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Student Project Exemplar
Application for the Use of Human Subjects - Part II
Please address each numbered item in the order given. Incomplete applications will be returned to the principal investigator. If there are sections that are not applicable to your research, please explain why. Use the following as your guide:
Qualifications and Experience:
Mr. Olson is currently a Master's candidate in good academic standing in the Literacy Grades 5-12 Program at State University of New York at Fredonia, and has successfully completed over 2/3 of this program. Mr. Olson is currently a full-time high school Global Studies teacher at Jamestown High School, certified in Social Studies grades 7-12 in New York State. Mr. Olson has three years of teaching experience in Global Studies and of grading the New York State Global Studies Regents exam.
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Cindy M. Bird
The faculty sponsor for this project, Dr. Cindy Bird, has and will continue to have meetings with the PIon a regular basis throughout the research dates to guarantee compliance with the procedures outlined in this application and with the regulations governing the use of human subjects. [Vitae on file]
Goals and Objectives:
The building principal at Jamestown High School has received a copy of this protocol and is fully aware of the research. The goal of this study is to investigate possible causes for consistently low scores by students on the multiple-choice section of the New York State Global Studies Regents exam.
The objective of the research is to analyze the impact of participants' content (Global Studies) vocabulary and non-content (general) vocabulary knowledge on participant selection of multiple-choice answers on the Global Studies Regents exam.
Results of this research will be disseminated in a Master's thesis and will be used as action research to impact the Principal Investigator's own classroom pedagogical choices.
Role of Principal Investigator:
The role of the Principal Investigator is to explain the research project on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 and have informed consent obtained by the school counselor from the participants and their parent/guardian. The PI will then teach the regularly scheduled Global Studies Regents exam review on Tuesday, May 27,2008 that will consist of the following three activities: administering the multiple-choice section (50 questions) from the January 2008 New York State Global Studies Regents exam, directing participants to circle on that exam any unfamiliar words in the multiple-choice questions and answer choices, and administering an assessment of the participants' non-content (general) vocabulary knowledge. The PI will then provide a photocopied set of each of the three documents (the participants' multiple-choice answer sheet, completed exams with circled words, and the non-content (general) vocabulary knowledge assessment) to the school counselor who will then select those documents for which student and parent consent has been obtained. Lastly, the PI will receive the selected and de-identified documents from the school counselor and proceed to analyze the data by comparing the participants' test scores, the circled unfamiliar words, and the vocabulary knowledge assessment data; to interpret the analysis for possible knowledge-based causes of low test scores, and then to disseminate the research findings in a master's thesis.
Role of Subjects:
Prior to participating in the curriculum activities, Subjects will be told during their regular Global Studies class about the proposed research project. The PI will explain the research project and the role of the subjects in giving permission for their work to be used in the research project. Subjects with IEPs or 504 plans that require copies of printed notes during class may also receive a printed copy of the research explanation.
Subjects will then be asked by a non-threatening adult (in this research, the school counselor) to read, ask about, then sign the assent form indicating their desire either to participate or not to participate in the study. The counselor will clearly explain to the Subjects that participation is voluntary, that there is no penalty for not participating and no reward for participating, and that the Subjects may choose to withdraw their work from the study at any time during the research. The school counselor will then mail consent forms to parent/guardians of Subjects who have offered assent. The school counselor may also call or receive calls from parent/guardians to explain the details of the PI's research project. Once assent and consent have been obtained, the Subjects will not be required to perform any further actions beyond those included in the course curriculum.
All students in the three Global Studies classes will participate in curriculum activities planned as part of the first of three Review Weeks for the Global Studies Regents Exam. Students will take a practice exam for the multiple-choice section, which will consist of the 50 questions from January 2008 New York State Global Studies Regents exam. After completion of the exam, all students will re-read the multiple-choice questions and answer choices and circle all words unfamiliar to them. Thirdly, the students will complete a non-content (general) vocabulary knowledge assessment indicating their level of familiarity with words that are not Global Studies content-specific. Students with special needs will receive test modifications specific to each student's individual education plans (IEP) or 504 plans as they would when working on the actual Regents exam. After the PI grades the exams and returns them, the students will spend further review time learning vocabulary and needed content information.
