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The STEEL-Rx Project is funded by U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center (DEVCOM SC) and is focused on building the foundations for measuring learning effectiveness in mission rehearsals. It is expected that your participation in Bold Quest will last twenty-five days. You will be asked to access at least one on-line eLearning course related to Bold Quest, and to respond to a short survey. Your participation in Bold Quest 24 will also be observed for the full scheduled 14 on-site days of the event. Audio recording devices will be used to capture anonymized communication among the training audience members during their execution of the Bold Quest scenarios.

The risks or discomforts associated with this research are minimal. That means that the risks associated with this study are the same as what you face every day. As a result of your participation, you can anticipate enhanced performance in Bold Quest.

PURPOSE OF STEEL-Rx PROJECT

The objective of the STEEL-Rx Project is to build the foundations for measuring learning effectiveness in mission rehearsals to help management make better decisions about the best ways to use different learning approaches in mission rehearsals.

The goal of the research study is to develop and field test measurement standards, methods, and tools with analytics enhanced learning content in exercises. You are being asked to participate in this study because you are a participant in Bold Quest 24.

If you agree to be in this research, your participation in the STEEL-Rx study will begin in the early part of October 2024 and continue through November. It should take each participant approximately 60 minutes to complete each eLearning course module, and another 20 minutes to complete the survey.

Each participant must first register by accepting the Informed Consent and complete a short demographics questionnaire. This should take approximately five (5) minutes.

Once registered, each participant is asked to access the eLearning course and utilize them as they see fit. You may return to the course content as many times as you like during the study period, including during Bold Quest 24. The learning content contains material related to Bold Quest 24 and the use of BATDOK. The course should take about 60 minutes.

Your participation in Bold Quest 24 will also be observed for the full scheduled 14 on-site days of the event. Audio recording devices will be used to capture anonymized communication among the training audience members during their execution of the Bold Quest scenarios. Audio data and recordings will be analyzed using manual and natural language processing-driven approaches to support the assessment of individual and team-level processes and outcomes.

To ensure audio recordings do not include true names, participants will be instructed to only use the call signs designated for use in this study. If any names are mistakenly called out, the recording of that session will be scrubbed.  

Audio files will be immediately transcribed, with the text transcription retained for analysis while the original audio file will be deleted, eliminating any potential trace of a personally identifiable voice record.

After Bold Quest 24 is complete, each participant is asked to return to the learning portal to complete a final survey questionnaire. This should take approximately 20 minutes.   

This research is considered as minimal risk. That means that the risks associated with this study are the same as what you face every day. There are no known risks to anyone who participates in this study. 

POTENTIAL BENEFITS

You may find that the learning content provided will enhance your performance in Bold Quest. There may be no personal benefit from your participation, but the knowledge collected through this study may be of value to humanity. You will not receive any compensation for your participation in this study.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL

Taking part in this research study is your decision. Your participation in this study is voluntary. You do not have to take part in this study, but if you do, you can stop at any time. Your decision whether to participate will not affect your relationship with U.S. Army DEVCOM or the Jefferson Institute. There are no penalty/consequences/loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled, if you do not participate.

You have the right to choose not to participate in any study activity or to completely withdraw from continued participation at any point in this study without penalty/consequences/loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

If you withdraw from the study, the data collected to the point of withdrawal will be deleted.

CONFIDENTIALITY

All data regarding your participation will remain confidential with the appropriate safeguards in accordance with US DoD guidelines, Canadian, European Union (EU) regulations and other international human research protection requirements. Only summarized and averaged information will be presented in the project and any technical reports and scientific presentations. Published information will not contain any personal identifiers associated with participants.

There is little to no risk of breach of confidentiality. Each participant is assigned a unique identifier/call sign to ensure anonymity. This identifier allows the volunteer to participate without being identified.

The data collected during this evaluation will not contain any personal data or “identifiable characteristics”. All data collection will be limited only to the essential information required to evaluate the success of the project. Initially, the Jefferson Institute will maintain the data collected during the STEEL-Rx study for 180-days after the Bold Quest 24 event has completed so that it can be analysed by the STEEL-Rx Testing & Evaluation Team. Subsequently, the non-attributable data will be transferred to the U.S. Army DEVCOM for archiving, and to support further research related to the effectiveness of learning in mission rehearsals and for the benefit of other researchers. This research is funded by U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center and the representatives of the Department of Defense (DOD) / U.S. Army as sponsor and the Army Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) / Human Research Protections Office (HRPO) are authorized to review research records.

If you have questions, concerns, contact the research team at: STEELRx@jeffersoninst.org

An Institutional Review Board (“IRB”) is overseeing this research. An IRB is a group of people who perform independent review of research studies to ensure the rights and welfare of participants are protected.  If you have questions about your rights or wish to speak with someone other than the research team, you may contact the Jefferson Institute IRB at IRB@jeffersoninst.org

CONSENT OF STEEL-Rx STUDY PARTICIPANT

Each STEEL-Rx Participant is required to provide their “voluntarily consent” to participate in the STEEL-Rx study, and to acknowledge they accept the terms and conditions stated herein.

After the participant clicks on the hyperlink and accesses the STEEL-Rx Data Collection Portal, he/she will be asked to electronically “acknowledge and accept the terms and conditions” of this Informed Consent Form. Once accepted, they will be able to proceed with the evaluation.

I have read and considered the information presented in this form. I confirm that I understand the purpose of the research and the study procedures. I understand that I may ask questions at any time and can withdraw my participation without prejudice. I have read this consent form. Checking the box below indicates my willingness to participate in this study.

I consent to participate in this study.