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 matrix tool to help 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? Students at UAL – in conversation during study tutorial if student’s needs are relevant to the AR Staff at UAL – immediate tutor pool of researcher – at catch up meeting How will you approach and/or select from each category? |
| What will you be asking participants to do? Consent to their participation in discussing the AR item and it being documented in researcher’s written notes |
| How will you get informed consent from these participants? Consent form [FM1] will be gained from student participants should their participation be relevant to the AR item and their identified needs from their written learning targets. Consent form [FM2] 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. Some participants might find their involvement stressful or embarrassing. If this becomes evident, their feedback from the AR item will not be pursued. The researcher will state clearly that if they don’t want to give familiar, or have feedback recorded, then the feedback will not be pursued any longer. Is it likely to raise strong emotions? Yes. The associated emotions around the AR item are regularly occurring in study skills sessions, and the tutor/researcher is very experienced with sensitive handling of the topics. If emotions become uncomfortable, the tutor/researcher will move on to other topics. Are you asking them to give you their time (and more)? Only the tutorial time that would be spent on the AR topic regardless. If at any point the tutor/researcher picks up that this time is not valuable for the student, the AR item feedback will cease. The AR topic is a typical focus within staff catch ups, within time reserved for staff reflection. 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? All study tutorials take place in a closed space, in line with the Disability Student Allowance and Student Finance England regulations to ensure privacy and dignity for the student. However, all tutorials take place during university opening hours in department settings with colleagues present nearby. Tutor/researcher sits closest to the door exiting the space. |
| Does your project involve children or vulnerable adults e.g. a person with a learning disability? Delete as appropriate: YES/NO The project involves people 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, with identifying numbers |
| 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. 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 uit 3 submission Which of your data sets will you destroy? All Why? To avoid unnecessarily keeping personal information. 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: ____________________________ Date: ____________October 6 2023 |
| I support this project and have reviewed it with the participant: Signed: ____________________________ Date: ____________ |
[FM1]Why not using a consent form for students to sign?
[FM2]As above