PgCert Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication
Action Research Project Ethical Enquiry Form
Participant name: Denise Aitken
Cohort: 1
Tutor name: Frederico Matos
| What is your research question? how can I develop the time management tool to help neurodiverse students organise study tasks effectively ? |
| Who will be providing you with information to help you answer your question, and how will you approach and/or select them? Staff at UAL – immediate tutor pool of researcher – at catch up meeting , gaining their consent to complete small questionnaire in the week, and at the next catch up meeting (weekly) to discuss their feedback on the time management model . A UAL peer who is both a researcher and student who had many tasks to do, I suggested to try the time management model for initial feedback within the research process. |
| What will you be asking participants to do? Consent to their participation in completing a small questionnaire and then discussing the AR item and it being documented in researcher’s written notes[FM1] . This is an informal discussion during a staff catch up meeting. The UAL peer has offered to give brief written feedback of her experience of using the initial time management tool earlier on in the research process. |
| How will you get informed consent from these participants? Consent form [FM2] will be gained from the UAL peer, who is a researcher and tutor. Consent form [FM3] from staff members will be gained. |
| What potential risks to the interests of participants do you foresee and what steps will you take to minimise those risks? A participant’s interests include their physical and psychological wellbeing; their commercial interests; and their rights of privacy and reputation. Is it likely to raise strong emotions? No. Are you asking them to give you their time (and more)? 2 minutes for staff to complete the questionnaire and 10 minutes during the staff catch up which is allocated time to discuss tutors’ work and strategies from tutorials. 5 minutes from the UAL researcher and student to write up brief written feedback from using the original time management tool before its adaption. The UAL peer (researcher and student) will give feedback in the form of some notes. Are there any barriers to access or participation for participants? Not foreseen. How might you mitigate these risks? Participants will be informed that they can withdraw from participation at any time and tutor/researcher will remind them at all steps of the research process. Are there any practical considerations of health and safety? Not foreseen |
| What potential risks to yourself as the practitioner do you foresee and what steps will you take to minimise those risks? Are there any potential risks to you? How can you remain safe throughout your project? Could your project be experienced as ‘emotionally demanding’ (University of Sheffield 2018) in focusing on traumatic or sensitive subjects? For example, if you are interviewing a student one-to-one, should you do so in an open place? Are there structures and/or resources you need to put place to support your safety and wellbeing during your project? The topic of enquiry can be experienced as emotional and draining for the researcher, as her son’s diagnosis of ADHD and its associated challenges can trigger painful memories. The researcher will use journalling to organise and make sense of difficult feelings. |
| Does your project involve children or vulnerable adults e.g. a person with a learning disability? Delete as appropriate: YES/NO The project involves one person with specific learning differences, a different category to people with learning disabilities. If yes, describe the extra measures you will put in place to safeguard vulnerable participants: their names will remain anonymous in the research process. |
| How will you store the information you gather from participants? You will need to think about how you store the information you collect from/about them, especially if you have offered your participants anonymity. You should also consider how long you will retain it for. Data will be stored on my personal password protected computer for 6 months Will you separate personal identifiers (e.g. names, student numbers) from other information? How? I will use numbers to refer to responses. After your enquiry, which of your data sets will you retain, how long for, and for what purpose? How will they be stored? Data stored on my personal laptop. Data will be deleted after unit 3 submission Which of your data sets will you destroy? All Why? To avoid unnecessarily keeping personal information. Information will have been generalised into the projects and no longer needed. How will you ensure its confidential disposal? Permanently delete from personal computer |
| I confirm my responsibility to deliver the project in accordance with the Code of Practice on Research Ethics of the University of the Arts London (the University). In signing this form I am also confirming that: The form is accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.I understand and accept that the ethical propriety of this project may be monitored by the relevant College Research body and/or the University’s Research Ethics Sub-Committee. |
 Signed: ____Denise Aitken________________________ Date: ____________October 6 2023 |
| I support this project and have reviewed it with the participant: Signed: ____________________________ Date: ____________ |
[FM1]Are the discussions in the form of informal individual/group conversations or focus groups or interviews?
[FM2]Why not using a consent form for students to sign?
[FM3]As above