Statement on Research Data Gathering in English Composition Courses

The GMU Composition Program wishes to support academic research endeavors. However, we also recognize that students in English 101 and English 302 are "captive audiences" who should not be taken advantage of, and that the broad learning goals of English 101 and 302 require instructors to make efficient use of their limited class time with students.

Therefore, researchers from within or outside of the composition program who wish to gather data from English 101 or English 302 students for use in their own research need to submit a brief proposal for approval by the Director of Composition before conducting this research—even if an individual composition instructor has already agreed to participate in the research project. The proposal must demonstrate that the research being conducted

• has met HSRB requirements for human-subjects research, and
• will have a direct benefit related specifically to the field of composition instruction and/or to the needs of composition students (benefits that accrue broadly to students as general citizens or as college students do not meet this criterion), and
• will not take undue amounts of class time, place undue burdens on students, or distract students from the work of learning to write better