Our Training Campaign: by the numbers
By Dejan Jotanovic & Nic La Mela
2016 was a big year for Research Platforms Training Service. We saw the rise of a bigger, more established Research Bazaar conference in February. We opened training to our other core services, namely high performance computing and cloud computing. We saw our training team grow larger and nourish as the importance of ‘pedagogy over technology’ became central to our mission. 2016 also saw the introduction of our (very short but sweet) feedback form, noting where our training could improve and offering a way to congratulate the brilliant work of our Research Community Coordinators (who all deserve the most massive round of digital applause).
But what would a ResBaz blogpost be without data? Here’s the ResBaz Training Campaign 2017 by the numbers.
Faculty Representation
We had a total number of 1443 researchers attend our events in 2016. The above pie graph denotes the breakdown per faculty. Strong representation is seen from Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences, Science & Engineering. This was to be expected. Digital tools and computer software have always been foundational to the research exhibited from these faculties.
Arts had the fourth highest level of representation. Again, this wasn’t too surprising. Kim Doyle & her fantastic team of ‘data web wizards’ have made engaging the digital humanities cohort at unimelb a high priority this year through collaborations with the Library and Academic Services. Engaging HASS (Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences) is a difficult task. The language around ‘digital apps & tools’ can be intimidating to students who live and breath discourse, Foucault and social constructionism. Our aim for 2017 is to strengthen our ties with Arts and look for more equal representation to that of the STEM faculties. We have a wonderful array of tools to help our wordsmiths: Python’s Natural Language Toolkit, for example, acts like one giant control+F button. You can read more here in Kim’s blogpost. Don’t forget: words are data, too!
Another big focus of 2017 will be to engage the less represented University faculties: VCA/MCA (though have you met Emilie?), MGSE, Vet & Agriculture, Business & Economics, Architecture & Design, and Law. Our engagement strategy is two-fold: collaborate with faculty services and student leaders at higher levels and organise events (think our Research Tools Speed Dating sessions) specific for their students, and hire Research Community Coordinators from these faculties to develop their own communities.
Attendee Feedback
This year we asked all of our attendees to fill out a two-question feedback form about our training services. The first question asks, “How likely are you to recommend this training to a friend or colleague?”, with 0 indicating not at all likely, and 10 indicating extremely likely. The second question was qualitative, “If there is something you could change about the training what would it be?”. This question helped us shape and adapt the workshops.
We’ve run 104 events in 2016 (so far!) - varying considerably in size and shape (from ResBaz to humble meet-ups) - and have accumulated a mean qualitative score of 8.5! THIS IS AN ASTOUNDING ACHIEVEMENT! But again, not surprising. Our team of ResComs are a multi-talented hard-working diverse bunch of students who have worked extremely hard to strengthen their communities and enhance the digital literacy of others around them.
We’ve really focused intently on pedagogy this year. What’s pedagogy? It’s the way you learn. When looking at curriculum design, it’s less about the what and more about the how. How do we deliver dynamic interactive and fun workshops? To help, we hired an educational psychologist, Dr Christina Tuke Flanders, to assist our ResComs. Check out these blog-posts she assisted in: teaching tips for training.
We aim to continue this work through 2017. The restructuring of ResBaz 2017 will ensure that more students are exposed and have the opportunity to engage with our tools and services - as well as other University research services. Innovative and collaborative events such as Data Storytelling, MEDevice & the 3D Med Seminar will continue to grow and expand. More communities will snowball. More data will be collected. But none of this could be made possible without the fervour and relentless dedication of our Research Community Coordinators. Thank you, deeply.
Product Managers - Training & Engagement
Dejan Jotanovic & Nicole La Mela
