As part of the requirements of our project, all teachers and students participating in the Mobile CSP Alexa in Space research project must complete permission forms.

• Teachers - Consent form BEFORE beginning training

• Students - Consent AND assent form distributed via teacher BEFORE beginning the lessons

  • Students need BOTH a consent form (completed by parent/guardian) and an assent form (completed by student) on file. Students who are 18 or older may choose to complete the consent form on their own behalf.

Addressing Questions and Concerns

If you, your students, parents/guardians, or administrators have concerns about the project, please contact us at info@mobile-csp.org. You can also share our Information for Parents/Guardians page.

1.) Distribute consent AND assent forms to students

** IMPORTANT: We need BOTH permission form(s) on file for each student. We cannot use individual student data without BOTH these forms.

Print out each of the documents below and distribute one of each to your Mobile CSP students. Only the consent and assent form needs to be returned and submitted to Mobile CSP.

• Project Letter to Parents/Guardians

• Consent Form - Completed by parent/guardian OR students who are over 18 may choose to complete on their own behalf

• Assent Form - Completed by student

2.) Collect completed consent and assent forms

Collect both the completed consent and assent forms from ALL students including those that do not wish to participate. Students are responsible for returning both the completed consent and assent forms to their instructor.

3.) Follow-up with students with missing or incomplete forms

Follow-up regularly with those students that have missing or incomplete forms. Review your forms before scanning to make sure that students have completed all fields including making a selection to indicate whether or not they will be participating, signatures, and date.

Students have the option to opt-out of the project and should still complete the assent form if they do not want to participate.

4.) Scan and submit to forms

Teachers are responsible for submitting the hardcopy forms to Mobile CSP at info@mobile-csp.org

Investigator refers to the Mobile CSP Team and will be signed by Mobile CSP. You and your students do NOT need to sign the investigator line.

Handling Incomplete or Missing Forms

Ideally, teachers should aim to have all students submit permission form(s). There is an option on the forms for participants to opt out of participating.

We understand that not all students will return forms despite teacher efforts. Missing or incomplete forms do NOT impact your status in the project.

Teachers CANNOT penalize students who choose not to participate or those who do not return forms.

Students that Opt-out

Students should be completing the same amount of work whether they opt to participate in research or not. Students cannot be excluded from the class or penalized because they do not consent to have their data shared. Students who do not complete both forms and those who do not consent to participate will have all their data omitted from any and all final reports and dissemination. Students who do not consent to research can still complete the lesson activities.

Collection Tips and Student Incentive Ideas

REMEMBER: You CANNOT penalize students for choosing NOT to participate in the research or program evaluation projects.

• Class Reward | Consider offering the whole class a reward if students have their consent and assent forms completed by an assigned deadline. For example, if consent and assent forms are completed by the end of the week have a pizza party for your students or offer them a candy reward.

• Parent-Teacher Conferences | If your school has Parent-Teacher Conferences before you will be implementing Alexa in Space consider having parent(s)/guardian(s) complete the consent form at the meeting. Share the Amazon Future Engineer press release about the program with your parents and students. Please note that this option, while convenient, may not be possible for all due to timing or parents/guardians being unable to attend.

• Information Session | Host an information session for your students and your students’ parent(s)/guardian(s). This will provide your students’ parent(s)/guardian(s) with an opportunity to learn about the class as well as how computer science will benefit their child. Be sure to invite your principal and counselors as well as utilize the recruitment resources that were sent to you. Also, remember to hand out consent forms and cover letters to have parent(s)/guardian(s) to complete and return before they leave. Considering sharing the Amazon Future Engineer press release about the program with your parents and students.

Q: What forms do I distribute to and collect from students?

A: Instructors need to hand out the letter, consent form, and assent form (3 documents per student). Only the signed consent form and signed assent form need to be collected.

Q: Do students need to return both the assent and consent form?

A: Yes, a completed consent and assent form is a requirement of our IRB approval and research project. All students are expected to have both an assent and consent form on file. This includes students who are over the age of 18. The programs need both the assent and consent form on file for each individual to use their data. If only one form is returned we cannot use this individual's data.

Q: Do parent(s)/guardian(s) need to sign the assent form?

A: No, only students need to sign the assent form and only a parent/guardian signs the consent form.

Q: Who is the investigator?

A: The investigator and researcher conducting this study is Jennifer Rosato.

Q: My administration is concerned about sharing student PII. Can students submit anonymous consent and assent forms?

A: No, we must students' real names on consent and assent forms otherwise we don't have accountability for who has actually assented/consented. We are required to follow strict IRB guidelines about keeping that data confidential, however, and only the researchers on the project have access to the forms. All student data is given a study ID and not associated with a student name.

Q: I have the consent forms on file but I do not have access to a scanner. Can I still participate? -or- I had the forms but lost them before I could upload them to my folder. Can my class's data still be used?

A: The program needs a copy of all assent and consent forms in our records to use data. If instructors do not upload or provide any consent forms to the project, we cannot use student data. If you are having difficulty uploading the forms, please contact info@mobile-csp.org and we will help you through the process.

Q: Some of my students did not consent to participate. Do I still need to upload their forms?

A: Yes. It's important that the programs have all completed consent and assent forms on file regardless of whether or not the individual will be participating.

Q: Can I still issue the survey to students who do not consent to participate?

A: No. Students who are not participating in research do not need to complete the survey.

Q: Can I penalize a student who does not participate in research or submit their form?

A: Absolutely not. Students and parent(s)/guardian(s) have a right to choose whether or not they would like to participate. You cannot penalize a student for not submitting a form. This also means that you cannot offer extra credit to students who return their forms.

Q: Does a student who is over the age of 18 need their parent/guardian to sign the consent form?

A: Any student over the age of 18 can sign the consent form (they do not need a parent/guardian signature). However, we would recommend that instructors encourage students to make parents/guardians aware of the research project.

Q: I've given several reminders to a student in my class but they still haven't returned their consent or assent form. Am I still eligible to participate in the research project?

A: Yes. As long as teachers make a good faith effort to collect all consent and assent forms they will not be disqualified from the research project if a few students are missing forms.

Q: At the beginning one of my students consented to participate but now they no longer want their data shared. What do I do?

A: All students have a right to withdraw from the study at any time. If a student comes to you and states they no longer wish to participate, contact info@moble-csp.org immediately. We will work with you to have the student's information updated.

Q: One of my students dropped from my course. What do I do with their consent form?

A: Nothing. The programs will handle updating this student's information.