Open Educational Resources for Researcher Development Ian Fairweather, School of Social Sciences University of Manchester

Needs-based research methods resources PGR students have diverse needs. Many are unprepared and need help building critical research skills (Brown et al. 2007). Students often find courses in research methods difficult and challenging (Edwards and Thatcher 2004) Difficulty making the perceptual link between learning research methods and applying this knowledge and understanding to their own research (Benson and Blackman 2003). Researchers are more receptive to information when they recognize they need it.

Academics are invited to give talks on research methods. These are podcasted and released through youtube and itunes. In this way became a producer of OER’s What is..? talks have resulted in 129 audio-recordings posted on the web Recordings are popular, e.g. What is narrative analysis? has been watched an average of 135 times a month Additional short methods videos have been made, 19 to date. Structural Equation Modelling has been watched over 1000 times The website was not developed to be a repository of OER, but there are several eg JORUM, HUMBOXJORUMHUMBOX

Some student comments on OER: This is the first I've heard of 'OER'! 1. Recommendation from supervisors are always relevant to research studies 2. Resources mentioned in workshops also have high credibility although not necessarily always relevant to particular research 3.The easiest way to do it is by googling relevant keywords and you will find hits [I don’t use OER’s] because I don't know where to start, and how to make them count towards my research training hours I wish I could find the time to read more of what is available; my occupation with my research project limits me from reading on a topic that interests me, but is not directly related to where I am in my research at the moment. There's already so much to do and think about that I don't feel I have time or inclination to go searching for research methods training. I am not aware of the type and quality of the offered resources, so I do not use them often

Some Findings Quality assurance is a key issue in the use of OER’s for research methods teaching. Context and support – How do PGR’s and their supervisor know if a video will be suitable for them? Recommendation by supervisors, tutors or peers is a very significant factor in student’s use of resources and community of practice’ approach means that that there is a high level of awareness of the resources. Raising the profile of the university externally is at least as important as pedagogy in motivating release of OER Issues about copyright, licensing etc are of very low priority to staff and students, but branding is very important as a means of ensuring quality.

Vitae RDF Researcher Development Framework rcher-Development-Framework.html

Mapping to RDF In the short term the usefulness of the RDF in this context turned out to be limited, because engagement with the RDF among staff and students is very low. RDF too broad to provide sufficient granularity to map resources in a meaningful way. The development of a research methods ‘lens’ and tools to flag resources according to level of development using the phases of the RDF would certainly be a step in the right direction and it is possible to envision a significant role for OER in conjunction with these developments. In the longer term it is reasonable to assume that engagement with the RDF will increase as it becomes a more familiar tool for students and supervisors to determine their training needs and as researcher developers find more effective ways of using the RDF.

Reuse & Embed OERs Quality reviewed resources Time Customize Appearance Deal with copyright & consent at outset Repurposing needs: resource discovery, pedagogic, subject and technical skills

Skills Portal Skills Portal & RDF (Sieber 2012)

Creative Commons CC licenses

Some Advantages Enables interdisciplinary thinking in research methods. Live, and continuously updated. Redefines the tutor’s role in the teaching and learning interactions (Ehiyazaryan 2012). Development of academic practice. Concerns expressed when OER are seen as a time-saving mechanism (Ehiyazaryan 2012)

Conclusions OERs mapped to RDF Successfully in use for researcher development as: stand-alone resources within communities of practice embedded into research methods teaching Use more likely if recommended by trusted other Multimedia popular Students value independent learning Can “inspire” and “inform” teaching developments OER/Open data can offer real opportunities for student learning