Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations include managing the power differential that would exist if I am the principle investigator and also responsible for grading the students. They may fear declining participation or their contributions to the study may impact their grades. The students who may be vulnerable (mental health, international students, indigenous) may experience higher risks associated with participation and need to be protected. The participation burden and lost time in class by participation needs to be considered and managed. Each group in the study should experience similar intensity, but different from each other (control vs. experimental) and any benefits of participation are equally distributed, while minimizing the risks. Participants must provide consent to participate while protecting the identity of those who choose not to participate. A letter of consent must also include any intention for secondary use of academic data and also that the researchers will not have access to the data until after final grades have been posted. Data must be secured to protect the privacy of participants and ensure the confidentiality of the data collection timing and dissemination of the results. Data sources must have identifying information removed and must be encrypted if moved through email. Raw data must be stored a minimum of three years (according to my REB) and then destroyed after publication. A colleague with no connection to the course or program could be the intermediary, informing students about the study, recruiting, collecting consent forms and implementing surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups.
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Example for "Ethical Considerations":
https://bank.ecampusontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Design-for-a-SoTL-Project.with-Ethical-Considerations.pdf
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