Before grading the activities, the PI will make a photocopy of the three class sets of the three activities and give them to the school counselor. The school counselor will then select only the papers of those students who have given assent and parent/guardian(s) have given consent. The school counselor will then remove all names and identifying marks from the selected papers and replace them with numbers in order to create an anonymous set of data for analysis. Those students with IEPs and 504 plans will be marked with an identifying code in order to differentiate the data for further analysis. All data will be stored in a secure locked cabinet in the counselor's office until given to the PI, who will then take them home and store them in a locked cabinet in this home for 5 years, after which time they will be destroyed, .
a) PI reads Research Explanation to Subjects and school counselor gathers signed May 6 assent forms indicating Subject's desire either to participate or not to participate. Students absent on May 6 are still eligible to participate in the research project. They will be sent to school counselor upon return to school in order to learn about the project and sign an assent form.
b) School counselor sorts the assent forms and mails consent forms and cover letter to May 7 parent/guardian of Subjects who gave assent on May 6. Mailings include a self-addressed envelope and phone numbers to contact the school counselor regarding the research project. School counselor may call or receive calls from parent/guardians involving the mailed consent forms before the due date (May 26) for the consent forms. Parent/guardian may deliver signed consent form through the mail or in person.
c) PI has all classes complete the 3 review activities during their regularly scheduled 80 minute Global Studies class: Class #1 meets from 8:09--9:27 a.m.; Class #2 meets from 10:49--12:13; and Class #3 meets from 1:37--3:00 p.m. Students with special needs will receive test modifications specific to each student's individual education plans (IEP) or 504 plans as they would when working on the actual Regents exam. Students absent on May 27 will complete this curriculum activity in class the day they return to class.
d) PI makes a photocopy of the three class sets of the three activities and gives the school counselor all three class sets of the 3 documents (the completed multiple-choice answer sheet, the exam with circled words, and the vocabulary assessment.
e) School counselor sorts the documents and selects those from the Subjects who have given assent and obtained consent from a parent/guardian. School counselor removes all names and identifying marks from the selected papers and replaces them with numbers.
f) School counselor gives the PI the anonymous sets of data.
g) PI begins data analysis and determination of results.
Participants in this study will be students from three Global Studies classes in an urban school in western New York State. This participant pool consists of 65 students from the Principal Investigator's three Global Studies classes. In terms of special education services, 15 students (23%) have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and 6 students (9%) have 504 plans. Participants with IEPs or 504 plans who require copies of printed notes during class may also receive a printed copy ofthe research explanation. The participant pool also ranges across all four high school grade levels: 26 ninth graders (40%), 35 tenth graders (54%), 2 eleventh graders (3%), 2 twelfth graders (3%). In terms of ethnic backgrounds, the participant pool consists of the following: 54 white non-Hispanic (83%), 4 Hispanic (7%), 6 African-American (8%), and 1 Native American (2%). In terms of gender, 36 participants are males (55%) and 29 participants are females (45%). All students appear to be in good health.
Data will consist of the responses to 50 multiple-choice questions on the January 2008 Global Studies Regents exam collected on an answer sheet, the circled unfamiliar words in the multiple-choice questions and answer choices on the exam itself, and the responses to the non-content vocabulary knowledge assessment.
Data analysis:
Data analysis will consist of quantitative compilation of all data in documents, and then cross-instrument comparison of participants' responses. The PI will be looking for patterns in sets of data and in relationships between test scores and vocabulary assessments in order to determine if possible connections exist between the level of participants' content and/or non-content vocabulary knowledge and the participantk' scores on the multiple-choice questions.
Data collected from this study will be stored in a secure locked cabinet in the school counselor's office until given to the PI, who will then take them home and store them in a locked safe in his home for 5 years, after which time they will be destroyed.
