Conducting research in classes or with students as participants

Researchers are expected to seek prior permission from the professor of the course (or instructor if the teacher is a lecturer or sessional) to speak with their students regarding participation in a study. However, most professors or course instructors will not provide class time for researchers to recruit students for studies as they do not have the time to give up. Researchers should never assume or expect other professors or instructors to give up class time or that this is an endorsed or supported recruitment method within their Department.

If recruitment is to take place in the classroom, minimal teaching time must be used (e.g., less than 10 minutes). A better practice would be for researchers to advise students to stay a few minutes after class or come early to the next class to learn more about the study or to distribute a contact card that students can complete if they are interested in hearing more about the research. The researchers can then email or telephone the students with more information. A sample in-class recruitment script will provide some guidance in creating your own. The course number and name of the professor/instructor where recruitment will take place is to be listed in the research ethics application. 

Yes, but a third party, who is not connected with the research, nor has any power or authority over the students, must be part of the consent process. Researchers need to remove the undue influence that students may feel to be real or perceived to ensure that participation is truly voluntary. For example, the chair of the department or dean of the faculty should not be part of the recruitment or consent process, as students may feel influenced to participate in the research. A department assistant or faculty administrator who has no influence or authority over the students' marks could send a recruitment email to students and indicate that he/she is sending the email on behalf of the researchers. In addition, the information-consent letter must explain and provide assurances to the students that no penalties will result by not agreeing to participate in the research (or experience no penalties by not allowing materials/coursework or grades to be used for research purposes).

As the instructor and researcher, you must wait until the end of the professor-student relationship before accessing the consent forms collected by the third party (i.e., after all marks have been submitted to the Registrar’s Office). This will mitigate any real or perceived influence that you may have on the student’s grades. Identifiable data must be analyzed only after grades have been submitted to the Registrar’s Office so that any real or perceived influence on the student’s grades no longer exists.

Students under the supervision of any member of the research team (e.g., for an internship, co-op job, etc.), even though they may not be connected to the research, should not act as a third party, as a power relationship also exists between the researcher and the student. It is conceivable that a student may pressure other students to participate, perhaps inadvertently, to ensure the success of their supervisor’s research. See sample information and consent letters to give you guidance in creating your own. 

If you, the course instructor and researcher, intend to involve some students as participants, and not others, a third party must be involved in recruitment and selection to provide distance between the course instructor/researcher and the student/participant (i.e., it should be an arm’s length relationship). You, the course instructor/researcher, should not be aware of who has agreed to participate while the instructor-student relationship still exists.

Deception studies should only be used in conjunction with in-class experimentation when no other method is suitable. A clear and strong justification must be provided in the research ethics application form for why deception is necessary.

Permission must be sought from students if any of their course materials (e.g., papers, assignments, tests, exams, marks, etc.) are to be used for research purposes, as use of a student’s course materials would be a secondary use of identifiable information for research purposes. Secondary use refers to the “use in research of information originally collected for a purpose other than the current research purpose” (TCPS, Chapter 5). This includes school records created or collected for educational purposes, but are now being sought for use in research.

As outlined in TCPS 2, some “reasons to conduct secondary analyses of data include: avoidance of duplication in primary collection and the associated reduction of burdens on participants” (TCPS 2, Chapter 5). However, “privacy concerns and questions about the need to seek consent arise," especially when “information provided for secondary use in research can be linked to individuals, and when the possibility exists that individuals can be identified in published reports or through data linkage” (TCPS 2, Chapter 5). In certain situations, confidentiality becomes a concern because of the small number of participants or cases being investigated and the fact that indirect identifiers, including writing style, word usage, etc., will identify a particular individual.

