The Centre for Academic Development (CAD) offers support and funding to individuals and groups of staff who engage in educational research through its established LTEP small grant initiative.
Before undertaking educational and practitioner-focused research, all LTEP projects involving students or other individuals as research participants must have secured ethical approval. The exception to this mandate is the end-of-course review process, where feedback data is gathered to enhance teaching and assessment practice, as part of the University’s quality assurance procedures.
The ethics process is designed to protect both participants and researchers during the collection, storing, analysis, and eventual use of data. Ethical considerations should also align with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the resulting Data Protection Act 2018.
Further information regarding how to seek ethical approval and the ethical approval process using ‘Worktribe Ethics’ is available on the University’s ‘Ethical Approval for Research’ web page.
Throughout the ethics process, key considerations include the prevention of harm for both researchers and participants, the importance of informed and voluntary consent, and the need to ensure anonymity and confidentiality for those involved.
At the University of Aberdeen, all academic staff, and other individuals involved in research should complete the mandatory Research Ethics and Governance training, for which they can self-enrol via MyAberdeen. This course comprises three modules, which individually cover:
1) the principles of research ethics
2) harm, risk, and consent
3) research governance
All staff submitting an LTEP application should also complete the Research Integrity training, for which they can also self-enrol via MyAberdeen.
There are several guides to support staff as they embark on the process of ensuring their research is ethical, obtaining consent, and maintaining ethical standards throughout the duration of their research project. These resources include:
BERA. 2019. Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research (4th edition, 2018) (particularly pp. 6-25) https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2018-online
SERA. 2020. Starting Points for Educational Research in Scotland. https://www.sera.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2020/11/SERA-Starting-Points-for-Educational-Research-in-Scotland-2020.pdf