Shayla Pham, a psychology thesis student under the mentorship of Dr. Michelle Pompeo, is seeking instructors for an interview regarding their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. To schedule an interview date, please contact Shayla at spham02@guelphhumber.ca. Any questions about the purpose of the study should be directed to michelle.pompeo@humber.ca. 

Please see the information letter below.

Title of Research Project

Post-Secondary Teachers’ Perceptions of Stress and Coping Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Researchers

Thesis Student Researcher:
Shayla Pham
647.376.5649
spham03@guelphhumber.ca

Thesis Instructor:
Dr. Michelle Pompeo
michelle.pompeo@humber.ca

Thesis Course Advisor:
Dr. Adam Sandford
adam.sandford@guelphhumber.ca

Institution:
University of Guelph-Humber
Psychology Department
416.798.1331

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted postsecondary teachers’ stress, and to examine what coping strategies are used to deal with their stress during the pandemic.

Description

The study will follow a qualitative, semi-structured interview, format. Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams and will be recorded using the recording tool on the software. The recordings will be used to create transcripts and to conduct a thematic analysis. Participants will be asked 10 questions, and the interview is expected to take 45-60 minutes. Recordings and other project-related files will be kept in an encrypted folder and will not be shared with anyone other than the thesis student researcher (Shayla Pham, 647.376.5649, spham03@guelphhumber.ca), the thesis instructor (Dr. Michelle Pompeo, michelle.pompeo@humber.ca), and the thesis course advisor (Dr. Adam Sandford, adam.sandford@guelphhumber.ca) if needed. Recordings will be erased once the research project is complete. The study is anticipated to run from January 11 to March 31, 2021. Participants will be provided a link to another Qualtrics site that hosts their debrief form, and will be asked whether they wish to be entered into a prize draw. If participants wish to enter for the prize draw, then they must enter their @guelphhumber.ca or @humber.ca email at a link to another Qualtrics site developed by the research team.

Potential Risks

There is a potential risk of discomfort (i.e., psychological, social) due to the requirement of participants to discuss and reflect on their personal experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants will be fully debriefed and will have the opportunity to ask the thesis student researcher questions throughout the study. Participants may direct any questions to either the thesis instructor (Dr. Pompeo, michelle.pompeo@humber.ca) and/or to the thesis course advisor (Dr. Sandford, adam.sandford@guelphhumber.ca).

Potential Benefits

Participants will contribute knowledge of post-secondary teachers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participation in this study is voluntary. Participants will also have the option of being entered into a prize draw toward the end of the study for a $25.00 CAD Saje giftcard (https://www.saje.com/ca/home).

Confidentiality

The University of Guelph has approved the use of Microsoft Teams and Qualtrics for secure data collection. The interview recordings will be stored on Microsoft Streams – also approved by the University of Guelph for secure data storage. The thesis student researcher will be downloading interview videos and transcribing the data using Microsoft Word. Downloaded video and transcribed data will be placed into an encrypted folder and the recording on Microsoft Teams will be destroyed following the downloading.

Participants will create their own pseudonym that will be associated with the participant’s transcribed data. It is crucial that participants keep hold of their pseudonym in case they wish to withdraw from the study. Participant’s data will remain confidential with the members of the research team (listed on the previous page). All data will be stored in encrypted folders and will be disposed of once the study is complete and grades are provided. This anticipated end date will be April 30, 2021.

Withdrawal Procedures

Participation is voluntary. Participants may decline to answer to any question during the interview. Participants have the right to skip any questions they do not wish to answer. Participants may withdraw their answers to any question during the interview. Participants may withdraw from participation in the study at any time, without any penalty, or explanation. If participants wish to withdraw from the study, they must have their pseudonym and contact the thesis instructor (Michelle Pompeo, michelle.pompeo@humber.ca), who will then inform the thesis student researcher that the data must be removed and formatted beyond recovery by the thesis student researcher. Participants can withdraw from the study during the interview by informing the thesis student researcher that you wish to stop the interview. The recording in this case will be deleted from Microsoft Stream and the thesis student researcher will not use your data in their thesis. Participants can no longer withdraw from the project after the date of March 14, 2021.

Sponsorship

There are no sponsoring agencies or organizations connected to the project.

Conflict of Interest

There are no known or potential conflict of interest by the thesis student researcher and potential participants.

Follow up

There is no plan to contact participants for any follow-up sessions or related research. This study is for learning purposes and will not be published. Participant's research data and findings can be shared with them upon request. If they wish to do so, participants must contact the thesis student researcher (Shayla Pham, spham03@guelphhumber.ca) and provide their pseudonym. Participants may request to view their own data and findings by April 1, 2021.

REB Approval for thesis students:

The University of Guelph-Humber’s Psychology Thesis I and Thesis II courses – PSYC*4210 and PSYC*4220 – have been provided a course designation by the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (“Humber College”) Research Ethics Board (Dr. Lydia Boyko, REB Chair, 416.675.6622 ext. 79322, lydia.boyko@humber.ca) with code CD-0308. The thesis student researcher’s thesis course advisor (Adam Sandford, adam.sandford@guelphhumber.ca) and thesis instructor (Michelle Pompeo, michelle.pompeo@humber.ca), acting on behalf of the University of Guelph-Humber and Humber College, have checked the thesis project for compliance with ethical guidelines as outlined in the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethics and the Humber College REB prior to data collection with human participants.