A discussion of the IRB process as it applies to SoTL at Purdue.

1. SoTL: Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning
IRB Basics
Dr. Staci Trekles, atrekles@pnw.edu

2. Review: SoTL Basics
• Reflective process, similar to research in any disciplinary field
• Goals typically relate to improving student learning and experiences
• Five primary steps (Bishop-Clark & Dietz-Uhler, 2012):
1. Generate the research question and do literature review
2. Design the study
3. Collect data
4. Analyze data
5. Present and publish

3. The Role of IRB
• The Institutional Research Board is the university’s governing body for
ensuring that research is conducted in a way that is responsible
• IRB determines whether there is a potential risk to participants, including a
risk to their personal information and privacy
• Since SoTL involves human subjects and the data they generate (like grades,
survey information, and exam scores), it is usually subject to IRB review

4. Determining if You Need a Review
• Any experiment done on people (whether giving them medications or examining
their thoughts or performance on an issue) is human subjects research
• Any such research that will be published elsewhere (presentations, articles, etc) must
have gone through IRB review
• SOME (not all) anonymous survey types of research do not require IRB approval
• It is always best to ask rather than make an assumption! Your research will be
deemed ”Exempt” from IRB review in many cases, you but you must ask first

5. Purdue IRB
• Main website for Purdue’s IRB:
https://www.irb.purdue.edu
• First step: Complete CITI ethics
training if you have not already
done so (online course to assess
your understanding of human
subjects research
• https://www.citiprogram.org/

6. CITI Training
• IRB for any institution you have
worked for (or that you may have
completed when you did master’s
or doctoral research) will count as
long as you can prove it
• You only need to take the modules
pertaining to your type of research

7. Submitting a Study for Review
• First, go to the online form
submission tool:
https://coeus.itap.purdue.edu/coeu
s/userAuthAction.do
• Note that if you cannot log in, you
must request your account to
activate:
https://www.purdue.edu/business/
coeus/Requests/access.php

8. Using COEUS for IRB Study Submission
• Once logged in, click My IRB Protocols
• Click Create New Protocol to begin a new submission.
• Choose the type of protocol you’re asking for (typically request for Exemption,
sometimes IRB Not Required Determination)
• Identify all people involved (they have to be CITI certified as well!), your financial
interests, and information about your subjects
• Review https://www.irb.purdue.edu/forms.php for necessary forms as attachments
– helpful templates are also available here
• The IRB Manual available at the link above is also very helpful as a guide

9. What to Consider in Your Proposal
• What is the purpose of your research study?
• What are the potential risks and benefits to participants?
• Will deceptive tactics be used in any way (often is a red flag!)
• Who are your participants (working with children under 18, pregnant women, and children always
calls for additional review)
• How will participants be asked to participate (or how will you gather data and from what
sources)?
• How will participants be able to consent to the research and how will they be warned of any
risks?
• How will their confidentiality be kept safe?

10. Things You Might Need Along the Way
• Information on how you will recruit students to your study and how they will
be able to opt out (in SoTL, this is typically the option to decline to
participate in the research study, from within your class)
• Blank surveys and other measurement tools you will be using
• Recruitment and consent forms

11. Your Turn!
• What are you working on now for your research?
• Did you go through CITI training yet?
• Have you determined yet whether your research will likely be exempt? How
will you ask IRB for this exemption?

12. Publishing
• Consider conferences with practitioner focus in your field, or in the education or
social science disciplines (i.e., EDUCAUSE, SITE, AACE, Quality Matters,
MERLOT, Teaching Professor, Lilly International Conferences)
• Conferences and journals with a education focus in your discipline (i.e., Computer
Science Education, Teaching of Psychology, Nurse Education Today, Journal of Research in
Mathematics Education)
• Many publications specialize in SOTL research:
• http://www.issotl.com/issotl15/node/21
• http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/ResearchAndScholarship/SoTL/journals/

13. More Resources
• Vanderbilt SOTL “getting started” guide: https://my.vanderbilt.edu/sotl/doing-
sotl/getting-started/
• Guidebook to SOTL – thinking of a problem and the questions:
https://my.vanderbilt.edu/sotl/files/2013/09/1SoTLProblem4.pdf
• Annual SoTL Conferences: http://www.washington.edu/teaching/sotl-annual-conferences/
• Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at Univ. of Central Florida:
http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/ResearchAndScholarship/SoTL/
• Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNIm8Apo1feU73SPyxEXXgg

14. References
• Bishop-Clark, C, & Dietz-Uhler, B (2012). Engaging in the scholarship of teaching and
learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
• Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professorate. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Hutchings, P. (2000). Opening lines: Approaches to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Menlo Park, CA: Carnegie.
• Nelson, C. (2003). Doing it: Examples of several of the different genres of the
scholarship of teaching and learning. Journal of Excellence in College Teaching, 14(2), 85-
94.