Doing Open Science in a Research-Based Seminar: Students’ Positioning Towards Openness in Higher Education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v23i3.6201

Keywords:

Open science, open education, open education practices, open educational resources, research-based teaching, collaboration, higher education, students’ attitudes

Abstract

This study investigates undergraduate students’ attitudes towards and experiences with open education practices (OEP) in a research-based linguistics seminar. Data was collected through written assignments in which two groups of students in subsequent terms were surveyed on their willingness to publish (a) academic posters in open access (OA); (b) teaching concepts as open educational resources (OER); and (c) personal reflections on the research process in OA. Through qualitative data analysis, we examine students’ apprehensions and motivations to publish their artifacts. We find that key motivators are a sense of belonging, personal reward, and an active contribution to a culture of collaboration, whereas apprehensions are grounded in concerns about the quality of their work, uncertainties about licensing, and fear of vulnerability through visibility. We show that open science practices and OEP can be combined synergistically in process-oriented, research-based, and collaborative seminar concepts, and we formulate recommendations for lecturers on how to successfully address OEP in the classroom.

Author Biographies

Naomi Truan, University of Leipzig

Dr. Naomi Truan is a Research and Teaching Fellow in German Linguistics at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Her research interests include political discourse, digital interactions, multilingual practices, educational contexts, and language ideologies. As an Alumna of the Open Science Fellows Program, she is committed to open science and science communication, including Open Educational Resources, on which she also blogs: https://icietla.hypotheses.org/. You can find her publications in Open Access here: https://cv.archives-ouvertes.fr/naomi-truan.

Dennis Dressel, University of Freiburg

Dennis Dressel is a doctoral student at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Having earned degrees in both Mathematics and French linguistics and literature, he has pursued linguistic research. Working within the methodological framework of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, his research strives for a fundamentally embodied understanding of language and social interaction. He currently works as a high school teacher in Berlin, Germany.

References

Abele-Brehm, A. E., Gollwitzer, M., Steinberg, U., & Schönbrodt, F. D. (2019). Attitudes toward open science and public data sharing. Social Psychology, 50(4), 252–260. https://doi.org/10/gf5j47

Allen, C., & Mehler, D. M. A. (2019). Open science challenges, benefits and tips in early career and beyond. PLOS Biology, 17(5), 1–14. https://doi.org/10/gf4hqr

Allen, I. E., & Seaman, J. (2014). Opening the curriculum: Open educational resources in US higher education, 2014. Babson Survey Research Group.

Anderson, T., Gaines, A., Leachman, C., & Williamson, E. P. (2017). Faculty and instructor perceptions of open educational resources in engineering. The Reference Librarian, 58(4), 257–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2017.1355768

Axe, J., Childs, E., DeVries, I., & Webster, K. (2020). Student experiences of open educational practices: A systematic literature review. Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society, 16(4), 67–75. https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1135340

Bellinger, F., & Mayrberger, K. (2019). Systematic Literature Review zu Open Educational Practices (OEP) in der Hochschule im europäischen Forschungskontext [Systematic literature review on open educational practices (OEP) in higher education in the European research context]. MedienPädagogik, 34, 19–46. https://doi.org/10/gg9np7

Carey, T., Davis, A., Ferreras, S., & Porter, D. (2015). Using open educational practices to support institutional strategic excellence in teaching, learning & scholarship. Open Praxis, 7(2), 161–171. https://doi.org/10/ggzfmm

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Sage.

Conrad, D., & Prinsloo, P. (2020). Open(ing) education: Theory and practice. Brill Sense.

Cooney, C. (2016). How do open educational resources (OERs) impact students? A qualitative study at New York City College of Technology, CUNY [Master’s thesis, City University of New York]. CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1347/

Corbin, J. M., & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 13(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10/bcmjqm

Cronin, C. (2017). Openness and praxis: Exploring the use of open educational practices in higher education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(5), 15–34. https://doi.org/10/gcshqb

Deimann, M. (2018). Open Education: Auf dem Weg zu einer offenen Hochschulbildung [Open education: towards open higher education]. Bielefeld: transcript.

Ehlers, U.-D. (2011). Extending the territory: From open educational resources to open educational practices. Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning, 15(2), 1–10.

