PAST Foundation Informed Consent to Participate in Research (Online Survey)

PAST Foundation, 1003 Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio 43212

IRB NO: 2017.11.0016ETH: The Amplification and Acceleration of Design Thinking on the STEM Landscape

IRB APPROVAL DATE: 11.2.17

PAST Foundation Informed Consent to Participate in Research (Online Survey)

Study Title: Impact of Mentorship on STEM Identity Formation

Researchers: Lane Fargher Navarro, Ph.D.

Research Organization: PAST Foundation, Columbus, Ohio

Sponsor: PAST Foundation

This is a consent form for research participation. It contains important information about this study and what to expect if you decide to participate. Your participation is voluntary.

Purpose:

This project is intended to provide an understanding of the role of mentorship on student learning. The study will explore the experience of those engaged in mentoring activities in STEM programming terms in terms of programmatic challenges, achievements, perceived barriers and unperceived barriers. This project will combine the expertise of a team of anthropological ethnographers and educators to ensure that variable components of the study are included. The information generated by this study will inform future STEM education studies and will help identify key factors associated with academic excellence, as well as critical information for policy makers and educators engaged in creating new STEM based educational opportunities

Procedures/Tasks:

You will be asked to complete a survey, which should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete; however, you will have the opportunity to respond to open-ended questions and you will have the option to take more time to respond to these questions if you so desire. You will be answering questions about your experience with the implementation of STEM agricultural education. You may be asked questions about challenges you have faced, and your opinions on areas that you feel would enhance the implementation process for you or for your school as a whole.

Duration:

The study will be conducted from May 2023 through December 2028. If you agree to participate in the study, you may elect to leave the study at any time. If you decide to stop participating in the study, there will be no penalty to you, and you will not lose any benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Your decision will not affect your future relationship with the PAST Foundation, participating school districts, or any other organization involved with the study.

Risks and Benefits:

You will not benefit directly from participating in the study.

There are no risks associated with participation in this study.

Confidentiality:

Your responses will be completely anonymous and confidential. The survey will be administered online through a SurveyMethods© link as a SurveyMethods.com Certified Anonymous Survey. This means that your email ID and IP address associated with your survey response are not visible to PAST Foundation researchers. All survey records will be maintained by the Ethnographic Research Team in a secure location, and access to research files will be strictly limited to the Ethnographic Research Team. While the results of the research analysis may be presented at conferences and/or in published papers, all individual responses will remain confidential.

Incentives:

You will not be compensated in any way to participate in the study.

Participant Rights:

You may refuse to participate in this survey without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. If you are an employee of the PAST Foundation or a participating school district, your decision will not affect your employment status.

Once you initiate the online survey, you will be asked to confirm that you have read this information and agree to participate in this research, with the knowledge that you are free to withdraw your participation at any time without penalty.

An Institutional Review Board responsible for human subject research at the PAST Foundation reviewed this research project and found it to meet strict requirements to protect confidentiality of the data collected for this study, and are consistent with applicable state and federal regulations and PAST’s policies designed to protect the rights and welfare of participants in research.

Contacts and Questions:

You may review information about these protocols on the PAST Foundation website. You may also direct your questions, concerns, or complaints about the study to the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board at the PAST Foundation at 614-340-1208 and the appropriate person will respond to your questions and/or concerns.