Pedagogical Classroom Research

If you know you wish to use pedagogical assessments for research purposes, you can submit an Application for Exemption for Exemption Category 1 (pedagogical research). Once you receive a determination, you can carry out this project indefinitely over multiple terms or years, provided that the nature and scope does not significantly change.

When considering classroom research, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do I need to use my own students? For example, if studying the impact of service learning in the classroom, are you assessing your specific unit or curriculum, or could you assess a colleague's students or those at another institution who also engage in service-learning activities?
• Will my students sense a power differential that could result in undue influence/coercion? (Voluntary participation must be safeguarded.)
• Could students' non-participation affect their educational experience/assessment (positively or negatively)? (Assigning intervention and control groups within a classroom setting could create imbalances in students' educational experiences.)
• Can I ensure confidentiality of participation and students’ right to privacy? For example, could a student's handwriting on paper instruments reveal individual identities?

• As a matter of practice, engage in a classroom consent process (see Student Consent below) to obtain the right to use course materials for secondary research purposes.
• Don't use course time for research activities that are not part of normal curriculum (see Non-Curriculum below).
• Avoid using any part of a student W-ID number for tracking.
• Monitor students for reluctance and provide easy stopping or withdrawal.
• Have someone else (another colleague or a graduate assistant) help with recruiting.
• If possible, access study enrollment information or data only after posting term grades.
• Comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which means that students must provide written consent for you to use the following materials for research purposes:
  • any personally identifiable information from education records
  • most student work generated in courses (class assignments such as papers or quizzes)
  • However, you may use any data designated as “Directory Information” without consent. You can also access individual student educational record information without student consent if an institutional official with legitimate access (other than you) removes all identifying information before providing you with the data or provides only aggregated data.
• When appropriate, follow recommendations for offering incentives for participation.
• Address considerations if students under 18 (see Minors below) might be part of your population.

If you think you might want to draw anonymously or in aggregate from course assignments for research purposes, you should include a Syllabus Statement in your syllabi to explain your goals to your students.

If you might use FERPA-protected information such as grades, direct quotes or potentially identifiable material, you should obtain signed consent with a short Classroom Consent document.

We recommend including a statement such as the following in your syllabi if you anticipate using student materials for research purposes:

I consider my teaching a scholarly endeavor: what I learn from you in this class can help me improve future courses. I may even draw anonymously from your assignments to create scholarship that helps others who want to improve their pedagogical (teaching) practices as well. If I do so, I will never reveal your identity (name or other information) without your written consent. If you have concerns or do not want me to use any of your coursework, please speak with me. Your decision either way will not impact your grade or class standing.

If you wish to use more extensive information such as direct quotes from assignments or reflection pieces, or other potentially identifiable information, you can print and obtain signatures on a brief informed consent form or create such a form online (e.g., Qualtrics) to retain with your course materials. Be sure to alter any language to fit your intentions and/or if you wish to use identifiable information.

Date:

Purpose of Project:

Our unit on [topic] is part of my ongoing scholarly work to investigate [research objective].

By signing this form, you give me permission to use your informal, reflective, and formal writing in my research on [topic]. For the examples I choose, I will be using pieces of your [writing], and I will use your data anonymously. (That is, I willl know who you are, but no one else will.)

If you don't wish to grant permission, that choice will not affect your grades in this course.

Name (printed):

Name (signature):

When providing incentives to participate in a research project that is not part of normal curricular activities, you always need to give students an equivalent and equitable option. For example, if you wish to provide extra credit points for taking a substantial survey, you could allow students who don't want to participate but who would like extra credit to read a short article and write a paragraph summary. But you shouldn't pose the options of either a short survey or a long article + 2-page reflection.

With subject pools, you should clearly delineate research participation as a requirement in the syllabus, as well as the rationale, which can be unclear to some students. Be aware of promising anonymity with any sign-up system that doesn't allow for it. Instead, use the term "confidential."

When conducting research with a classroom population, you need to distinguish between regular classroom activities that would take place regardless of the research and additional activities related to your other research.

If you wish to collect college student data for projects not directly related to your own classroom curriculum, you should recruit from other populations, ask colleagues whether you can recruit their students in order to avoid any possibility of undue influence, or be sure any other activities take place outside of the normal classroom time. Your students should never feel compelled to participate because they think it will improve their grades or class standing, nor should they lose instructional time for non-course-related activities.

If it's appropriate to use your own students, clarify in writing what students who choose not to participate will do during that time. For example, if you're giving a survey, consider doing it at the end of class and allow non-participants to leave.

WWU students under 18 do not qualify as emancipated minors (a legal term with specific state criteria) for research purposes. As a result, they may not legally consent to study participation.

The HRPP/IRB will consider requests to include WWU students under 18 in research studies on a case-by-case basis, related to appropriate risk assessment and mitigation.

Be sure to acknowledge the known or likely possibility of WWU student minors in your protocol submissions and describe any additional protections. Contact the HRPP if you would like further guidance.