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Application for Ethical Review of Research Involving Human Participants

Application ID :	HRE18-168
Application Title :	Improving Students’ Acceptance of Online Learning Management Systems
Date of Submission :	20/08/2018
Primary Investigator :	MR AMIR GHAPANCHI
Other Investigators :	DR ALASDAIR MCANDREW
	PROF YUAN MIAO

Introduction

Contact:

Ethics Secretary
For help and further information regarding ethical conduct, refer to the Human Research Ethics website: http://research.vu.edu.au/hrec.php or contact the Secretary for the Human Research Ethics Committee, Office for Research.
Phone: 9919 4781 or 9919 4461
Email: researchethics@vu.edu.au

Quest Service Desk
For technical help, refer to the Quest website: http://research.vu.edu.au/quest.php or contact a member of the Quest team.
Phone: 9919 4278
Email: quest.servicedesk@vu.edu.au

Remember to Save:
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Print or Save a Copy of Your Application:
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	Clearance Purpose
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	Assigned Ethics Committee
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	Students involved in conduct of project? (Enter 'Yes' or 'No')
	No

	For Finalisation:

	Approved Start Date for Project
	21/09/2018

	Date Rejected
	This question is not answered.

	Application Process Comments
	This question is not answered.

	4.5. Does the research only include the collection of anonymous and non-sensitive data (e.g. online survey, observational data) that poses no foreseeable risks or discomfort to participants? Any foreseeable risk must be no more than inconvenience.

	6.8. Does the research involve participants who are in dependent or unequal relationships with any member(s) of the research team or recruiting organisation/agency (e.g. counsellor/client, teacher/student, employer/employee)?

	LOW RISK INDICATOR If no statements appear under the headings above, the applicant has not responded yes to any negligible or high risk indicators.

General Details

1.2.	Project Title*
	Improving Students’ Acceptance of Online Learning Management Systems

1.4.	Primary College or Institute for Application*
	COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE

1.5.	Period for which ethical approval is sought. Note: ethical approval is automatically granted for a period of 2 years from the project commencement date. Project commencement date:*
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	Other, provide details:*
	This project uses resources inside university. Staff time is approved through VU research fellowship process for 2018.

1.8.	Is the research a collaborative effort with another organisation?*
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2.1.

Please list all investigators associated with this project.
The research team is the group of investigators accountable for the conduct of the project. Include details of the Primary Chief Investigator (primary contact for application), as well as all other Chief Investigators and Associate Investigators. Student details will be requested separately. Other staff (e.g. technicians) may perform tasks within the project although they are not necessarily investigators. They should be listed as "Other Staff" if appropriate.*

Student Investigators

SECTION 3 - NATURE OF THE PROJECT

Target Population

SECTION 4 - PROJECT DESCRIPTION

	Note: All fields have a maximum of 4000 characters (unless otherwise specified) in plain text only. If supporting documentation needs to be provided for the following questions (images, graphs etc), please upload as referenced appendices in Section 11 - "Required Attachments" below.

Given the circumstances above on section 4.1, we propose a research project which intends to explore factors which impact students’ acceptance of LMS (eg. VU Collaborate of VU). This is highly aligned with the aim of VU Blended learning strategy and operational plan of enhancing student access, experience, engagement and outcomes through an effective blend of face to face and digitally enabled learning opportunities.

	Use this textbox if additional room is required for Question 4.3.
	This question is not answered.

4.4.	Indicate all types of data to be collected.*

4.8.	Who will be collecting the data? (give details for all types of data collected and all persons involved)*
	Data will be collected by sending students enrolled in some units from the college of Engineering and Science. Types of data would be numerical (eg. Likert scale, True/False etc) and open ended questions regarding students' experience with VU Collaborate system. Data will be collected by the chief investigator.

4.10.	How will the data be analysed? (give details for all types of data collected)*
	Data will be analysed using statistical analysis methods such as Partial Least Square using Smart PLS.

SECTION 5 - PARTICIPANTS

Participant Group Details

	Number of participants: *
	Estimating the total number of students who receive the survey is hard, but it can be more than 1000

	Source of participants:*
	An email containing project description and link to the online survey will be sent to the students enrolled in the unit by the unit coordinator, or discipline head, or the college director T&L.

	Record details for additional group? (Group 2)*

	If YES, provide details including what their involvement entails.*
	Director of Teaching and Learning (Dr Alasdair McAndrew) and disciplines heads in Engineering college (A/Prof Zora Vrcelj (from Built-environment), Prof Sam Fragomeni (from Engineering), Dr Joshua Johnson (from Science), and prof Yuan Miao (from Information Technology)) will be sending out the invitation to participate in the questionnaire.

