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The Ohio State University Consent to Participate in Research
| Study Title:
Protocol Number: |
Amplifying Stories: An Arts-based Empowerment of Students and Instructors toward Equity/Excellence in Undergraduate Chemistry Instructional Laboratories
2024B0210
|
| Researcher: | Dr. Matt Wu |
| Sponsor: | The Ohio State University’s Kirwan Institute |
This is a consent form for research participation. It contains important information about this study and what to expect if you decide to participate.
Your participation is voluntary.
Please consider the information carefully. Feel free to ask questions before making your decision whether or not to participate.
Purpose:
This study is a collaboration between arts-based research and chemistry education research. The research team invites students enrolled in the first and second semester of general chemistry to express their experiences learning in the instructional laboratory via storyboards. You are being asked to potentially engage in this research because the research team wants to respectfully honor and amplify your unique stories. By better understanding student perspectives through art, chemistry education researchers and practitioners can be more responsive via redesigning curriculum, assessments, and instruction to advance greater equity and excellence in introductory chemistry courses. Your potential participation is crucial for transforming chemistry so that the learning experience can truly be for all.
Procedures/Tasks:
This study consists of two phases. Phase one involves students voluntarily producing two storyboards. One storyboard should convey specific and interconnected moments in the instructional laboratory in which students feel empowered as a chemistry learner. The other storyboard should convey similarly specific and interconnected moments in the instructional laboratory in which students feel marginalized as a chemistry learner. How empowerment and marginalization are defined is entirely dependent on the student. Both of your submitted storyboards will be used for research purposes. Phase two consists of optional one-on-one, semi-structured interviews in which students will be asked to articulate their storyboards and ideas about chemistry learning in greater depth. The interview can be conducted in-person or via Zoom and will be audio-recorded for research purposes.
Duration:
Given that part of this study involves students producing art via storyboards, the time involved in said process is highly dependent on the individual person. Nevertheless, the research team anticipates a maximum of six hours spent on producing two storyboards, a maximum of one hour for conducting the optional interview, and a maximum of one hour for potential member checking (i.e., checking and confirming researcher interpretation and/or ideas). In total, the research team expects a maximum of 8 hours that a potential participant may commit for all procedures to be performed throughout this study.
You may leave the study at any time. If you decide to stop participating in the study, there will be no penalty to you, and you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Your decision will not affect your future relationship with The Ohio State University.
Risks and Benefits:
Although there are minimal risks involved with this study, there may be some feelings of self-consciousness, anxiety, frustration, or other negative feelings due to the reliving of certain events when producing the storyboards; hearing certain questions during the interview; or knowing the interview is being audio recorded. There is also inevitably a risk regarding loss of confidentiality. For example, there is a possibility that someone sees your interview transcript prior to pseudonymization. Nevertheless, we will take all appropriate measures throughout each research procedure to minimize these risks. For example, you will be reminded throughout the interview that there is no wrong answer and that we just want to better understand your experiences. You are also invited to redact anything off the record at any point of the research. Any additional personal identifiers that can be detected and/or inferred from your storyboards and interview transcripts that may lead to a breach of confidentiality will also be removed and/or edited to enhance your confidentiality.
In terms of benefits, the process of producing the storyboards and responding to the interview process can be cathartic, therapeutic, and beneficial for your reflection as a chemistry learner. You may realize aspects of your experiences that you had not yet considered, thereby adjusting your perspectives and how you may orient yourself toward your growth as a chemistry learner. In addition, this study aims to amplify your stories. This work functions as a platform for your voice to be heard in mechanisms that may not have been made available in traditional chemistry classrooms. Your experiences matter, and your potential participation may help design more meaningful chemistry learning opportunities in the future.
Confidentiality:
All data will be pseudonymized (i.e., meaning that all identifying features are removed and replaced with placeholder values like numbers or pseudonyms so it is unlikely that any part of submitted storyboards or collected interviews can be traced back to the participant). The demographic information that potential participants report will be aggregated into a master list and connected to participants’ preferred pseudonym. There will only be one copy of this master list, stored on an encrypted hard drive that will remain secured in the PI office in a locked drawer.
The storyboards and interview transcripts will be stored on a password-protected and multi-factor authentication One Drive folder limited only to the research team. Team members will download copies of that data for analysis and the results will be stored in said One Drive folder. At the end of each data analysis session, any copies locally downloaded to a researcher’s OSU-managed computer will be deleted. Pseudonymized storyboards will be depicted in research articles and other outlets for stakeholders related to the instructional laboratory. Only carefully chosen excerpts of the pseudonymized interview transcripts will also be reported in research articles and other relevant outlets.
We will work to make sure that no one sees your online responses without approval. But, because we are using the Internet, there is a chance that someone could access your online responses without permission. In some cases, this information could be used to identify you.
Also, there may be circumstances where this information must be released. For example, personal information regarding your participation in this study may be disclosed if required by state law. Also, your records may be reviewed by the following groups (as applicable to the research):
- Office for Human Research Protections or other federal, state, or international regulatory agencies;
- The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board or Office of Responsible Research Practices;
- Authorized Ohio State University staff not involved in the study may be aware that you are participating in a research study and have access to your information; and
- The sponsor, if any, or agency (including the Food and Drug Administration for FDA-regulated research) supporting the study.
Future Research:
Your de-identified information will not be used or shared for future research.
Incentives:
20 students enrolled in introductory general chemistry will be selected based on the holistic evaluation of their two submitted storyboards. The criteria include descriptiveness, quality, creativity, and importance of depicted experience. More information regarding these criteria can be found in the storyboard instructions document. The twenty students who are selected for award will receive a $100 VISA gift card.
Students who participate in the interviews about their storyboards will receive a $50 VISA gift card. Please note that if you do provide consent to be interviewed, you may not be interviewed.
Those who participate via survey and storyboard may get no incentive. The odds of being selected are no lower than 6%
By law, payments to participants are considered taxable income.
Participant Rights:
You may refuse to participate in this study without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you are a student or employee at Ohio State, your decision will not affect your grades or employment status.
If you choose to participate in the study, you may discontinue participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. By agreeing to participate, you do not give up any personal legal rights you may have as a participant in this study.
An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The Ohio State University reviewed this research project and found it to be acceptable, according to applicable state and federal regulations and University policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research.
Contacts and Questions:
For questions, concerns, or complaints about the study, or you feel you have been harmed as a result of study participation, you may contact Dr. Matt Wu (wu.6250@osu.edu).
For questions about your rights as a participant in this study or to discuss other study-related concerns or complaints with someone who is not part of the research team, you may contact the Office of Responsible Research Practices at 1-800-678-6251 or hsconcerns@osu.edu.
Providing consent
I have read (or someone has read to me) this page and I am aware that I am being asked to participate in a research study. I have had the opportunity to ask questions and have had them answered to my satisfaction. I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. I am not giving up any legal rights by agreeing to participate.