Hello,
My name is Parsa Pourali, a PhD student in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering working under
the supervision of Prof. Joanne M. Atlee, a professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. I am writing to ask for your participation in conducting a study that aims at understanding how to reduce the effort of creating
and editing software models, through novel enhancements to software modelling tools.
Participation in this study involves coming into the laboratory and performing a few software modelling tasks. The
tasks include developing class diagrams and state machines, such as setting the triggering events, guards and actions for transitions. Your activities will be audio-recorded as well as video-captured
from the computer screen. We will measure the time that it takes you to fulfill each task and gauge your success or failure on a task. However, this study is meant to help us gauge the effectiveness of current modelling tools; it is not intended to test your
individual performance in any way. Participation in this study would take approximately 60 to 90 minutes of your time. In appreciation of your
time commitment, you will receive an honorarium of $20 and will be given the chance to enter into a draw and win a prize of $200 gift
card. Odds for the draw are equal for all the participants which is approximately 1 in 30. I would like to assure you that the study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee.
If you are interested in participating, please perform the recruitment screening procedure by filling the screening
form at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SMScreeningLetter . We
will then take your information to see whether you fit the study, and will contact you by email to schedule your laboratory session. You can cancel your appointment by sending me an email at ppourali@uwaterloo.ca.
Please note that, the honorarium amount of $20 will be paid to you only if you pass the screening questions and attend to the study. All screening data will be stored securely, if you do not fit the study or decide not to participate your screening data will
be deleted. We will also notify you by email.
Please note that, you will be completing the screening by an online survey operated by SurveyMonkey. When information
is transmitted over the internet privacy cannot be guaranteed. There is always a risk your responses may be intercepted by a third party (e.g., government agencies, hackers). SurveyMonkey temporarily collects your computer IP address to avoid duplicate responses
in the dataset but will not collect information that could identify you personally.
If you have any questions regarding this study, or would like additional information to assist you in reaching
a decision about participation, please contact Parsa Pourali by email at ppourali@uwaterloo.ca.