Ehlers, U.-D., & Conole, G. (2010). Open educational practices: Unleashing the power of OER.

Haaker, M., & Morgan-Brett, B. (2017). Developing research-led teaching: Two cases of practical data reuse in the classroom. SAGE Open, 7(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10/gh7m6z

Harley, D., Lawrence, S., Acord, S. K., & Dixson, J. (2010). Affordable and open textbooks: An exploratory study of faculty attitudes. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 2(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10/gf645z

Hilton, J., Hilton, B., Ikahihifo, T. K., Chaffee, R., Darrow, J., Guilmett, J., & Wiley, D. (2020). Identifying student perceptions of different instantiations of open pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 21(4), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v21i4.4895

Huber, L. (2014). Forschungsbasiertes, Forschungsorientiertes, Forschendes Lernen: Alles dasselbe? Ein Plädoyer für eine Verständigung über Begriffe und Unterscheidungen im Feld forschungsnahen Lehrens und Lernens [Research-based, research-oriented, learning how to do research: all the same? A plea for an understanding of terms and distinctions in the field of research-based teaching and learning]. Forschendes Lernen, (62) 1+2, 22–29.

Issa, A. I., Ibrahim, M. A., Onojah, A. O., & Onojah, A. A. (2020). Undergraduates’ attitude towards the utilization of open educational resources for learning. International Journal of Technology in Education and Science, 4(3), 227–234. https://doi.org/10/gmxkgh

Jurado, R. G., & Pettersson, T. (2020). Attitudes and utilization of open educational resources. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:878290/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Karunanayaka, S., Naidu, S., Rajendra, J. C. N., & Ratnayake, H. U. W. (2015). From OER to OEP: Shifting practitioner perspectives and practices with innovative learning experience design. Open Praxis, 7(4), 339–350. https://doi.org/10/ggzfmk

Lalonde, C. (2012, October 18). Open is a noun, verb, adjective . . . and an attitude. EdTech Factotum. https://edtechfactotum.com/open-is-a-noun-verb-adjective-and-an-attitude/

Langfelder, H. (2018). OER an der Hochschule aufbauen—Ein Fragenkatalog [Developing OER in higher education: a list of questions]. https://oer.amh-ev.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/OERinForm-Fragenkatalog-OER-an-der-Hochschule-aufbauen-.pdf.

Lee, M. Y., Albright, S., O’Leary, L., Terkla, D. G., & Wilson, N. (2008). Expanding the reach of health sciences education and empowering others: The OpenCourseWare initiative at Tufts University. Medical Teacher, 30(2), 159–163. https://doi.org/10/bwgzh6

Mishra, S. (2017). Open educational resources: Removing barriers from within. Distance Education, 38(3), 369–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2017.1369350

Pomerantz, J., & Peek, R. (2016). Fifty shades of open. First Monday. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i5.6360

Pownall, M., Talbot, C. V., Henschel, A., Lautarescu, A., Lloyd, K. E., Hartmann, H., Darda, K. M., Tang, K. T. Y., Carmichael-Murphy, P., & Siegel, J. A. (2021). Navigating open science as early career feminist researchers. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 45 (4), 526–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843211029255

Seaman, J. E., & Seaman, J. (2017). Opening the textbook: Educational resources in US higher education, 2017. Babson Survey Research Group.

Smith, M. L., & Seward, R. (2017). Openness as social practice. First Monday, 22(4). https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/7073/6087

Steinhardt, I. (2020). Learning Open Science by doing Open Science. A reflection of a qualitative research project-based seminar. Education for Information, 36(3), 263–279. https://doi.org/10/ghhv2h

Truan, N., & Dressel, D. (2021). Das eigene digitale Schreiben erforschen: Ein sprachwissenschaftliches Seminarkonzept zur Produktion, Analyse und Reflexion eigener digitaler Schreibpraktiken für angehende Deutschlehrkräfte [Exploring one’s own digital writing: a linguistics seminar concept for prospective German teachers on producing, analyzing, and reflecting on one’s own digital writing practices]. Herausforderung Lehrer*innenbildung - Zeitschrift zur Konzeption, Gestaltung und Diskussion, 4(1), 378–397. https://doi.org/10/gnkn7r

Weller, M. (2018). