What is your current year of study at the university?
Is English your native language?

Overall, how confident are you with your writing?

EXPERIMENT: Development of Human Language Technologies to Improve Disciplinary Writing and Learning through Self-Regulated Revising
PI: Diane Litman
Co-investigator: Amanda Godley
Co-investigator: Rebecca Hwa
University of Pittsburgh
dlitman@pitt.edu or 412-624-8838

Key Information

Please take time to review this information carefully. This is a research study for one semester. Your participation in this study is voluntary which means that you may choose not to participate at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may ask questions to the researchers about the study whenever you would like. If you decide to take part in the study, you will be asked to sign this form, be sure you understand what you will do and any possible risks or benefits.
In this project, the researchers will explore the feasibility of improving students’ writing in the disciplines through course-long use of ArgRewrite, a revision environment developed by our research team that integrates natural language processing methods from AI with current pedagogical theories. ArgRewrite aims to improve writing quality and disciplinary knowledge by encouraging students to receive feedback on their revision behaviors across paper drafts.

What is the purpose of this study?

The purpose of this study is to determine whether ArgRewrite impacts the writing quality and disciplinary content of student writing assignments after revision, as well as impacts student self-regulation abilities with respect to writing and revision, in an authentic classroom environment.

What will I do if I choose to be in this study?

While your instructor will be using ArgRewrite for paper revision activities independently of our study, your participation will allow us to analyze the data collected by the system (namely, all versions of your writing assignments, the system logs) and answers to survey questions, in order to answer our research questions.

How long will I be in the study?

Ideally, we would like to work with you all semester until your course is completed. However, your participation in this study is voluntary which means that you may choose not to participate at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

What are the possible risks or discomforts?

All research carries risk. The risks associated with completing this research are minimal risks which are found in everyday life. The greatest risk is the data breach of student writing assignments. Breach of confidentiality is always a risk, but we will take precautions to minimize this risk as described in the confidentiality section.

Are there any potential benefits?

While there might be no direct benefits to participants, your participation may help us to develop better educational technology. You might also improve your writing and revision skills and beliefs.

Will I receive payment or other incentive?

No.

Are there costs to me for participation?

There are no anticipated costs to participate in this research.

Will information about me and my participation be kept confidential?

The project's research records may be reviewed by the study sponsor/funding agency, the National Science Foundation, and by departments at the University of Pittsburgh responsible for regulatory and research oversight.
All efforts will be used to maintain confidentiality. Because of confidentiality issues, each participant will be assigned a unique code. One file that contains the correspondence between participant names and codes will be kept in an encrypted password-controlled file accessible only to the PI. ArgRewrite data will be stored locally in password protected computers, on Box, and password protected external hard drives. Data will in principle be available for access and sharing as soon as is reasonably possible, normally not longer than one year after publication of the data. Following data analysis, digital data will be stored in locked files and written observations kept in a safe location for 7 years as described by University of Pittsburgh policy. After these 7 years, the data may be securely deleted.

Your research data may be shared with investigators in the wider research community for research and development purposes; however, this information will be shared in a de-identified manner (without identifiers). In addition to being used in a confidential manner as research data, data may also be used in limited academic settings (e.g. small paper excerpts shown in an academic presentation at a conference). There is a slight risk that confidentiality will be breached if your writing examples are used in an academic setting and someone can recognize you from the sample

What are my rights if I take part in this study?

Your participation in this study is voluntary and that nonparticipation will not result in penalty or loss of benefits to which the subject is otherwise entitled. At any time during the study, you may choose not to participate or withdraw from the study. Participation or nonparticipation will not affect your class standing or grade.

Voluntary Consent

All of the above has been explained to me and all of my current questions have been answered. I understand that, throughout my participation in this research study, I am encouraged to ask questions about any aspect of this research study. Such future questions will be answered by the investigators listed on the first page of this form.

Any questions I have about my rights as a research participant will be answered by the Human Subject Protection Advocate of the IRB Office, University of Pittsburgh (1-866-212-2668).