Start Date

3-16-2020 4:20 PM

End Date

3-16-2020 5:00 PM

Author(s) Bio

Judy Pasek is a STEM Librarian at the University of Wyoming, providing research and instruction services primarily within Engineering and Psychology. She enjoys introducing graduate students to concepts in data management, scholarly communication, and citation management. Judy has a MLIS degree from Wayne State University. Prior to becoming a librarian, Judy worked extensively as an entomologist for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Forest Service. She has a B.S. degree in Natural Resources (University of Michigan), a M.S. degree in Entomology (University of Missouri), and a Ph.D. degree in Entomology (University of Nebraska).

Keywords

research data management, competencies, needs assessment, education needs, knowledge gaps, science, graduate students, librarians, surveys

Description of Proposal

Uncertainty remains as to areas of greatest need for instruction in research data management, and whether perceived needs differ between disciplinary faculty and graduate students. Data sharing requirements of research funders have provided the impetus in recent years for librarians to provide data management services. Instructional approaches ranging from workshops to credit courses are being developed, often without the benefit of first conducting a needs assessment.

A study of education needs in research data management was conducted jointly at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. Graduate students in science-based programs with research thesis or dissertation requirements were surveyed about the importance of 12 data management competencies, and self-assessment of their knowledge levels. They also were asked how they learn about research data management. Faculty were similarly surveyed about their perceptions of their graduate students regarding the importance and knowledge levels of the 12 data management competencies.

Graduate students and faculty ranked the following areas most important: ethics/attribution, data visualization, and quality assurance. Graduate students indicated they were least knowledgeable and skilled in data curation and re-use, metadata and data description, data conversion and interoperability, and data preservation. Faculty perceptions of their students’ knowledge gaps were similar. Results indicated that graduate students utilize self-learning most often and that faculty may be less influential in research data management education than they perceive. The study findings provide a basis for identifying ways librarians might collaborate with campus partners to help graduate students improve certain research data management skills.

What takeaways will attendees learn from your session?

Learning Outcomes:

Identify areas of high interest and need for instruction in research data management for graduate students and disciplinary faculty.

Explore options for addressing instructional needs in topics of research data management.

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Mar 16th, 4:20 PM Mar 16th, 5:00 PM

Assessing Education Needs of Graduate Students for Data Management

Uncertainty remains as to areas of greatest need for instruction in research data management, and whether perceived needs differ between disciplinary faculty and graduate students. Data sharing requirements of research funders have provided the impetus in recent years for librarians to provide data management services. Instructional approaches ranging from workshops to credit courses are being developed, often without the benefit of first conducting a needs assessment.

A study of education needs in research data management was conducted jointly at the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Wyoming. Graduate students in science-based programs with research thesis or dissertation requirements were surveyed about the importance of 12 data management competencies, and self-assessment of their knowledge levels. They also were asked how they learn about research data management. Faculty were similarly surveyed about their perceptions of their graduate students regarding the importance and knowledge levels of the 12 data management competencies.

Graduate students and faculty ranked the following areas most important: ethics/attribution, data visualization, and quality assurance. Graduate students indicated they were least knowledgeable and skilled in data curation and re-use, metadata and data description, data conversion and interoperability, and data preservation. Faculty perceptions of their students’ knowledge gaps were similar. Results indicated that graduate students utilize self-learning most often and that faculty may be less influential in research data management education than they perceive. The study findings provide a basis for identifying ways librarians might collaborate with campus partners to help graduate students improve certain research data management skills.