If you intend to work with any type of human subject or if you intend to publish your work in any way, either by yourself or with a group of students, you need to do two things. First, complete UVU IRB training offered online via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) and ensure your students do the same, as applicable. Second, submit your research plans to the UVU Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Important: Understand, as well, that if you are working with students as researchers they will need to do the same.
"Class projects" refers to any class-related project or assignment that involves human participants that are conducted primarily for the purpose of evaluating learning (a grade) or teaching students to do research. The Institutional Review Board must be notified by submission of a Request for Class Project Waiver of IRB Application form before the class project begins, to ensure that the project does not require IRB oversight.
When you are doing "research" with human subjects (including pilot studies, feasibility studies, and other preliminary studies), you need to submit a request to the UVU IRB Board. Research is defined by the federal regulations, as "a systematic investigation including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge." When research is going to be presented in a public domain (journal, book, conference, internet) then the intent is typically to contribute to generalizable knowledge.
If instructors, departments, or schools are collecting data for internal use only, it is often termed "evaluation" instead of "research" and does not need IRB approval.
