I didn’t feel like I knew enough to take on this kind of project. I was constantly second-guessing myself.” But students learned to avail themselves of caring mentorship from Dr. Covarrubias and the strong TA community to navigate the more complex interpersonal, ethical, and logistical problems that can arise in PAR projects. Students grew in their understanding of the research process, including their central role as producers of knowledge that matters to the institutional work happening at HSIs — knowledge that contains seeds of change with potential for transforming the educational lives of themselves, their classmates, and generations of students to come. 

To explore PSYC 100 students’ work, be sure to check out the website highlighting their results. Organized around 12 “Striking Findings” from the PAR projects, each page provides a brief abstract of the research project, an infographic with key information about the project, and the names of student researchers and relevant resources.