App for Social Action evaluation: research briefing for students

What is the research about?

Your school is teaching the App for Social Action course. The course was created by the education charity Apps for Good. They have asked the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to find out what teachers and students in the UK think of the course so that they can make the course as useful and enjoyable as possible. IES is an independent research charity who specialise in research about learning and work.

What does taking part in the research involve?

We would like you to fill out a short online survey before you start the App for Social Action course and another one after you have finished the course. There are links to the surveys in your eWorkbook. They should take around 5 minutes to complete.

The surveys will include questions about:

■       Computing and learning skills;

■       Using technology to help people and make the world better; and

■       Your thoughts about future jobs or careers.

■       We would also like to ask some questions about you so that we can understand the experiences and views of different groups. You do not have to answer these if you don’t want to. For example, questions about gender, ethnicity, disability, Special Educational Needs, and whether you can have free school meals.

You will also be asked to create an ID code so that we can match your responses across the surveys. It will not be possible for the research team to identify you from the ID codes. The research team will also provide Apps for Good with anonymous versions of the survey data where it will not be possible to identify you or anyone else from the data.

How will the data be used?

Your answers to the surveys are totally private and confidential. Your survey answers will be anonymous as the research team will not know who you are and your school, teachers and parents/carers will not be able to see your answers. The research team will use the Snap online survey platform where your information will be encrypted while you fill it in, while we download your answers and when it is stored securely on the website.

Total results from across all students in the survey will be included in a report for Apps for Good but no individual students will be identified. When we write the research reports, we will not use anybody’s names or use quotes that mean readers might recognise you.

The research team will only use your survey answers for this research. They will not use them for any other purpose. The research team will also create a fully anonymised version of the survey information (where it is not possible to identify you or anyone else) for Apps for Good who will use this to understand how this and other Apps for Good courses are working, what they can improve and to tell others about the course and its impacts in their reports or other materials. Apps for Good may put some or all of these reports on their website.

The research team will securely destroy your personal data three months after the research has been completed. Apps for Good will keep their anonymous version but it will not be possible to identify your answers in this dataset. Both the research team and Apps for Good will make sure to store and use your information securely following the rules of the Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR.

You don’t have to take part in the surveys if you don’t want to. However, your feedback is important so that we can understand how well it is working and help Apps for Good to keep making the course better.

Who can I speak to about the research or my personal data?

If you have questions about the research, please speak to your teacher who will be able to contact the research team or Apps for Good on your behalf if needed.