Do You Need Campus Approval of Your Research Design?

At Cal Poly Pomona, the committee that used to oversee protection of human subjects in research is now called the Institutional Research Board (IRB). Faculty must seek IRB approval for their scholarship of teaching project if they are conducting research on learning in their classes where the results of that research might be reported in a publication or an oral presentation such as at a conference or symposium. If the classroom research is conducted solely for purposes of instructional improvement, meaning gathering feedback from students in order to plan changes in the course or teaching methods, and the results of the assessment are never to be made public, IRB approval is not required.

To elaborate: Not all classroom research and assessment projects require IRB approval. For example, as Cal Poly Pomona faculty, we are engaged in a variety of informal, private classroom assessment activities (such as informal anonymous surveys, or anonymous one-minute papers, given the last five minutes of class) in order to "take the pulse" of the class and see what might need changing while the course is in progress. We are also engaging in learning outcomes assessment as part of the departmental program review, and this kind of assessment often includes surveys, focus groups, and interviews, as well as analysis of student performance on exams, assignments, projects, etc. We do not need to seek IRB approval for classroom assessment or program assessment, when it is done as part of the normal routine of teaching a class, or when it is part of the now-required learning outcomes assessment in program review. However, if we plan on writing a paper or giving a presentation on what we are learning via such assessment, then we do need to seek IRB approval.

(See "Guidelines for the Ethical Treatment of Students and Student Writing in Composition Studies" published in the February 2001 issue of College Composition and Communication, 52:3, pp. 485-490, and archived on the CCC website. This statement is useful to scholars of teaching and learning in any discipline.)

WHAT TO DO

Kenneth Gruber, Cal Poly Pomona Director of Research and Sponsored Programs, has prepared instructions about the IRB procedures and various levels of review (click here to read).

IRB Approval Application Form (view-only or in MS Word to download). Download and complete all items. Submit completed form electronically to Kenneth Gruber, Director of Research and Sponsored Programs.

Also, all applicants need to provide evidence of passing the NIH tutorial on Human Participant Protections for Research Teams before a protocol can be activated. The tutorial can be accessed at http://cme.nci.nih.gov/intro.htm. The Certificate of Completion should be printed and a copy faxed to the Research Office (869-2993).

Sample IRB Approval Application, developed by Dr. Janine Riveire, Cal Poly Pomona Music Dept.

Sample "Informed Consent Waiver" developed by Dr. Janine Riveire, Cal Poly Pomona Music Dept.

Second Sample "Release Form" to secure permission from students to use their work and comments in a scholarship of teaching project