5. Recruitment of Subjects and Obtaining Informed Consent
The potential subjects for this study are the 65 students currently enrolled in the three Global Studies classes taught by the Principal Investigator. The PI will take Global Studies class time on May 6, 2008 in order to explain his research project that investigates the low student scores on the multiple-choice section of the New York State Global Studies Regents exam. The PI will then leave the room and the school guidance counselor will distribute, explain, and collect the assent form [attached]. Every student will be asked to return the assent form to the school counselor, indicating a yes or no interest in participating in the study.
The school counselor will stress the voluntary nature of the student's participation in the study, the elimination of names and any other distinguishing marks from the study data, and stress how participation or non-participation in this project will have neither bearing on or relationship to academic standing or any course grades currently or in the future. The 'school counselor will also explain the minimal risk of the project. The school counselor will explain why the findings of the research may be helpful to many teachers/students, and how the results will be disseminated. The school counselor will make it clear that any student can withdraw from the study at any point without adverse effects to his or her grade in Global Studies class or to his or her relationship with the teacher.
The parent/guardian of the subjects who sign the assent form will be contacted by postal mail to receive an explanation of the research and an Informed Consent form [attached]. The parent/guardian will be asked to sign the Consent form and return it to the school counselor either by postal mail or in person; if necessary, the school counselor will also pick up the form from the parent/guardian's home.
The parent/guardians agreeing to allow their child to participate in this study are free to withdraw their child's data from consideration in this study at any point during the study without adverse effects to their child's grade and without any adverse effect on their child's student-teacher relationship or the parent-teacher relationship.
6. This component contains Conr parts:
a) Identification of any potential risks:
The New York State Board of Regents creates three standardized exams every school year (January, June, August) in order to assess students' knowledge in Global Studies. All 65 students enrolled in the Principal Investigator's Global Studies classes must achieve a 65% or greater on the New York State Global Studies Regents exam in June 2008 in order to meet requirements for a New York State high school diploma. The Global Studies curriculum and New York State Regents exam assessment is currently approved by the Board of Education in the school district where this research will take place. Any student who is offended by the completion of the vocabulary knowledge assessment can halt the completion of the assessment at any time. No other potential risks are involved in this study beyond those normally encountered in a regular high school Global Studies classroom.
b) Ensuring subjects receive necessary medical or professional intervention:
There are no adverse effects anticipated with the study. Any subject who experiences adverse effects from this study will be referred to school counselors for assistance. School counselors are available for the participants at any time prior to, during, and after the study's completion.
c) Maintaining the safety of your subjects during the study:
No risks to the subjects' safety are expected during this study. To maintain the psychological and emotional safety of the subjects, they will be reminded throughout the process that their participation in the study is voluntary and they may withdraw their data from the study at any time. They will also be reminded that their participation and/or performance will have no relationship to their current or future grades, nor will it have any effect on the student-teacher relationship.
d) Risks and Benefits:
Other than the potential aversion to the vocabulary knowledge assessment, there are no risks in this study beyond those normally encountered in a high school Global Studies classroom. The risks of aversion to the assessment are balanced by the study's potential to provide research-based possible causes to low scores on the multiple-choice section of the New York State Global Studies Regents exam. Furthermore, the potential for discovering possible causes carries strong implications for current and future students in the classes of the Principal Investigator.
7. Precautions to Minimize Risks or Liabilities
This study does not deal with a sensitive issue and/or the data collected does not deal with criminal acts, sexual conduct and behavior, drug and alcohol use, sensitivity and awareness to potential risks, and/or liabilities to the subjects involved.
8. Preventing Any Risk to Violating the Confidentiality
To protect the identity of the subjects, participants' names will not be required on the tests during the analysis and dissemination of data from this study. Numbers will be substituted for names to allow for individualized, linear comparisons of multiple-choice answers and vocabulary knowledge assessment results.
The data collected from the study will not be used for grades in the Global Studies class and therefore will not become Pf of the student's permanent record.
