Does my teaching require IRB approval?

The answer is yes if any of the following apply:

1. Your project contains a methodology for systematic data collection that will provide a conclusion applicable to situations beyond the one examined with or without current intent to publish. (e.g., evaluations that determine an individual teacher’s effectiveness at delivery of a lesson are not generalizable; studies that determine the efficacy of a method of instruction to affect standardized test scores are generalizable.)
2. You will be using the data in your honors project, dissertation or thesis.
3. The resulting conclusions will be published (including at the Georgia Southern library, any website or available for review by individuals other than the researcher or course instructor).
4. The data will be used to create a presentation, poster presentation, and capstone paper or similar and that product will be preserved as an independent work.

The answer is no if:

1. You will be collecting the data only to improve your teaching skills, without sharing the data.
2. You will present the data only to the principal.
3. You will be presenting the data only to your teacher, class members, and other Georgia Southern students and faculty (not for honors project, capstone, thesis or dissertation) and project documentation will be treated as a normal class assignment and not retained by the institution or instructor or reused by the student for any purpose.

If you are teaching a research methods course in which students will conduct  independent practice research, you will need to apply for an instructor class exemption for the semester.

Last updated: 2/21/2023