6.5.	Provide procedural details for obtaining informed consent:*
	In the beginning of the online questionnaire, participants will be informed about the project and ethics approval, and asked to hit YES if they agree with it and want to proceed to fill the survey. The responses will be recorded electronicaly.

6.6.	Will you be seeking consent in order to contact participants in the future for related research participation and/or use participants' data for related research purposes?*

6.7.

Will any dual relationship or conflict of interest exist between any researcher and potential or actual participants? (e.g., a member of the research team is also a colleague or friend of potential participants)*

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6.8.	Does the research involve participants who are in dependent or unequal relationships with any member(s) of the research team or recruiting organisation/agency (e.g. counsellor/client, teacher/student, employer/employee)?*

	What measures will be taken to ensure that participants' voluntary consent is not compromised by the relationship?*
	They will be assured through the information sheet that if they take part or not take part in the survey, it won't make any difference to their study. In addition to that, the survey won't ask students' name, making it an anonymous survey.

Psychological Risks

Other Risks

7.5.	Risk-Benefit Statement: Please give your assessment of how the potential benefits to the participants or contributions to the general body of knowledge would outweigh the risks. Even if the risk is negligible, the research must bring some benefit to be ethical.*
	The project seems pretty risk free. The potential findings of the projects will be cutting edge very relevant to the business of universities today and their use of Learning Management Systems.

SECTION 8 - DATA PROTECTION AND ACCESS

8.1.	Indicate how the data, materials and records will be kept to protect the confidentiality/privacy of the identities of participants and their data, including all hardcopies, electronic files and forms. See help for definitions.*

8.3.	Where will data, materials and records be stored during and after completion of the project? Provide full details of the location for all types of data. Note: The VU Research Storage provides secure digital storage and long term retention for research project data including graduate research projects. During the project:*
	The data collected for this project will be saved on an Excel spreadsheet and recorded and saved on R Drive. This project’s investigators and their offices are: Dr Amir Ghapanchi (D530f), Dr Alasdair McAndrew (D638), prof Yuan Miao (D617).

8.5.	Who will be responsible for re-evaluating the data/materials after the retention period and considering a further retention period for some or all of the data/materials?*
	The CI.

8.7.

When further retention of data and materials is no longer required, responsible disposal methods should be adopted. Disposal software should also be adopted if digital software, computer hardware, disks or storage media are reused or retired. What methods of appropriate disposal or destruction will be employed?
Note: Personal, sensitive or confidential information, both digital and hardcopy, will require secure destruction or disposal. For other materials you may need to refer to the Hazardous Materials Policy, Animal Ethics Standard Operating Procedures, or the Ethics and Biosafety site found on the VU Office for Research website. *

Disk format to remove the data file.

SECTION 9 - DISSEMINATION/PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS

9.1.	Indicate how the results of this research will be reported or published.*

9.2.	Will any contractual agreement exist between the researchers and a third party that will restrict publication of the research findings?*

9.3.	Are there any other restrictions on publications or reports resulting from this project?*
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SECTION 10 - OTHER DETAILS

10.1.	In your opinion, are there any other ethical issues involved in the research?*

Required Attachments

	The following documentation must be attached to your application:

	- Copy of the 'Information to Participants Involved in Research' form (Please use the templates provided on the Human Research Ethics website)

	- Any flyers or other advertising material to be used in the research

11.

Please attach each of the items specifically listed above as well as any other supporting documentation.
All documentation must be accurately titled and referenced to within the body of your application where appropriate (i.e. "Appendix A - Declaration Form", "Appendix F - Risk Factor Assessment Questionnaire", etc.). Please limit file types to .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .pdf, or small-medium images (ie, .gif, .jpg).*

Note: Please click on your name in the table above to complete your declaration; or click on the name of an External Investigator to acknowledge that their declaration has been supplied.

External Investigators do not have access to Quest. The Chief Investigator must supply a completed physical declaration on their behalf by following the steps below:
1. Send the person a copy of the full application form (including any attachments), as well as the Declaration Form for External Investigators document.

	You will receive an automatic email notification from Quest when your application has been successfully submitted. Note: Only a Chief Investigator is able to submit an application for ethical approval. The Chief Investigator who is marked as the primary contact for this application is:
	MR AMIR GHAPANCHI