TCPS 2, Article 5.5B does not “require that researchers seek consent from individuals for the secondary use of non-identifiable information” (i.e., anonymous data). Anonymous means the information or data “never had identifiers associated with it and risk of identification of individuals is low or very low” (TCPS 2, Chapter 5). This is different from anonymized, which means the information or materials have been “irrevocably stripped of direct identifiers, a code is not kept to allow future re-linkage” (TCPS 2, Chapter 5). In cases of secondary use of identifiable information (i.e., direct or indirect identifiers), researchers must obtain consent from study participants (TCPS 2, Chapter 5D). An explanation as to how the materials will be used and guarantees of confidentiality must be outlined in the information-consent letter.

If the researcher, who is not the course instructor, wishes to access a student’s grades for research purposes, permission must also be sought from the student to allow the Registrar’s Office to release this information. Researchers must contact the Registrar’s Office in the early stages of planning their study, as it is not always possible or feasible for the Registrar’s Office to provide access to student grades. Refer to Policy 19.

If you are looking for aggregate or average grades for a course, the researcher can contact the course instructor directly for this information. A student’s consent is not needed to report on the aggregate or average grade for an entire class.

For researchers to use teaching time, the research must be: a) of educational value, and b) directly related to the course objectives as outlined in the course syllabus. Moreover, the research activity or exercise to be examined must be integrated into regular classroom activities and involve the entire class.

A professor/instructor wishing to provide in-class time to research (either for their own research or that of other investigators) must insert the details of the study, as other pedagogical content, in the course syllabus. In addition, it is recommended that professors/instructors seek an arm’s length independent assessment of the educational merit of the research from someone not involved in their research or from their department chair or dean. This should be done before the beginning of the term, and a copy of the course syllabus is to be submitted with the research ethics application.

Three options have been presented that will ensure free, informed consent of participants and guarantee anonymity of research participants and confidentiality of data. In such cases, the educational value of the research conducted may not be relevant to the specific course. Other alternatives may also be acceptable.

A few examples include:

• Ask the professor teaching the course for a few minutes at the beginning or end of class to distribute questionnaires and ask the students to return the questionnaire, completed or not, in a sealed envelope at the next class, or have students drop the questionnaires off at a specified location.
• Briefly explain the research project to students in class and invite them to fill out questionnaires outside of class time at a specified location and time.
• Distribute a letter to students in the class that includes a URL to an online survey they can complete outside of class time.

Course credit may be provided. However, students who do not wish to participate in the research must be offered a comparable alternative task to receive these same credits. Credits can be over and above the normal course credits (i.e., bonus marks) or included as part of the overall course mark. Students, as study participants, cannot be disadvantaged in any way as a result of taking part in research. There cannot be a penalty for non-involvement or poor performance. It is recommended that for every 30 minutes of research time, a participation credit of .5 be given (e.g., for 60 minutes, 1 credit may be allotted).

The course syllabus must be included with the research ethics application and must describe the research and credits that can be obtained, and outline the alternative task to obtain the same credits. The course syllabus must also outline how the research relates to the course objectives, along with the specific learning objectives for the students. Note: Psychology researchers using the SONA system for participation recruitment are not required to submit a syllabus with their application.

The items to include in the course syllabus are as follows:

• A description of the research being conducted (i.e., purpose, objectives, aims).
• An outline of how the research relates to the course objectives, along with the specific learning objectives for the students.
• A description of the activities/tasks/questionnaires that students will complete for the research.
• A statement that participation is voluntary.
• The estimated time commitment outside of regular classroom hours.
• If relevant, outline the course credits that can be obtained by participating in the research and the alternative task to obtain the same credits.
• If students are being asked to permit a course assignment or grades to be used for the research, a specific statement as to how the students will be asked to provide their permission to use these in the research.
• The ethics statement: “This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Board.”

University classes are not normally considered to be public places by professors and students. A small seminar group, for example, would not be viewed as being public (i.e., where anyone can attend) as there is likely to be a great deal of interaction or involvement among the professor and students. However, a large lecture hall may be considered to be more like a public space by those in attendance.

