Project Title: EREN-NEON Flexible Learning Projects - Lichen Student Assessment
Investigator: Laurel Anderson             
Department: Ohio Wesleyan University Department of Botany/Microbiology            
Date: August 19, 2020

Introduction
Ohio Wesleyan University supports the practice of protection for human subjects participating in research.  The following information is provided for you to decide whether you wish to participate in the present study. You may refuse to sign this form and not participate in this study. You should be aware that even if you do agree that you will participate in this study, you are free to withdraw from this study at any time.  If you do withdraw yourself from this study, it will not affect your relationship with Ohio Wesleyan University or any other academic institution, nor will it impact your academic standing in any class.

Purpose of the Study
The Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) and the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) have been funded by the National Science Foundation to create Flexible Learning Projects for teaching ecology and data science to undergraduates. This study is designed to assess how student learning outcomes are impacted by faculty members’ use of these projects in their courses.  

Procedures
Students who are currently enrolled in courses that are using Flexible Learning Projects will complete a survey before and after project activities with a small number of closed-ended and open-ended questions related to the learning goals of Flexible Learning Projects. All questions will be administered through an online survey platform.

Risks
There are no more than minimal risks anticipated with participation in this project, as participation in this project in unlikely to cause any more distress than what is experienced in a typical academic day. 

Benefits
Participation in this project is likely to aid students in their understanding of ecological principals. Additionally, participation will contribute to the larger knowledge base related to how this particular pedagogical approach does or does not impact student learning.  

Payments
Participants will not be financially compensated.  Some professors may choose, at their discretion, to offer some type of credit within the context of their class for completing the test. 

Participant Confidentiality
Participant information will be kept confidential, with consent forms stored in separate electronic files from survey response data, and individuals identified by number, not by name.  Names will not be associated with individual student responses if these are used as explanatory examples in publication.  

Data Storage and Security
The only persons who will have access to the raw data which will identify students by name are Dr. Laurel J. Anderson and Dr. Tim McCay, the project administrators, and the faculty members in whose classes students were enrolled at the time they took the test.

Refusal to Sign Consent and Authorization
You are not required to sign this Consent and Authorization form and you may refuse to do so without affecting your relationship with Ohio Wesleyan University or any other academic institution, or your academic standing. If you refuse to sign, your data will not be used in this study.  If your participation in the study is linked to your grade in any class, your professor will provide an appropriate substitute assignment.

Cancelling this Consent and Authorization
You may withdraw your consent to participate in this study at any time. You also have the right to cancel your permission to use information collected about you in writing, at any time, by sending your written request to: Dr. Laurel J. Anderson. If you cancel permission to use your information, the researchers will stop collecting additional information about you. However, the research team may use and disclose information that was gathered before they received your cancellation, as described above. 

Questions about Participation
Questions about procedures should be directed to the researcher listed at the end of this consent form.

PARTICIPANT CERTIFICATION:
I have read this Consent and Authorization form. 
I agree to take part in this study as a research participant. By providing the information below, I affirm that I am at least 18 years old and that I have received a copy of this Consent and Authorization form.          

Researcher Contact Information:
Dr. Laurel J. Anderson, Professor
Department of Botany and Microbiology
Ohio Wesleyan University
Delaware, OH 43015
(740) 368-3501
ljanders@owu.edu

The Ohio Wesleyan University Institutional Review Board has reviewed this research. Protocol Number: 2008.012. This protocol is not subject to continuing review.