Agreeing (or not) to Participate

We’re all about transparency at Terracotta, and we want to make sure it’s clear to you, as a potential participant, what it means to agree (or not) to participate in a Terracotta experiment.

Background: Terracotta plugs into Canvas and lets teachers create assignments that can then have data collected so that teachers and researchers can see which version of an assignment works better for students.

Why is an experiment happening in my class?

Great teachers are always thinking about how their students learn, and which learning strategies work best for their students. Terracotta helps them gather data about these different strategies so that they can know which strategies work best.

What happens if you say YES:

Your teacher won’t know your decision.
Terracotta will assign you a “participant id” (a number that attaches to all your data in Terracotta that takes the place of your name) and assign you to a group.
- In some kinds of experiments, every student who says yes will get experimental assignments. In other kinds, only some students will get experimental assignments. It depends on how your experiment is set up.
You will complete your assignments in Canvas just like you would in any other situation.
Terracotta will collect your assignment data, but will attach it to your participant id number (not your name). When the experiment data is downloaded, the person looking at it will only know how participant #4372 did on the assignment (not you by name).

What happens if you say NO:

Your teacher won’t know your decision.
Terracotta will stop collecting any data from you.
You will complete your assignments in Canvas just like you would in any other situation.
When the experiment data is downloaded, none of your data will be included.

What’s the takeaway?

You get to decide whether or not you want to participate in the experiment, and your teacher will not know your decision, but you have to complete your assignments either way!