Family Information Sheet
In order to take part in OurKidsCode, a representative of your family must consent.
Please scroll down to read what follows and then click the Consent to take part in OurKidsCode button to proceed ↓
STEAM is an educational approach that integrates Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics, to better prepare children to think critically and solve problems creatively. OurKidsCode is a research project led by a team at Trinity College Dublin that aims to build a cross-functional community STEAM Team made up of school staff, parents, and children, and to create a sustainable model for STEAM engagement. Our goal is to help families in County Meath enjoy, understand and encourage creative computing in a way that aligns with the new primary curriculum. Our particular interest is in the role of parents in supporting children and in exploring how children, parents and schools can best work together. You’re invited to take part in fun, hands-on family workshops where parents and children learn together, alongside other families. Through these workshops, we aim to foster positive attitudes to STEAM, grow confidence and help everyone to develop skills.
We are asking every family who attends this OurKidsCode workshop to help us to make all this more enjoyable and effective, and to ensure we are making progress towards our aims. Participation is voluntary.
Before you decide if you want to help, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what taking part involves. Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with your family. Please ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.
What is the purpose of the study?
We know that you want to support and encourage your family’s creative use of technology. We want to figure out the best way to support that. To do this we would like to invite you to share your views on the programme and your expertise through a post workshop interview and a follow-up online questionnaire. These designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and are not a test!
Do I have to take part?
We need to collect and store your contact details. So, you will need to read this information leaflet and sign a consent form.
All the other data collection will be anonymised, and it is up to you to decide whether to take part. Even if you decide to take part now, you are still free to change your mind at any time and without giving a reason. You can also decide to skip any questions you like.
What will happen to me if I take part?
You will be asked to complete a few online forms during your participation:
- A consent form where we will ask you for your details
- A short group interview on how you feel about this workshop will be conducted at the end of this workshop. This will be audio recorded.
- A follow up questionnaire.
The consent form has to be filled out as a step required by the ethics committee. The interview and questionnaire are voluntary and you can stop participating or skip any question at any time.
We will also be observing what goes on during the workshops to see what works and what doesn’t. This may involve some audio recordings of group discussions.
What are the benefits of taking part?
You and your family will benefit directly from taking part as we work together to give your family the best experience possible. You will also be benefitting future participants in the programme.
Keeping you and your data safe
Our team are Garda vetted which means we are approved to work with families and children.
Your privacy is important to us. Apart from your contact details and the consent form data, any information we collect from you will not be linked to you or your family or your location so that you or your family members cannot be identified.
We will store personal information on secure password-protected servers at Trinity College for up to 10 years. Only the project team will have access to it. No hard copies of the data will be stored.
Any data we collect will have the name removed so that your identity remains confidential before it is shared with anyone outside the project team. We will never share the audio files with any third parties. If you decide to withdraw from the workshops, you may request that we delete your data.
If you are at all worried about how your data is kept, please get in touch and we can answer your questions.
In the unlikely event, if we find out about any illegal activities, child protection law means that we must let the authorities know.
What will happen to the results of this research?
There may be media reporting, lectures, conference presentations and academic publications written as a result of this project, however you and your family will not be identified.
What do I do if I have any further questions?
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your participation, please contact our project team at contact@ourkidscode.ie. They will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
THANK YOU
This research is funded by Meta’s Data Center Community Action Grants and Research Ireland and administered by the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin. The project team consists of Assistant Professor Nina Bresnihan, Assistant Professor Glenn Strong, Louise Caldwell, Mary O’Mahony, Chris Chapman, Dr Richard Millwood and Dr Hao Lucy Liu from Trinity College Dublin.