Survey: Participant Information

FPAS Participant Information Sheet: Survey

 

Ethics reference number: ERGO/FPSE/13469	Version: 1.2	9 March 2015
Study Title: Social Media in Engineering Maths: an Investigation
Investigator: Su White and Vesna Perišić

 

We would like to invite you to take part in a survey for a research study. Please read this information carefully before deciding to take part in the research. Before you make any decision regarding participation you need to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. Please take time to read the following information carefully. Talk to others about the study if you wish. If you are happy to participate indicate via the consent form. Your participation is completely voluntary.

What is the research about? This is a research project evaluating the experience of Foundation Year Students learning mathematics. The study aims to explore students’ formal and informal use of social media, in the context of the Foundation Year as a whole, and specifically in the context of the engineering mathematics. At the end of the study, when we have analysed the data and written a paper presenting the findings you will receive an email telling you where to access the study findings and see how your data was used.
You can follow our work in progress via the study blog http://blog.soton.ac.uk/smile/

Why have I been chosen? You have been approached because you studying the Engineering Foundation Year during the 2014-15 academic year.

What will happen to me if I take part? You will able to complete the online survey via iSurvey. The survey will take about 10 minutes in total. At the end of the survey you will be given an opportunity to volunteer to take part in a follow up discussion group meeting. The discussion group, which will take place at a time convenient to you, will last about 45 minutes. Details of the proposed group discussion will be provided to those who are considering volunteering for the group discussion at the time you are provided with the opportunity.

Are there any benefits in my taking part? You may find the questions interesting; they may be relevant to your work for the Routes to Success module. You may be pleased to add to current knowledge and understanding about how students use social media to support their learning.

Are there any risks involved? There are no particular risks associated with your participation.

Will my data be confidential? Your responses will be confidential, there is no way to directly identify any contributor to the survey. You will be given a personal code number, known to you alone. If you subsequently participate in the group discussions, your contributions will only be identified by an alphabetic index to participants.

Your data will be held on a password protected computer/secure University server, and used only in accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). An anonymised version of the data will be archived by the university once the analysis has been completed. If you would like to access your data after your participation, change it, or withdraw it, please contact the investigator (e-mail su@soton.ac.uk or vp@soton.ac.uk ) who will arrange this.

What happens if I change my mind? You may withdraw at any time before you submit the survey and for any reason. However once they are submitted you cannot modify or withdraw your responses, since they are anonymised.

What happens if something goes wrong? Should you have any concern or complaint, if possible contact a member of the research team (e-mail su@soton.ac.uk or vp@soton.ac.uk ), otherwise please contact the FPSE Office (e-mail J.M.Calder-Smith@soton.ac.uk ) or any other authoritative body such as the Head of Research Governance (02380 595058, rginfo@soton.ac.uk).