Using scenarios in introductory research data management workshops for library staff

Presented at eResearch Australasia 2014, 28 October 2014.

As awareness increases of the role that librarians can play in facilitating improved research data management, so does
the need to provide university library staff with professional development opportunities. This presentation describes the positive outcomes of incorporating a component of scenario-based learning into introductory research data management workshops for librarians at two Australian universities. An overview of the benefits of scenario-based learning (SBL) will be provided, along with practical advice on how to develop scenarios and use them as part of an institutional staff development program.

Transcript

1. Using scenarios in introductory research data management workshops for library staff Sam Searle Manager, Content and Discovery Services Information Management, Griffith University
2. • 3 sessions • ~30 attendees • Team leaders, discipline librarians, learning advisors, Library & IT Helpdesk staff • 2 sessions • ~40 attendees • Team leaders, contact librarians, and learning skills advisors
3. The scenarios • A Higher Degree by Research Student at the start of their project – Name and a brief biography – Her/his motivation for undertaking a PhD – Research topic and methods – Goals around dissemination • Groups asked to identify two potential data management issues, one technical and one non-technical, and report back See http://www.samsearle.net/2014/10/rdm-scenarios.html for links to the scenarios and further resources.
4. Observations Engagement Differences and similarities across disciplines Collaboration Connecting current knowledge with new areas
5. Errington, E., What is Scenario-Based Learning? Available at: http://www.jcu.edu.au/learnandteach/projects/JCU_079355.html ...a near-world situation, a descriptive set of circumstances, a critical incident, even a partial life/story narrative. …usually contain human actors, a storyline or plot (often incomplete), an invitation to solve a problem, demonstrate an acquired skill, explore an issue/concern, and/or to speculate on alternative outcomes.
6. 1. Identify the needed skills
7. 2. Identify the best type of scenario Solve a problem Explore an issue from multiple viewpoints Speculate about the future
8. 3. Aim for authenticity • A name and a backstory (who) • Believable topics and details about research methods (what) • Focus on motivation and dissemination goals (why) Not like this!
9. 4. Don't over-simplify it Credit: Complexity 2 by Michael Heiss. CC-BY-NC-SA. What librarians want Reality
10. Conclusions and further work  Partner with learning specialists  Explore the full range of scenario types  Evaluate - engagement at the time is great, but does it lead to action? [Skills development should be] exploratory, discursive and reflective, providing a space in which librarians can explore developments as they relate to their individual / team role … hands-on practical activities with documents and tools in real or realistic scenarios are important” Cox, Andrew, Eddy Verbaan, and Barbara Sen. 2012. Upskilling Liaison Librarians for Research Data Management. Ariadne, no. 70 (November). http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue70/cox-et-al
11. Acknowledgements  Kathryn Unsworth, ANDS  Lyn Torres and Leanne McCann, Monash  All the Monash and Griffith staff that participated in the workshops This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Unless otherwise attributed, all images have no rights reserved and are sourced from Pixabay (http://pixabay.com/).