The Ohio State University Consent to Participate in Research
 
Study Title:

The potential of distributed information search: Testing the effect of a new information search tool on students’ critical thinking
Researcher:

Shantanu Tilak

This is a consent form for research participation.  It contains important information about this study and what to expect if you decide to participate.
Your participation is voluntary.
Please consider the information carefully. Feel free to ask questions before making your decision whether or not to participate.  If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign this form and will receive a copy of the form.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to test the differences between traditional and distributed search engine tools, and understands whether a new tool named Thoughtshuffler enables users to produce higher-order reflections about controversial social/scientific issues through argumentative writing, and gather user perceptions of what aspects of the user interface of the tool need to be rebuilt.

Procedures/Tasks (Experimental): Your participation in the study will involve the following tasks.
 
  1. You will use Thoughtshuffler to write a two-page essay about a controversial social/scientific issue provided by the research team over the duration of one hour. This process will be recorded.
 
  1. After the essay task, you will be asked to describe your search process, and the barriers and new opportunities the tool provided in allowing for information search in a brief interview of 15 minutes. The interview will also be recorded.

Procedures/Tasks (Control): Your participation in the study will involve the following tasks.
 
  1. You will use Google to write a two-page essay about a controversial social/scientific issue provided by the research team over the duration of one hour. The search task will be recorded using Zoom.
 
  1. After the essay task, you will be asked to describe your search process, and the barriers and new opportunities the tool provided in allowing for information search in a brief 15 minute interview. The interview will also be recorded.
 
  1. After the end of the task, you will be provided with a link and tutorial to the beta version of Thoughtshuffler.