Prioritizing Data Life Cycle Management for Shaping Next Generation Researchers

This project aims to serve the national interest by enabling the next generation of researchers to effectively and ethically plan, assure, preserve, and share their research data. Data are everywhere and the consequences of data misuse is of major concern in research and technological innovation. For science and engineering to deliver full value to society, next generation researchers need to be able to produce data that are accessible and ethically used and shared. This IUSE Engaged Student Learning Level 2 project focuses on undergraduate researchers and offers best practices, strategies, and toolkits to help achieve useful and ethical data management as they consume and produce data. The educational materials developed are intended to advance ethical data management education in a wide array of educational and research settings. Researchers across domains are increasingly leveraging data-driven methods to advance their scholarship. These practices require skills to effectively and ethically manage data throughout the research process. For undergraduate researchers who work with data in real research settings, there is much to master to assure that the data they work with and the conclusions drawn from that data are accurate and useful. With a focus on shaping the next generation of researchers in engineering and, more broadly in STEM, the project team plans to develop an evidence-based framework that will guide curricula designed to develop interdisciplinary competencies for “data life cycle ethical management.” Ethical concerns that could limit the accuracy and usefulness of data-driven results differ depending where in the data life cycle such concerns could be raised (i.e., plan, access, assure, describe, evaluate, preserve, and publish). By integrating and expanding two frameworks, the Research Data Life Cycle (RDLC) and Undergraduate Research Skill Development (RSD) framework, the project team will develop a model curriculum for data life cycle ethical management education. There are three specific objectives of the proposed project: (1) to determine undergraduate researchers’ competencies (knowledge, skills, and confidence) with respect to data life cycle ethical management, (2) to develop a framework for assessing students’ data life cycle ethical management skills within research, (3) to develop, implement, and disseminate open education resources and modules (curricula) for data life cycle ethical management to support the data competencies of the undergraduate researchers. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.