Appendix A: Letter of Consent

[On Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation Letterhead]

You are invited to participate in a study titled Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Faculty Mentoring for Teaching. This study is being led by the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) at the University of Toronto, which provides leadership in teaching and learning for all teaching staff and graduate teaching assistants across all of the university’s campuses and divisions.

Purpose of the research study

The purpose of this study is to capture P2P faculty participants’ insights and feedback on the various elements of the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Pilot Program. Included here are questions with respect to faculty perceptions of their mentoring relationship. Information collected from the survey, focus groups and documents completed by participants will provide important insights on what worked well, challenges and feedback on future iterations of the P2P program. This information will inform teaching innovation and research within the University of Toronto community, assist to identify areas for faculty development programming, resourcing, and education, and be of value to academic and administrative staff in other institutions that have an ongoing interest in peer mentoring for teaching programs.

Overview of the data collection process

As a participant, we are asking you to consent to:

1. The use of the following P2P pilot activities and documents:
– P2P Participant Reflection Worksheet (from Workshop #1)
– P2P Participant Log (ongoing from January –May 2017)
– Reflections on key activities

2. Participate in:
– P2P Focus Group (in the May 11 2017, Workshop #3). Through these focus groups we are seeking to gain insights from P2P participants on faculty members’ experiences in their P2P mentoring relationship, types of teaching-related topics they discussed, level of engagement in the CTSI-facilitated workshops, challenges, successes, and overall feedback on the pilot program resources. We will be audio-recording these sessions, and by providing consent below, you consent to be audio-recorded in the focus group.
– Complete a twenty minute online post-pilot survey following Workshop #3 (May 11, 2017):
– Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Pilot Program: Mentoring Relationship Survey

Confidentiality and potential risks associated with participation

The risks involved in participating in this study are minimal. In the focus group you will need to maintain confidentiality regarding your conversations with your peers. You do not have to answer any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. You can opt to not participate or provide any piece of information asked for, including particular questions or survey instruments. You may also withdraw from the study completely at any time. Simply inform any of the investigators and/or P2P workshop facilitators.

Your participation in this study is voluntary. Your responses are anonymous and will be kept confidential. Data from this study will only be shared in aggregate form. The primary data will only be available to the PI and CTSI staff directly involved in the research study. No other parties within the University of Toronto will have access to the data.

Data from this study will only be reported and shared in aggregate and/or anonymized form. No information that would allow individual subjects to be linked to specific statements will be reported in any form.

This study may be reviewed for quality assurance to make sure that the required laws and guidelines are followed. If chosen, (a) representative(s) of the Human Research Ethics Program (HREP) may access study-related data and/or consent materials as part of the review. All information accessed by the HREP will be upheld to the same level of confidentiality described here.

You may contact the Principal Investigator of this study:
Dr. Carol Rolheiser, Professor (OISE)
Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI)
University of Toronto: (416) 946-8534, carol.rolheiser@utoronto.ca

Withdrawing from this study

Should you withdraw, your P2P pilot documents will be not be used for the analysis for this study, and your responses on data collected specifically for this study will be deleted (i.e., the post-project survey). Please note should you withdraw after having completed the focus group, your input from the audio-recordings and transcripts of focus group sessions will not be deleted as the interactive nature of the session and need to retain the data of consenting participants would make this infeasible.

Benefits associated with participation

While we would appreciate your participation in this study, you are not obligated to participate and there is no compensation for your participation, or consequences for your non-participation. You may choose to withdraw your consent at any time after the study has begun as well with no consequences.
You may benefit from this research through the act of reflecting on and completing survey items, and during the focus group you have the opportunity to discuss with your peers your insights specific to your mentoring for teaching experience throughout the P2P Pilot Program. As well, final results of the study will assist CTSI in its ongoing programming and services to support instructors and other members of the teaching and learning community in both formal and informal mentoring for teaching relationships and activities.

If you are interested in receiving a summary of the results of this research study please contact carol.rolheiser@utoronto.ca.

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Research Ethics Board at the University of Toronto (file 33977). If you have comments or concerns about participants’ rights or about the way the study is being conducted you may contact Office of Research Ethics at ethics.review@utoronto.ca or 416-946-3273.

Thank you for your assistance in this research study.

By providing your signature and indicating “YES” below you are indicating that you have read and understood this information form and agree to participate in this study. We also ask that you retain a copy of this consent form for your records.

If you do not wish to participate in the research study, please decline participation by circling “NO”. Your signature is not required.

I have read the study information provided above and I voluntarily agree to participate in this survey.

Yes
No

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Signature