1. Ethics Ethical Issues in Pedagogic Research:
A practitioner’s perspective
My experience of getting an ethical approval
Conduct my research ethically
Ethics
After getting an ethical approval, there is a constant need to reflect on the values which inform the research (Pring, 1995). I find it is helpful to always asking these three questions during the research process: What is feasible? What is Ethical? What is reportable? Below are some specific questions I have thought over before.
I have submitted two applications for ethical approval with colleagues in FES and FACH last year. One study aims to improve scientific writing skills. The other aims to explore whether improving students’ awareness of creativity can benefit the quality of their final course products. In this column, I reflect on my experience of applying for ethical approval from UREC.
What I have done:
Clarify my research purposes – research design/activity is made on the basis of fitness for purposes (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2018).
Find out dates of Faculty Ethics Committee meetings and mark the key dates.
Write University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) application form (essential) and Participants Information Sheets (essential)
Try to finalize my research instruments, e.g. questionnaires, observation sheets, feedback form etc. (optional).
Find potential project partners, it is much better to work on a project with a partner.
Communication with Faculty Ethics representatives, ensuring that I can meet all the deadlines.
What I have learnt from it:
Different from educational research, pedagogic research shall be designed for improving teaching and learning. It might favour more evidence-based interventions than trial and error interventions.
It’d better emerge from evolving teaching practices by academics constantly theorizing what works and what doesn’t work in their daily teaching.
Be as specific on research purposes and as clear on research design as possible. When facing ethical dilemmas, it can help me make a better decision. For example, participants recruitment :Opt-in or Opt-out?
Writing application form is beneficial to refine our research design and motivate collaboration.
What I want to know more:
Can we have a more streamlined procedure for getting pedagogical research ethical approval?
Make ethically conscious decisions on the overriding principles
Dignity & confidentiality of our students
Do I have to collect data on students' ethnic background, age etc.?
Shall I publish this research study after my students' graduation?
Pursuit of Truth/ purpose of research
Shall I capture selected groups’ discussion, when I believe my presence will motivate them to get better marks than other groups?
How long shall I keep my data, if I know I will gather more data for the next few years?
Fairness of assessment and interpretation
A research instrument has been used to assess creativity of employees. Does is a fair assessment to assess creativity of students in HE?
Shall I stop my research project once I find out my definition of creativity favors one gender not the other?
Data Collection
Data Analysis
&
Publishing
Dr Yang Yang
Lecturer in pedagogy and educational practices
Educational Development Unit
Tel: 8969