Researchers conducting qualitative studies where they wish to observe students in a class setting may do so, considering that:

• The observation is “non-participant”, such that the researcher observes, but is not a participant in, the action (also known as naturalistic observation) as outlined in the TCPS 2, Chapter 10.
• The professor whose students are to be observed approves of the research and the dates and times for observation.
• The researcher sits in a location that is deemed acceptable and not intrusive to the professor or students.
• The professor uses minimal teaching time to introduce the researcher and explain the reasons for their attendance in the class.
• No identifying information is collected or recorded about the students or the professor.
• Students are provided with an opportunity to receive feedback about the study results upon completion of the research.
• The study complies with the principles, articles and applications outlined in the TCPS 2 and has received prior research ethics clearance through Waterloo’s Office of Research Ethics.

The TCPS 2 states that “observational research that does not allow for the identification of the participants in the dissemination of results, that is not staged by the researcher, and is non-intrusive should normally be regarded as being of minimal risk” (TCPS 2 Article 10.3). Thus, researchers need to outline in their research ethics application how they will use any video or audio recordings made and if anyone other than the research team will listen to or view the recordings.

If no personal information is being collected and no one other than the researchers will listen to or view the recordings, consent may not be required by individual participants. However, if personal information is being collected (e.g., names) or the recordings will be shown to individuals beyond those directly involved in the research (e.g., in a publication or on a website), the researchers must seek permission from individual study participants to be able to identify them in their dissemination of study results or to attribute the recordings to them by name.

Researchers need to be aware that, as outlined in TCPS 2, “in some jurisdictions, publication of identifying information – for example, a photograph taken in a public place, but focused on a private individual who was not expecting this action – may be interpreted in a civil suit as an invasion of privacy” (TCPS 2, Article 10.3). Researchers should also become familiar with the ORE guidelines on security of research participants’ data and the University of Waterloo policy on information security (policy 8), and know what information is considered restricted information and may need to be protected through encryption.

Reflective teaching and instructor development are part of the teaching enterprise. These practices allow instructors to learn through their own experiences and to ultimately achieve better outcomes for themselves as teachers or for the students they are educating. Therefore, if the research is a self-reflection on one’s practice, there is no need to seek students’ consent. However, if the research moves beyond what would be considered standard reflective practice, measures need to be introduced to minimize the impact of a conflict of interest (e.g., use of a third party to be part of the consent process).

Researchers need to declare their dual role as both an instructor/professor and researcher in the information-consent letter to the students, even if the classroom activity or exercise to be examined is integrated into the regular class activities, is of value to study, and involves the entire class.

When planning a research study that will involve students, researchers need to carefully consider the potential negative impacts of the research on students, their marks, or their education. You need to ask yourself the following questions and design the study such that these questions will be addressed:

1. Should I be concerned with research fatigue if students are constantly being asked to participate in my research or that of my colleagues?
2. How generalizable will my results be if I only recruit students or the students that I teach?
3. How will I ensure that students/study participants who decline to participate will not be penalized or perceive that they are being penalized?
4. By what means will I ensure that participation is voluntary?
5. Should I consider using another group of students, for example, those whom I do not currently teach? Are there better alternatives?
6. How will I ensure that students/study participants are truly free to participate or to decline to participate?
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a population with whom I have a prior and ongoing relationship, especially when that relationship is one where I may have authority over the population?

The information consent letter must clearly explain:

• The educational value of the research and how the research relates to the course objectives.
• Declining to participate is a definite option, and students will not receive any penalty by doing so (e.g., not receiving course credits).
• Students can choose not to be involved in any aspect of the study, such as declining to complete a study task or leaving a survey question blank.
• Anonymity of participation, such that the questionnaire or study task will be distributed to everyone and those who wish not to participate can either spoil the materials or leave them blank before returning them.
• Participants will not be unfairly advantaged in any way as a result of taking part in the research.
• The alternative option for course credit is for those who do not wish to participate in the research study.
• The course instructor/professor will not be told who participated in the study or not until after the final marks have been submitted.
• Participants’ responses will be summarized and no individual results to the study task or questionnaire will be shared with the course instructor/professor.