Information Sheet
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
INFORMATION SHEET FOR PARTICIPANTS
Project Title: STAK – Social Skills Training for Autistic Kids
Dear Carer
I am a research student in the School of Computer Science and Statistics and I am carrying out a study as part of my Ph D. Knowing first hand how difficult it is to find services and support for children with special needs, I am aiming through my research to give parents, teachers and key workers like yourself easy access to material to help you teach social skills to children who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs).
Background
I have built a website called STAK which will guide you in the use of appropriate teaching strategies and provide you with a wide range of educational resources which are based on best practice in this area. The system has been designed to tailor all of this support to your own individual requirements.
STAK
Here is an outline of how you could help me test STAK and give me feedback to ensure that the learning tool that I have designed will be of benefit to any Carers and Children who use it.
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Trinity College Dublin – Ethics Policy
Purpose
The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how a dual-adaptive learning system matches child profiles with appropriate educational resources and teaching strategies, while at the same time providing carers using those recommended strategies with support at levels consistent with their own profiles, to enable them to develop social skills in children with ASDs and meet their individual needs.
Participation
Your participation is completely voluntary and you may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. If you do decide to withdraw from the research you must inform the researcher by email. All collected information from your participation in the study will be removed immediately and will not be included in the research documentation.
There are no anticipated risks to your involvement in this research. It is envisaged that during the project you will not only experience new technologies which will be helpful to you in your work but also collaborate and share your experience with other carers.
Your consent
Each participant must provide their own consent in written form by signing a consent form provided by the researcher.
No personal details will be inputted into the learning system. However, should you wish to include photographs of any of your pupils or any other personalized materials in order to individualize the educational resources, you must obtain written permission in advance from the parents concerned. All of this data will be anonymised and on no account will the identities of carers or children be made known. It would be important to make parents aware that any data collected during the course of this project and which may be entered into the dissertation of the researcher, will be held in the libraries of Trinity College Dublin for up to and exceeding seven years.
Permission
If you are employed by a school, and pupils of this school will be involved indirectly in this research, please inform the researcher as she must obtain permission from the Principal of your school before this research can proceed in your school. If you happen to be employed as a School Principal then the researcher must obtain permission from your Board of Management.
Parents’ Consent
During the research data will be stored on individual children and the impact of the learning system on their behaviour. All of this data will be anonymised and under no circumstances will it be possible to trace this information back to the individuals concerned. However it will be necessary for the researcher to obtain consent from the parents of the children involved by asking them to sign separate consent forms.
Information Collection
During the study the researcher will gather evidence via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, observations, diaries, journals, field notes, photography, audio and video recording, experimental design, rating scales, database logs, text-based communication and documentation. The data will be anonymised and stored in compliance with the Data Protection Act. Extracts of data may be used in presentations etc but under no circumstances will identities of carers or children be made known. The information will be analysed based on the pedagogy and learning theories underpinning this research inquiry.
In the extremely unlikely event that illicit activity is reported to the researcher during the interview the researcher will be obliged to report it to the appropriate authorities. Therefore, it is advised that you do not mention third parties during the study or interviews.
The documentation of the findings will be published and disclosed to a body of examiners in Trinity College Dublin as well as external examiners. There may be lectures, PhD theses, conference presentations and peer-reviewed journal articles written as a result of this project but on no account will the carers and the children be identified.
Debriefing
The researcher will hold a debriefing session after the findings of this project have been published. During this session the collected data and a summary of the analysis will be presented. This session will provide you with the opportunity to examine how your contributions to the study have been used and interpreted, and to ensure that your contributions have not been used inaccurately or out of context.
Conflict of Interest
Although the researcher is conducting this study herself, she is unaware of any conflicts of interest regarding this research. The data collected during this project will not be used against you in any way.
If you require further information or have questions during or after the research project, please do not hesitate to contact me, Theresa Doyle, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mobile 086-8069515.
