Definition of course-based research

• Objective of project/data collection is for the student to acquire skills involved with conducting academic and scholarly research in a rigorous manner.
• The student is not the primary beneficiary of the activity
• Results may be shared with classmates or professors and are intended to generate generalizable (and new) knowledge from which others might benefit even if this does not actually occur.
• Course syllabus includes an objective which deals with the need for the student to acquire research skills
• Typically characterized as research in syllabus, evaluation scheme/rubric, and descriptions.
• Evaluation criteria include an assessment of the quality of the research conducted
• While pedagogical in nature, results intend to reflect scholarly or academic traditions and customary approaches used in the discipline
• Process used is systematic, rigorous, and intended to generate knowledge according to scholarly or academic traditions within the discipline
• Participants are typically drawn from populations outside of the University of Waterloo
• Findings and results are typically not disseminated beyond the classroom or department but is of sufficient quality that it could be via posters, seminar presentations, articles
• Does not include research papers/projects designated as “thesis” at either undergraduate or graduate level and course title and description makes no mention and there is no intention of the research being a “thesis”

Course-based research is typically restricted to activities that:

• pose no greater than minimal risk to participants,
• do not involve partial disclosure nor deception, and
• do not include participants who are vulnerable such as children, institutionalized elderly, cognitive impaired individuals, or persons who are not able to legally consent to participate in the research.

Course-based research typically use methods involving:

• Structured or semi-structured Interviews with key informants working in a particular area/field (e.g., professors, not-for-profit organizations, employers)
• Surveys with family/friends/other students/members of the general public
• Focus groups/group interviews with employees or members of an organization or group

Course-based research typically does not involve:

• Schools or school boards
• Hospitals or clinics or other health-based institutions
• Controlled acts as outlined by the Regulated Health Professions Act
• Procedures or equipment for the collection of physiological or biometric data
• Secondary data analysis of health or personal data or the linking of data sets