The signed assent and consent forms along with the multiple-choice and survey data will remain confidential and will be stored in a secure locked cabinet in the school counselor's office until given to the PI, who will then store them in a locked safe in his home for 5 years, after which time they will be destroyed.
Script for Explaining Research to Students
Everyone here has probably heard how difficult the Regents Exam for Global Studies is and how low the scores sometimes are with this exam. As your Global Studies teacher, I look for ways to help improve those scores, and maybe make the exam a little less difficult for you to write. One way is to spend three weeks in review and preparation for the exam. During the first day of this review process on Tuesday, May 2ih we will be completing the multiple-choice section of a practice Regents exam, identifying unfamiliar words on that exam, and completing a vocabulary assessment to show how well you know certain somewhat common words. Your practice exam scores will not be part of your class grade, neither will the results of the other 2 activities.
Another way for me to try and improve the exam scores is to conduct some research. Currently I am completing my Master's degree in Literacy, learning to improve my teaching of reading. As part of my thesis, the capstone and final project for my master's degree, I have chosen to conduct some empirical research: to collect data and analyze it to try and find some answers as to why the Global Studies Regents exam scores seem to be so low. Specifically, I want to find out how your vocabulary knowledge impacts your completion of Global Studies multiple-choice questions.
To complete this research, I am going to ask for volunteers to allow me, to give me permission, to use the results from their 3 review activities on Tuesday May 2ih that I just mentioned: the practice exam, the identified unfamiliar words, and the vocabulary assessment. These results will be the data I will study for my research.
This research is for volunteers only. I will not use your activity results unless you volunteer, and whether you volunteer or not, no names will be used in my thesis or anywhere else, your course grade will not be affected, and neither will your relationship with me, your teacher. For those of you who choose to participate by giving me permission to use your answers, we will then contact your parents for their permission as well. Only those students whose parents say "yes" may participate.
Now to be sure that nobody feels like he/she is being forced into giving permission for this research, I am going to leave the room, and Ms. Noon is going to come in, repeat this explanation, and go over an Assent Form with you. This Form states that you understand what I have just explained to you, and has a place for you to sign either "yes I will participate and give my permission," or "no thanks I don't want to participate." Everyone should sign a form, even if you are deciding not to volunteer. Volunteers are also free to choose to withdraw from the research project at anytime. Once everyone has signed, then Ms. Noon will collect the signed forms. .
For anyone who signs the form indicating that he or she wants to participate, Ms. Noon will then contact your parent or guardian by mail or telephone, explain this research to them like I explained it to you, and give your parent or guardian a Consent Form to sign indicating either "yes I will allow my child to participate" or "no I do not want my child to participate."
I will now be leaving the room. Ms. Noon will summarize what I just told you and stress that this research is voluntary and will not affect your grades in Global Studies or your relationship with your teacher. Any questions?
Student Assent to Mr. Olson's Research
Please sign and return to Ms. Ashley Noon, the School Counselor
I understand that Mr. Olson's experiment is research and that he wants to learn about the possible causes of low scores on the multiple-choice section of the Global Studies Regents exam.
I know that I will be expected to answer 50 multiple-choice Regents questions, circle unfamiliar words in the multiple-choice questions and answers, and complete the vocabulary assessment all whether I am part of this experiment or not.
I know my name or anything else that could identify me will not appear anywhere in the research or in the final report.
I know my participation in this research is voluntary and I can drop out at any time without my grades in this class being affected or how Mr. Olson feels about me being affected.
I know that if I have any questions about this research or about how this research makes me feel, I can talk to the school counselor, my parents or guardians, or any other adult with whom I am comfortable.
I know that by signing this form I am saying that I understand what this research is about and what I am going to be asked to do, and if I say I am willing to participate I can change my mind at any time.
I understand that there are no potential risks involved in this study beyond those normally encountered in a regular high school Global Studies classroom.
I know that if I want to drop out of the research at any time, I can talk to Ms. Ashley Noon, the school counselor, who will immediately remove my work from the study.
