Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

Below are the general considerations and guidelines for preparing your application for IRB Review.  If you have any questions about the application process, please contact the IRB Administrator.

Obtain Training in Human Subjects Protections 

1. All investigators and key personnel who are going to be involved in human subjects research at UNI must provide documentation that they have received training in human research participant protections. This is commonly referred to as “CITI” Training.
2. Click here to obtain Human Subjects Research training
   • Click on the CITI Training Link
   • Look for the “Social Behavioral Course” in the CITI course listing
3. Once your training is complete, the IRB Office will receive a copy of your completion certificate.  
4. Training does not expire.

Develop Your Research and Data Collection Methods

1. Your research methods should be clearly communicated in your IRB application.
2. What are you planning to study about your teaching and student learning?
3. What are your research questions and hypotheses?
4. What data sources will you collect to address your questions?  
5. How will you collect the data?
   • Surveys
   • Class observations, including audio or video recording, one or more times during the semester. 
   • Students’ assignments, papers, projects, exam scores, or work samples from the class.
   • Students’ records from the Office of Registrar 
   • Students’ interaction data of the instructional technologies used in the course.
   • Focus group interviews.

Prepare Recruitment Process

1. SoTL research must be very careful to address coercion and the power imbalance that is inherent in student-educator relationships.
2. Students should not feel pressured to participate in the research.  
3. If you would like to conduct a study on a course for which you are the instructor, here are some helpful tips:
   • Designate another research team member or other unaffiliated person to assist with recruitment and data collection.  
   • When possible, collect the names of participants after the semester or course is over and grades have been submitted. This helps to address any pressure to participate and helps to eliminate bias.
   • The individual who helps with recruiting may need to have Human Subjects Training on file and be listed as Key Personnel in your IRB application.  However, this is subject to the extent of involvement of the individual recruiting.  
   • If you are offering extra credit to research participants, you must have an alternative assignment.  This ensures fairness to students who would like to earn the same amount of extra credit without participating in research.
   • Clearly communicate and explain your Recruitment Method in your application.  (Email, website, social media, group presentation, etc….) 
   • Prepare a recruitment script and upload it to your application.

Prepare for Obtaining Consent

1. Establish your consent process.  
2. How will consent be introduced? (Note: Inclusion of a “consent statement” on your course syllabus, to collect data, does not meet IRB requirements).
3. How will participants receive the consent form (email, in person, Google Form, Qualtrics)
4. How will participants indicate consent (written, check box, verbal)
5. If using audio or video recordings, students should indicate their consent to being recorded.
6. A best practice is collecting consent and keeping forms in a sealed envelope until after the semester is over and all grading is complete.
7. Use of quotations or creative work should be clearly included as part of the consent process 
8. If consent is being collected online, you could direct another unaffiliated person to collect consent (for example, it could be emailed to another colleague or Department Secretary).  The consent forms could be printed off, sealed in an envelope and then provided to the Investigator at the end of the semester or course, after grades are completed. 
9. Prepare a consent form and upload it to your application.

Identify Data Storage Considerations

1. If interviewing students about sensitive information, consider having a research assistant conduct and then transcribe the interviews.  After interviews are completed, the audio or video transcripts may be transcribed, de-identified and made available to the principal investigator.
2. Be mindful of small class sizes and be careful not to associate data with a certain student
3. UNI-IRB requires data to be secured on the Investigator or Study Team’s UNI Google Drive.  
   • Data should be stored for five years
   • Include a plan for data destruction
4. Flash drives and personal devices should not be used for data storage.
5. Data collection on personal devices such as cellphones, is not permitted when other resources and devices are available.

Complete the IRB Submission

1. Log into Cayuse
2. Once submitted to the IRB, the application will be screened by the IRB Administrator to ensure it meets basic requirements.
3. Applications are then sent to an IRB Committee member for review. 
4. Responses typically take two weeks; it can take longer depending on the number of applications currently under review.
5. Applications are rarely approved on the first submission.  Your reviewer and the IRB Administrator will work with you as a resource to recommend changes to your protocol, as applicable. 
6. The goal of the IRB is to always protect the rights of participants in research.