Research and Experimentation in Teaching Effectiveness: The Ethical Review Process and the IRB

Abstract

Research and experimentation in teaching effectiveness, which makes research subjects of students in regular classroom settings, should be subject to an ethical review process that is separate from, and in addition to, the mandated review of human subjects research that is conducted by Institutional Review Boards. Furthermore, despite the moral dilemmas that often characterize ethical decisions in the review of teaching effectiveness, we should not shy away from developing and applying a basic set of normative principles for ethical decision making.

Keywords

• Research in teaching effectiveness
• Experimentation in teaching effectiveness
• Institutional review boards
• Ethical review process
• Pedagogic research
• Pedagogical ethics
• Pedagogic experimentation