Name (please print): Date: _
Dear Parent or Guardian May 7, 2008
I am your child's Global Studies teacher and a graduate student completing a master's degree at State University of New York at Fredonia. As part of that degree, I would like to perform a research study using data (test scores) from your child's classroom work. The purpose of this study is to look for possible causes to the low scores that usually occur on the multiple-choice section of the New York State Global Studies Regents exam.
Ms Ashley Noon, a guidance counselor at Jamestown High School, is assisting in this research project. She has already collected the assent forms for the students in my Global Studies class. Because your child has indicated that he or she would like to participate in my study, I am now sending you this letter in order to find out your decision about having your child participate.
As part of their regular Global Studies class, all students in my Global Studies classes will be reviewing for the June 2008 Global Studies Regents exam. The whole class will be completing the multiple-choice section from the last Regents exam (January 2008). All students will be circling any unfamiliar words they find on that exam, and will be completing a vocabulary assessment based on words from the Regents exam. Allowing your child to participate in this study means that you are giving me permission to use your child's results from these class activities.
Before grading the class activities, I will make a photocopy of them and give them to Ms. Noon the school counselor. She will then select the papers of those students whose parent/guardian has given consent and will then remove all names and identifying marks from the selected papers. She will replace the names with numbers in order to create an anonymous set of data for me to analyze. No student names will appear anywhere in the research or the final report.
Participation is completely voluntary, and you may withdraw your consent at any time. Whether you give your permission or not, your child's course grade will not be affected, and neither will his or her relationship with me, the teacher. Only those students whose parents say "yes" may participate.
Attached is a Consent Form for you to read and sign. Please sign either "yes I agree to allow my child to participate," or "no thanks, I do not want my child to participate in this study." Please mail the signed form to Ms. Noon in the return envelope provided. You may also deliver the form to the school in person if that is more convenient. Please return the Consent Form by May 26, 2008.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me or Ms. Noon:
Mr. P9terson: phone: 483-3470 ext. 2213 e-mail: 99bOlson@jamestown.wnyric.org
Ms N9on: phone: 483-4359 fax: 483-4356 e-mail: anoon@jamestown.wnyric.org
You may also speak with my college supervisor, Dr. Cindy Bird at Fredonia University (673-4756) or Maggie Bryan-Peterson, the Human Subjects Administrator at Fredonia University (673-3528).
A copy of the finished research report will be available to any parent requesting a copy.
Brad Olson
Global Studies TeacherJamestown High School - Room 213
Informed Consent From Parent/Guardian
I understand...return to Ms. Ashley Noon (Guidance Counselor at JHS) by May 26, 2008
My child's anticipation in this research is voluntary.
If I agree to allow my child to participate in this study.
I am free to withdraw my child's data at any time.
My child's name will never appear in the study.
My child's class grades and his or her relationship with Mr. Olson will not be affected by mt choice to allow my child's participation in this study.
All papers related to this study will be kept locked in Mr. Olson's house and will be destroyed in five years.
New York State requires all students to pass the Global Studies Regents exam at 65% or greater in otder to meet requirements for a high school diploma. All students in Mr. Olson's Global Studies classes will be completing 50 multiple-choice Regents questions from the J artuary 2008 exam, followed by an assessment of the student's vocabulary knowledge: Only the work of those students whose parents give permission will be used in Mr. Petersof s research. There are no potential risks involved in this study beyond those normally encountered in a regular high school Global Studies classroom.
[please Choose one]
I have read and understood the purpose of this study.
YES, I AGREE to allow my child to participate in this study.
Signature: Date:
****************************************************************
I have read and understood the purpose of this study.
NO, I do NOT WANT my child to participate in this study.
Name:
Signature:
Non-Content Vocabulary Assessment
Based on words from January 2008 multiple-choice section of Global Studies Regents Exam
How well do you know the following words?
• Please mark your response number on the blank line after the word.
• If you choose #4, please provide your definition.
1 - Not at all
2 - I've seen the word, or heard the word
3 - I think I know what this word means
4 - I definitely know what this word means and here is the definition: