University of California, Irvine

Study Information Sheet

Cultivating Intellectual Character in the AI Age

Lead Researcher

Shayan Doroudi

Associate Professor

School of Education

(949) 824-6896 — doroudis@uci.edu

Please read the information below and ask questions about anything that you do not understand. A researcher listed above will be available to answer your questions.
You are being asked to participate in a research study. Participation in this study is voluntary. You may choose to skip a question or a study procedure. You may refuse to participate or discontinue your involvement at any time without penalty or loss of benefits. You are free to withdraw from this study at any time. If you decide to withdraw from this study, you should notify the research team immediately.
You are being asked to participate in a research study that aims to compare different methods for teaching about intellectual virtues and cultivating intellectual character, including a new approach that leverages AI chatbots. We are especially interested in how AI tools present both new challenges and opportunities for intellectual virtue education. This is part of an ongoing effort at UCI to teach undergraduate students about intellectual~ virtues.
You are eligible to participate in this study if you are at least 18 years or older; are enrolled in a course that is offering extra credit to participate in this study; can understand, read, and write in English; and have not enrolled in the Anteater Virtues Canvas course before.
The research procedures involve completing several modules of a self-paced Canvas course on intellectual virtues. You will be randomly assigned to complete one of two courses, either the existing Anteater Virtues course or a new course being developed that uses AI chatbots in your web browser to help in teaching intellectual virtues. You will also be given a survey before completing the course and a survey after completing the course. In either case, the completion of the course is estimated to take 4-5 hours, and it can be completed at any time during the Fall quarter, as long as it is completed by the end of Week 10. You will also be asked to complete a pre-survey before completing the course and a post-survey after completing the course; each survey is expected to take no more than 10-15 minutes. In addition to a few basic demographic questions, the surveys will mostly consist of questions about your knowledge of intellectual virtues and AI literacy, questions asking how much you agree with different statements about how you think and behave when it comes to intellectual and academic work, and a few brief behavioral tasks. Your instructors will not have access to your data from this study.
Possible risks/discomforts associated with the study include a possible breach of confidentiality, fatigue due to the length of the course, discomfort in interactions with AI chatbots, confusion when completing some of the tasks, and any negative feelings typically felt when completing academic assignments.
Direct benefits from participation in the study include learning about intellectual virtues and how they apply to your academic studies. More generally, this study has the potential to offer insights on how to effectively teach intellectual virtues, especially in the context of AI usage. It may also offer insights on the efficacy of novel ways of using AI chatbots for educational purposes.
You will receive 2% extra credit in ${course_name} for your participation in this study. If you withdraw from the study, you will still receive extra credit for the parts of the study that you completed (0.5% for each survey and 1% for completing the modules). If you were given the opportunity to participate in this study through multiple courses, you can only participate in the study once and you will only receive extra credit in one course. If you do not want to participate in the research study, the alternative option is to complete the modules in the Anteater Virtues course and to write a brief essay, which is expected to take a comparable amount of time to participating in the study. Please leave this page and review the email communication from your instructor introducing the study if you are interested in this alternative.
In order to compare the effectiveness of the courses, we will gather data that Canvas collects for the course that you complete (e.g., your quiz submissions, time taken to complete different activities, and autosaved logs of essay question answers). Furthermore, your responses to the pre-survey and post-survey will be recorded. If you are asked to interact with AI chatbots, your chatbot conversation data will also be collected.
All research data collected will be stored securely and confidentially on UCI OneDrive accounts. Your name and personal information will be collected but will not be used by the research team and will be de-identified before the data is analyzed. Your personal information will be deleted from our research data before compensating you; however, your personal information will remain on the Canvas course. If you are assigned to the condition that involves using AI chatbots, your chatbot conversation data will be stored on the Playlab website indefinitely, but will not contain any identifiable information (unless you share it with the chatbots).
The research team, authorized UCI personnel, the study sponsor, and regulatory entities, may have access to your study records to protect your safety and welfare.

While the research team will make every effort to keep your personal information confidential, it is possible that an unauthorized person might see it. We cannot guarantee total privacy.

Future Research Use

Researchers will use your information to conduct this study. Once the study is done using your information, we may share them with other researchers so they can use them for other studies in the future. We will not share your name or any other private identifiable information that would let the researchers know who you are. We will not ask you for additional permission to share this de-identified information.

Data Retention

The researchers intend to store your research data in a repository indefinitely. The researchers may continue to use and share your information indefinitely. Researchers may also store your email addresses separate from your research data in order to reach out to you about possible follow-up studies (e.g., to interview you in relation to the activities conducted in this study). If so, your participation in any follow-up studies is completely voluntary.

If you have any comments, concerns, or questions regarding the conduct of this research please contact the researchers listed at the top of this form.
Please contact the UCI Institutional Review Board by phone, (949) 824-8170, by e-mail at IRB@research.uci.edu or by mail at University of California, Irvine, Office of Research, Irvine, CA 92697-7600 if you are unable to reach the researchers listed at the top of the form and have general questions; have concerns or complaints about the research; have questions about your rights as a research subject; or have general comments or suggestions.

What is an IRB? An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a committee made up of scientists and non-scientists. The IRB’s role is to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects involved in research. The IRB also assures that the research complies with applicable regulations, laws, and institutional policies.

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