Research Seminars in IT in Education (MIT6003) Research Methodology II Dr Jacky Pow

Agenda  Informed consent  Confidentiality and anonymous  Recommendation for improvement  Research ethics  Future research agenda  Current research trend

Informed consent  Informed consent generally implies that the person –has the capacity to consent, –has been informed of significant information concerning the procedure, –has freely and without undue influence expressed consent, and –has given their consent and it has been appropriately documented (Oregon State University, 2004)

Informed consent statement  An example of the general statement: –“I have been informed and understand the personal and professional risks involved by participating in this study. I agree to assume those risks. I have read and that I understand the procedures described in this form, and my participation is purely voluntary, without any promise of special rewards as a result of my participation.”

Informed consent form  An informed consent form should contain but not limited to the following items: –Title of the research –Purpose –Foreseeable Risks –Benefits of the Study –Confidentiality / anonymity –Voluntary Participation Statement –Contacts

Informed consent to research 1. Informs participants of the nature of the research, explains the purpose and procedures to be followed 2. Informs participants that they are free to participate or to decline to participate or to withdraw from the research 3. Describes any limitations on confidentiality

Informed consent to research 4. Explains the foreseeable consequences of declining or withdrawing; they inform participants of significant factors that may be expected to influence their willingness to participate (such as risks, discomfort, adverse effects, or limitations on confidentiality) 5. Explains other aspects about which the prospective participants inquire including, but not limited to: procedures that are experimental or relatively untried, and the benefits or changes in individuals or organizations that might be reasonably expected

Informed consent to research 6. When conducting research with individuals such as students or subordinates, take special care to protect the prospective participants from adverse consequences of declining or withdrawing from participation 7. When research participation is a course requirement or opportunity for extra credit, the prospective participant is given the choice of equitable alternative activities

Informed consent to research 8. When providing appropriate information about the nature, results, and conclusions of the research, the professional attempts to correct any misconceptions that participants may have, and 9. Takes reasonable measures to honor all commitments they have made to research participants

Dispensing with informed consent  Research that involving only anonymous questionnaires, naturalistic observations, or certain kinds of archival research does not require the informed consent of research participants

Confidentiality  To protect the participants  To enhance the validity of data  The findings are for specific purposes only and under no circumstances will the findings be disclosed (except by law or negotiated consent of the participants)  No one will be individually identifiable in any way by you, that all your tables, reports, and publications will only discuss findings in the aggregate

Anonymous  To protect the participants (especially in qualitative research)  To enhance the validity of data  The results are to be published but –No name would be mentioned –No clues for identifying the participants

Recommendation for improvement  What will you do if you are going to conduct the study again?  Provide justifications about your proposed changes  Are there any foreseeable difficulties?

Educational research ethics  Guideline: –Subjects should be given a fair explanation of the purpose and procedures of the research –Subjects should be given a description of any reasonable risks or discomforts expected –Subjects should be told of any possible benefits to be obtained by participating –Researchers should disclose any alternative procedures that might be advantageous to the subject –Researchers should offer to answer any questions subjects may have during the research –Subjects should be told they are free to withdraw and discontinue participation at any time

Educational research ethics  No such thing as perfectly ethical research  Reynolds, P. (1982). Ethics and Social Science Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Class activity  What is the relationship between academic freedom and research ethics? Which one do you think is more important?

Future research agenda  After you have done your research, you should have more knowledge about the area of study  Hence you should be in the best position to suggest further research along your line of research

Current research trend (Based on Burkhardt and Schoenfeld, 2003)  Teachers and administrators seldom turn to research when they have problems –A lack of credible models of employing educational research to shape educational practice –Traditions of educational research are not aligned with the effective models of research and practice (R-P models)  A lack of support and incentive to do research (e.g., classroom research) in schools –Most of the educational research were conducted by university

Six current R-P models in education  Model 1: teachers read research and implement in their classrooms (no time to read and employ the research productively in the classroom)  Model 2: summary guides (lack of evidence that will work)  Model 3: general professional environment (prescriptive in nature)  Model 4: the policy route (policy over research)  Model 5: the long route (for the development of new curriculum and standard)  Model 6: design experiments (hard to refine ideas and materials for ready implementation)

Research traditions within education  Humanities approach –no requirement that the assertions made be tested empirically –The key product is “critical commentary”  Science approach –The assertions be subjected to empirical testing –Focus on “how the world works” but does not generate practical solutions –The key product is “assertions built on empirical evidence”: journal papers, books, and conference talks

Research traditions within education  Engineering approach –Directly concern with practical impact – understanding how the world works and helping it to work better –Design and systematically develop high-quality solutions to practical problems –Key products are tools and/or process that work well for their intended uses and users, with evidence-based evaluation

Four levels of R&D LevelVariablesTypical R&D Foci LearningStudent/TaskR (Concepts, skills, strategies, metacognition, beliefs) D (Learning situations, probes, data capture) Individual teacher Instruction/ Student/Task R (Teaching tactics and strategies, nature of student learning) D (Classroom materials that are ok for some teachers)

Four levels of R&D LevelVariablesTypical R&D Foci Representative teacher Teacher/ Instruction/ Student/Task R (Performance of representative teachers with realistic support. Basic studies of teacher knowledge and competency) D (Classroom materials that “work” for most teachers) System Change System/School/ Teacher/ Instruction/ Student/Task R (System change) D (Tools for change (i.e., materials for: classroom, assessment, professional development, community relations)

Examples of quantitative research  From the papers that you have read, provide an example of quantitative research

Examples of qualitative research  From the papers that you have read, provide an example of qualitative research