“Anyone Could Do This!”: Multiverse as an Undergraduate Psychology Capstone Project

Background Heyman and Vanpaemel proposed “many-multiverses-one-dataset” as a pedagogically sound alternative to traditional undergraduate capstone projects. However, they did not evaluate this model. In our context, capstone projects require a higher level of individualization. Furthermore, project students value choice, autonomy, and ownership. Consequently, we have iteratively developed a variation of Heyman and Vanpaemel's model in which students choose their own effect/dataset for an individual multiverse capstone project. Objective To evaluate student-led individual multiverse capstone projects. Method One cohort of five project students qualitatively reflected on designing, running, and reporting an individual multiverse project in a small group supervision context. We thematically analyzed these reflections. Findings Two themes captured (a) the factors promoting project success (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual) and (b) the outcomes of a multiverse capstone project (the range of skills developed and multiverse's potential contributions to psychology). Conclusion Individual multiverse projects are a meaningful alternative to traditional capstone projects, which do not require the collection of primary data and address many key undergraduate research methods learning outcomes. Teaching Implications We propose an evidence-based recipe for successful individual multiverse projects. In a post-COVID world, all project supervisors should have possibilities like this up their sleeves.