OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES & PRESS
AMANDA L. WHITMIRE, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor & Data Management Specialist
Pedagogy for data management
Curricular design strategies for teaching research data management
to graduate students
Table 1. Examples of how DIL core competencies1 and learning outcomes can be linked with various teaching strategies. All of the teaching strategies
listed are a form of active learning, which are intended to help students better retain the material compared with lecture alone.
Teaching Objective | Facilitate learning of [selected] data information literacy (DIL) core competancies1,2 by graduate students
Approach | Use outcomes-centered course design3 to select effective teaching strategies for each of the DIL core competencies
Practical Considerations
Reality | The average student cannot remember most of the factual content of a lecture within 15 minutes after
it ends.3
Core
Learning
Competency Outcomes
Teaching
Strategies
Strategy
Description
Data Types &
Formats
Understands which data types are
appropriate for answering different
types of research questions.
One Minute Paper7
Chooses appropriate data format
for data management action (e.g.
sharing or preservation) or audience.
Becomes familiar with standard data
types and formats for their discipline.
Notes Comparison7
Student writes down one of their main research questions;
provide a couple of questions for students who haven’t
defined their research question yet; ask student to match their
question with appropriate data types; have a few report back
to the class
Immediately following lecture topic, students compare notes
about data/file formats; students report back about something
they learned form the other person’s notes
Group students by discipline, if possible; have students
individually write a response to a question about common data
types & formats for their discipline; have students share and
compare responses within groups
Instructor writes data management actions on postcards; get
students into small groups; make sure each student has at
least one postcard; have students match actions with lifecycle
phases; bring class back together and share results
Students complete a data management plan as a final project
for the course. In it, they demonstrate mastery (or not) of the
DIL competencies.
Following lecture and completion of a reading assignment,
students are tasked with writing SOPs for an important
data management activity in their (or their lab’s) workflow.
Assignment is due at the beginning of the next class.
Immediately following lecture topic introducing metadata, ask
students to write down what they found unclear about the
concept of, or rationale for, metadata; results are shared with
the class, recorded and tabulated
In a computer lab; students are provided with a spreadsheet,
which has errors in metadata and includes elements that do
not adhere to best practices; students are tasked with fixing
the errors and improving the quality of the spreadsheet
Group students randomly; each group visits an online repository
or database; group evaluates the scope, quality, and overall
level of adequacy of the metadata; results are reported back to
the whole class
It Takes Practice | Implementing data management best practices requires behavioral
change. As such, it’s important to engage students in these behaviors through
active learning.
Clarifying Terms
Data Management v. Actions that contribute to effective storage,
preservation and reuse of data and documentation throughout the research
lifecycle.
Data Management & Understands the lifecycle of data.
Organization
Pedagogy n. Greek, to guide the child. The method and practice of
teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept4; can
be a profession, an activity, or a method.
Curriculum n. Latin, the course of a race. The subjects comprising a course of
study5; may outline the skills, performances, attitudes & values pupils are
expected to learn, including outcomes, descriptions of materials & a planned
sequence that will be used to help pupils attain outcomes.
Teaching Strategy n. A technique for successfully teaching a concept to a
group of students.
Outcomes-Centered Course Design n. A course design process that begins
with determining what you want your students to be able to do by the end of the
course.3 Curriculum and teaching strategies are developed to support the desired
outcomes.
Active Learning n. An approach to instruction in which students engage the
material they study through reading, writing, talking, listening, and reflecting.
Develops data management plans
Curriculum
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching
Strategies
Metadata & Data
Description
determine
Content
Data Curation &
Re-use
References
1. Carlson, Jacob, Michael Fosmire, C. C. Miller, and Megan Sapp Nelson. “Determining Data Information
Literacy Needs: A Study of Students and Research Faculty.” Portal: Libraries and the Academy 11, no. 2
(2011): 629–657. doi:10.1353/pla.2011.0022.
2. Carlson, Jake, Lisa Johnston, Brian Westra, and Mason Nichols. “Developing an Approach for Data
Management Education: A Report from the Data Information Literacy Project.” International Journal of
Digital Curation 8, no. 1 (June 14, 2013): 204–217. doi:10.2218/ijdc.v8i1.254.
3. Nilson, Linda B. Teaching at Its Best : A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. 3rd ed.
Hoboken: Wiley, 2010.
4. “Pedagogy”. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/
american_english/pedagogy (accessed September 19, 2013).
5. “Curriculum”. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/
english/curriculum (accessed September 19, 2013).
6. Center for Teaching and Learning. “What Is Active Learning?” University of Minnesota, n.d. http://www1.
umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/what/index.html.
7. Paulson, Donald R., and Jennifer L. Faust. “Active and Cooperative Learning.” Active Learning for the
College Classroom. Accessed September 19, 2013. http://www.calstatela.edu/dept/chem/chem2/Active/.
8. Saskatoon Public Schools. “Instructional Strategies Online,” 2009. http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/
index.html.
Acknowledgments
The conception and development of graduate coursework in research data management at
OSU was, and continues to be, a team effort. I gratefully acknowledge my colleagues at the
library: Shan Sutton, the AUL for Research & Scholarly Communication, and Michael Boock,
the Head of the Center for Digital Scholarship & Services. I have enjoyed very productive and
helpful conversations with Robin Pappas, the Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching
and Learning at OSU.
A PDF version of this poster can be downloaded here: http://hdl.handle.net/1957/42703
Contact
OSU Libraries & Press
Innovation | Heart | Ideas
amanda.whitmire
@oregonstate.edu
Discovery &
Acquisition
Creates standard operating
procedures for data management and
documentation, including proper use
of a field or laboratory notebook.
Understands the concept of, rationale
for, metadata.
Write-Pair-Share8
Buzz Groups7
Student Project
Reflective Writing6
Muddiest Point7
Proficiently annotates and describes
data so it can be understood and
used by self and others.
Integrating Technology
Develops the ability to read and
interpret metadata from external
disciplinary sources.
Cooperative Learning,
Integrating Technology
Recognizes that data may have value
beyond the original purpose, to
validate research or for use by others.
Structured Controversy8
Understands that curating data is a
Affective Response7
complex, often costly endeavor that
is nonetheless vital to communitydriven research.
Articulates the planning and actions
One Minute Paper7
needed to enable data curation.
Locates and utilizes disciplinary data
repositories.
Cooperative Learning,
Integrating Technology
Students are divided into two “sides”; one side argues for
the value and necessity of sharing data; one side argues for
not sharing data; both sides begin by stating their general
argument; instructor facilitates; after the debate, students write
down their reaction(s) to the debate (an emotional or valuative
response); responses are shared with the whole class
Have students write a brief response to the question, “What
obstacles might you encounter in sharing your data?”; students
report back to the whole class; responses are recorded to
identify common themes
Group students by discipline, as much as possible; task them
with identifying a disciplinary data source (repository or
database); ask them to download and open data; summarize
process as a group and report back to whole class about the
process