Ethical Considerations for SoTL Research in Political Science Education

ABSTRACT In recent years, political science has expanded its focus on pedagogy, developing its own subfield in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Although this research is seemingly low risk, it nevertheless raises distinctive ethical questions. It also is increasingly subject to rigorous ethics review, often justified as necessary to protect students as a vulnerable category. Until recently, the field has made little comment on which ethical issues political scientists should be attuned to when designing SoTL studies. Building on the wider literature on ethics and SoTL research, this article presents research findings on how political science students view their own experiences of becoming participants in SoTL research, and it highlights several resultant ethical considerations. We accompany these findings with recommendations for conducting ethically sound SoTL research on political science education.