Biology Lab

Pilot Study - Participant Consent

The primary purpose of this study is to understand how the "New College Curriuclum" fulfills the College of Arts & Sciences General Education mandate. Results and recommendations discovered in this study will be provided to the College of Arts & Sciences faculty in order to improve the program. The data collected in this study may be externally published - if and when this occurs, the data will be scrubbed and anonomyzed for full confidentiality. Your participation in this study will include your enrollmen in the requisite courses for your General Education Curriculum, whether "New College Curriuclum," "Forums Curriculum," or "Traditional Curriculum." You may also be asked to volunteer to participate in surveys throughout the study. There are no anticipated risks related to participation in this study. Participation in this study is competely voluntary. You may discontinue participation in this study at any time. If you elect to discontinue the study, you may still participate in the Curriculum of your choice. Participation in the study has no bearing on the curriculum in which you are enrolled.

If you wish to withdraw from the study, please contact the principal researcher at the bottom of this document or contact your Association Dean. You may also elect to not to answer or participate in any part of the study that you feel uncomfortable participating in. 

Please note:  Either electing to participate or declining to participate in this study will not increase or decrease your chances of being offered a spot in the "New College Curriculum" or "Forums Curriculum". 

The benefits that you may expect to gain from participating include the following: (1) knowledge that you are benefiting the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education; (2) providing data that will allow the College Faculty to improve the curricular experience, both for you and future students at UVA; (3) opportunities at a later date to participae in voluntary surveys that will make you eligible for drawings for $50 visa giftcards. Chances of winning one of these gift cards depends on the nubmer of respondents to the calls for volunteers.

Your data will be handled confidentially. After collection of anydata, it will be housed on a secure server. Pertinant data regarding demographics and academic performance may be retrieved from the Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies at the University of Virginia. All information will remain confidential. Only the Principle Investigator and staff at the Office of Institutional Assessment and Studies will have access to your demographic information. All analyses of content will be scrubbed for personal identifying information prior to dissemination. This information will remain anonymous througout the duration of the analsis. Your name or identifying information will not be used in any report.

If issues of concern arise while you are taking the survey, please contact:

Clarence "Bo"Guy Odom, IV, Principle Researcher, 434-297-7976

Questions regarding your rights in this study can be directed to the University of Virginia's Institutional Review Board for the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Contact Tonya Moon, 434-924-0823 or email trm2k@virginia.edu.