Letter of Information

Study title: Investigating How Study Schedule Impacts Learning of Chemical Names and Nomenclature

Principal Investigator: Dr. Amanda Bongers

Affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University

Email: ab324@queensu.ca

Co-Investigators: Joshua Maligaya

1.    Introduction

You are invited to participate in a research study because you are 18 years of age or older and may have varying levels of chemistry experience (from none to advanced). This consent form provides information to help you decide whether you would like to take part.

Participation is voluntary. You can decline to participate in any aspect of the research without impact on your academic standing, grades, employment, or relationship with the researchers. You can also change your mind at any time. Whatever you decide, your decision will be respected.

2.    Conflict of interest

The Principal Investigator (Dr. Amanda Bongers) is an Associate Professor and the co-investigator (Mr. Ramoel Joshua Maligaya) is a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Queen’s University. As such, they may hold supervisory or educational roles (e.g., instructor, teaching assistant) over some potential participants enrolled in chemistry courses. To mitigate this conflict of interest, study team members will not conduct in-class recruitment (including tutorial sessions) in courses or sections they personally teach or TA for; recruitment and consent materials emphasize that participation is voluntary and unrelated to academic standing or grades; identifiable contact information will be restricted and, where relevant, withheld from any team member with a potential evaluative relationship until after course grades are finalized; and participants may request a different study team member to conduct the consent discussion and study procedures if they feel uncomfortable.

3.    Purpose of study

The purpose of this research study is to examine how different study schedules affect learning of chemical names (common names and IUPAC nomenclature). We will measure accuracy and response time during online flashcard practice and examine visual processing during in-lab sessions using eye tracking while participants perform tasks such as identifying chemical structures from names.

4.    Who will take part in this study?

We aim to recruit about 100 participants to take part in this study. If you choose to take part, your total time commitment will be approximately 75–100 minutes across multiple sessions.

5.    What will happen in this study?

If you choose to participate, the study includes online and in-person components:

6.    Risks

Risks are expected to be minimal. Some participants may experience mild eye fatigue from looking at a screen. You may take breaks at any time. There is also a small risk of discomfort related to being observed by an eye-tracking device; however, the eye tracker does not record full-face video or images and does not collect personally identifiable facial recordings. Because the Principal Investigator and co-investigator are members of the Department of Chemistry, there is a potential risk related to power imbalances for participants who are students in the department. To mitigate this, participation is entirely voluntary and has no impact on your academic standing, grades, or relationship with the researchers (see Conflict of Interest section above). You may also request a different study team member to conduct the consent discussion or study procedures. As with any research study, there is a small risk of loss of confidentiality; safeguards are described below.

7.    Benefits

There are no direct benefits to participants. For students currently studying or planning to study chemistry, participating in this study may provide an indirect educational benefit. The retrieval practice intervention will give you valuable, structured practice with IUPAC nomenclature rules. Because the online platform provides immediate, corrective feedback on your answers, you will be able to identify and correct your own misunderstandings, which may assist you in your coursework. We also hope that the results of this study may benefit future teaching by providing insights into how different study schedules relate to the acquisition of rule-based learning and representation within the context of chemistry.

8.    What are your responsibilities?

If you decide to participate, you are responsible for completing the assigned online flashcard sessions and attending the two in-person test sessions as scheduled. During lab sessions you will follow instructions, remain seated during eye-tracker calibration, and complete the drawing tasks to the best of your ability.

9.    Withdrawal from the study

You may withdraw from the study at any point during the online flashcards or during either in-person visit by contacting the study team. You may request withdrawal of your study data up until the master linking log (which connects your name/email to your study ID) is destroyed on September 1, 2027. After that date, it will not be possible to identify and remove an individual’s de-identified data.

10. Confidentiality

All the information collected during the research study will remain strictly confidential to the extent permitted by the applicable laws. If you decide to participate in this study, the research team will only collect the minimum information needed. You will be assigned a study ID (e.g., P01000) and all data collected, including the demographic questionnaire, will only be labelled with this ID.  Your answers and response times to the prompts during the online flashcards and tasks in Visit 2 will be taken by the computer or written down by the researcher. Your gaze patterns will be recorded using a Tobii screen-based eye tracker while you view the stimuli.

Your name and email address will be collected for scheduling, reminders, and follow-up between sessions. This contact information will be stored separately from study data in a master linking log/contact list and will only be accessible to the Principal Investigator and authorized co-investigators listed on the ethics file.

Hard-copy data and study materials (e.g., signed consent forms and demographic questionnaire) will be stored securely in a locked cabinet in a locked office/lab at Queen’s University. Electronic study data will be stored securely and access-controlled (see below).

Upon study completion, de-identified study data used for analysis and publication will be retained in a secure, access-controlled location for a minimum of 5 years, as per Queen’s policies. The Principal Investigator is the data custodian. After the retention period, electronic data will be securely deleted and paper records will be securely shredded. The data custodian of the study data for the duration of the retention period is the Principal Investigator. There are organizations and their representatives that may look at or receive copies of the information collected during the study, including:
– Members of the study team, as delegated by the Principal Investigator.
– Authorized representatives of Queen’s University and/or the Queen’s University General Research Ethics Board (GREB).

The results of this research study may be published or shared during scientific meetings, however you will not be identified during the dissemination of study results or publication. All efforts will be made to protect your privacy, and the likelihood that someone may identify you is small, however it cannot be eliminated.

11. Incentives

Participants will receive $10 cash compensation for completing the study, provided at the start of Visit 2. If you choose to discontinue your participation after the online sessions, you will receive compensation at the time scheduled for Visit 2 or by contacting the researcher by email. Compensation is not contingent on performance.

12. Contact information

If you have questions about this study, you can contact Joshua Maligaya at 16rjlm1@queensu.ca or Dr. Amanda Bongers at ab324@queensu.ca.

This study has received ethical approval by the Queen’s University General Research Ethics Board (GREB). For ethics concerns please contact GREB at 1-844-535-2988 (Toll free in North America) or researchethics@queensu.ca.

If you want to participate in this study, please indicate so below and you will be directed to a scheduling website called “Calendly” to independently book your first in-person lab session.

Expressing interest or scheduling an appointment does not obligate you to participate. Before you begin any study activity at your first in-person visit, a researcher will review this information with you, answer any questions, and obtain your physical signature for consent.