Spring 2025 SOWK 460w Class 03 Weekly Email
Email sent on to SOWK 460
I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. No class this week in person, but I hope to see some of you at the protests.
Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn
Ethical practice and program evaluation is the theme for week three of SOWK 460w. This week is asynchronous, so there is no in-person class. Students will complete the CITI research ethics and compliance training. I ask students to read a brief report explaining the American Evaluation Association’s guiding principles and respond to the group discussion forums. The learning objectives for this week include the following:
- Demonstrate knowledge of essential human subjects’ research topics for social-behavioral-educational researchers.
- Apply the code of ethics to program evaluation
- Understand potential ethical challenges to program evaluation
Unit Assignments
Read
Read the American Evaluation Association (2018) and their Guiding Principles For Evaluators.
A-01: Class Engagement and Attendance
This week, there are three forums for students to write replies. I want you to submit at least three replies. Two should be your reply to one of the prompts in the forums, and the third can be a meaningful response to one of your peer’s replies. The following are the forums for week three:
- Week 03 Content Reflection gives students a space to consider and share about the content they are engaging in this week.
- I have published a number of my research papers, and some have Examples of Informed Consent. In this forum, I provide some links to these and offer an opportunity to draw connections to the best practices for informed consent in the literature.
- I want students to engage with program evaluation to get a feel for examples of them. In the forum Published Program Evaluations, you can find and write a summary of a program evaluation to share with your peers.
A-03: CITI Research Ethics and Compliance Training
Meta: Points 50 pts (5% of final grade); Deadline Monday 02/10/25 at 08:00 AM; Completion via MyHeritage Assignments as an uploaded paper. Location Assignment Submission and Assignment Description Handout.
Purpose: Students learn and demonstrate knowledge of essential human subjects’ research topics for social-behavioral-educational researchers.
Task: Heritage University’s Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative’s (CITI) Research Ethics and Compliance Training program introduces issues such as informed consent, human subjects’ protection, privacy, and confidentiality for students involved in research involving no more than “minimal risk.” To complete the CITI training, go to http://www.citiprogram.org/ and follow these instructions:
- Click on “Register” in the upper right-hand corner.
- Enter “Heritage” as your organization’s affiliation.
- Fill out the remaining information through Step 6:
a. username, password, security question
b. no CME/CEU credits
c. answering the professional certification study guide question and course survey is optional
d. institutional email, department, role in research: student researcher-undergraduate - When you get to Step 7 of the registration process, do the following:
a. For Question 1 on “Human Subjects Research,” select “Social & Behavioral Educational (SBE) course: Choose the option “to satisfy CITI training requirements for Investigators and staff involved primarily in research with human subjects.”
b. For Question 2, select “Not at this time.”
c. Do not select anything for Question 3.
d. For Question 4, select “No.”
e. For Question 5, select “No.” - When your registration is complete, Social & Behavioral Educational (SBE) will be in the courses “ready to begin” section.
- Click “Start Now.” Complete all 12 modules required courses to achieve certification. You do not need to complete any of the supplemental modules.
- Find your certificate documentation completion for this course by navigating to the records section of the website. Download or take a screenshot showing that you completed the course and upload it to MyHeritage.
Students can find additional support and information on Heritage University’s Institution Review Board (https://heritage.edu/student-resources/irb-institutional-review-board/)
Success: Students will complete the CITI Social & Behavioral Educational (SBE) course. They will upload a copy of their certificate (or a screenshot showing completion/grade assigned) to MyHeritage assignments. Grades for this assignment will be completed by mid-term grades due by the faculty on Wednesday 03/26/25 at 5:00 PM.
Unit Resources
This week, I have you read the Guiding Principles For Evaluators from the American Evaluation Association (2018). Their website has a number of other resources around assessment.
Reference
American Evaluation Association. (2018). American Evaluation Association guiding principles for evaluators. https://www.eval.org/Portals/0/Docs/AEA_289398-18_GuidingPrinciples_Brochure_2.pdf
To-Do Lists
- Read American Evaluation Association (2018)
- Complete the CITI Research Ethics and Compliance Training
- Make three replies across any of the three forums