CEGE Undergraduate Advising Blog

My name is Stephanos (Steve) Matsumoto, and I’m writing to let you know about a research study I’m leading at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, MA. If you are an undergraduate studying mechanical, electrical, or civil/environmental engineering and have written computer code or programs as part of your engineering work (in your studies, internships, etc), I invite you to participate in our study.

What’s the study about? Our study focuses on students and practicing engineers in a few engineering disciplines outside of computing. We’re hoping to understand how people in those disciplines learn, use, and think about practices and tools in software development. The current part of our study focuses specifically on undergraduate mechanical engineering students.

Who can participate? To participate, you need to be at least 18 years old. At the time of the interview (described below), you need to be an undergraduate student in mechanical, electrical, or civil/environmental engineering and be in the United States. You also must have written computer code or programs as part of your engineering work, whether for a class, internship, or other experience related to your engineering discipline.

What’s expected of you? To volunteer to participate in the study, you need to fill out a survey asking for some information about you, including your contact information, class year, school, and background in coding/programming. If you are selected for the study, we will ask you to participate in an interview about how you use, learn, or think about coding/programming in your discipline.

What do participants receive? If you are interviewed, you will receive a $75 gift card, even if you end the interview early.

How much time will this take? We expect the initial survey to take 10-15 minutes. The interview will take about 1 hour.

Where will this happen? Both the survey and interview will take place online. The interview will be on Zoom.

What are the risks? Some questions may make you feel uncomfortable. If they do, you can skip the question. In the interview, you can also ask me to move onto another topic. If you want, you can end the interview at any time.

Your information from the survey or interview could be accidentally leaked to people not connected with this study. We will do everything we can to make sure this does not happen. We will use a random code to keep track of your answers. The code will link data that can identify you (like your contact information) to your answers in the survey and interview. This will be done in a master list stored separately from your other answers.

If you complete the interview, we will copy your interview into text, then delete the recording. We will also delete any information that can directly identify you. Your answers will only be stored in databases protected by a password.

How can you sign up? If you are interested in participating, please fill out the survey at this link: https://olin.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eJthjxcIUgRU7Nc

Who can you contact for more information? You can contact me with any questions about this study. My email is smatsumoto@olin.edu. My office phone number is 781 292 2559.

This research was approved under Protocol #24264R-E by the Brandeis Human Research Protection Program, an office/committee that oversees the ethics of human subjects research done at Brandeis University and at Olin College. If you have any questions about your rights – or if you have concerns about the study – you may contact them at 781-736-8133 or hrpp@brandeis.edu.