The Course on Research Ethics (CORE): Implications for SoTL

Abstract

In Canada, we are guided by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2), an initiative of the Panel on Research Ethics with support from the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research. A major educational initiative of this work is the online modules offered as the Course on Research Ethics (CORE), which is mandatory training for many public post-secondary and clinical settings. Since 2012, the primary author of this chapter has led the program evaluation for the Secretariat. To date, over 100,000 unique individuals have completed the online survey to assess their knowledge of research ethics, their perception of the role of Research Ethics Boards, and their preferred ways of learning about research ethics. Although earlier data has been published regarding the education and training needs for research ethics, this data has never been explored through the lens of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). All survey responses relating to SoTL were identified and analyzed. In this chapter, we highlight the SoTL changes within the TCPS 2 documents. This chapter also provides a lens into SoTL researchers’ perspectives on Research Ethics Boards, their knowledge and awareness of research ethics, and the additional ethics training needed to do SoTL research (outside of current CORE modules).