The Trent Teaching Commons has compiled helpful resources on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Research Ethics as part of our Teaching and Learning Resource Hub.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning invites faculty to study their own teaching to identify, analyze, and address pedagogical challenges. Oftentimes, faculty will engage with SoTL by conducting a study in their classroom that involves collecting student feedback through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, amongst other data collection methods. Pedagogical research counts as human participant research and requires REB approval. When faculty conduct such studies with the intention of sharing results publicly (eg. through conference presentations or publications), this type of research requires review by the Trent University Research Ethics Board.  

Research projects also require ethics clearance if they include secondary use of data collected for uses other than the present study. This includes information collected for prior studies and information collected for other purposes such as student grades, coursework, or LMS data. Ethics clearance is required even if the information is de-identified.   

Note that SoTL research differs from the collection of student opinions through SETS. While SETS represent an internal quality assurance measure, SoTL projects are intended to be publicly disseminated as research and are therefore held to the same standards as other types of research projects. 

The Trent Teaching Commons has compiled helpful resources on research ethics in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). These resources are available on our Teaching and Learning Resource Hub, which you can access by clicking the tab below. You will find information related to the following topics: 

• The benefits of the REB process
• How to navigate the REB process at Trent specifically
• Tri-Council Policy resources
• Guides, manuals, and other scholarship related to ethics in SoTL