On 31 September 2020, I delivered a workshop session at the Norwegian Conference for Research Education (Forskerutdanningskonferansen 2020), hosted by Høgskolen i Innlandet. The theme of the conference was as follows (translated from Norwegian):
What does the shift to open research mean for research educations?
The transition to open research places new demands on how research is carried out, disseminated, funded and evaluated. What does this shift mean for the research educations? Is there a need for a new understanding of the education’s content and framework? How will open research affect the careers of young researchers?
As part of the INOS Project, we offered to deliver a workshop titled “Open Science Activities: Learning Approaches and Pedagogical Quality”. We presented case studies of how open science, citizen science, and open innovation activities can be integrated in higher education contexts. We also shared our analysis of the strengths and challenges of these case studies. The session also included a hands-on exercise within which participants will reflect on how they could apply this information into practice.
Originally meant to be a physical event at Hamar, Norway, the event was converted into an online 2-day conference. We hosted our presentation and workshop exercises on Zoom and Padlet.
Participant response
One of the discussion questions we posed to participants was “What are challenges in integrating Open Research and Open Science training into PhD Education?“
The responses can be summarised as follows:
- A cultural change is first needed in the research community. E.g. Some academics are hesitant to produce Open Data. Further advocacy for Open Science and Open Data is needed before training can be integrated into curricula.
- Heavy workload for students: Should open research training be in addition to, or integrated into, existing programs? Will PhD students have time to do additional training in their busy schedules?
- Is Open Research and Open Science training necessary or suitable for all types of research disciplines?
From these responses, it is clear that there are still cultural and systemic barriers to the full embracing of Open Science and Open Research in general academia and, therefore, Higher Education curricula. However, the very theme of the conference itself shows a positive development.
View presentation
A PDF of our presentation is available below.
Elisha Anne Teo, PhD 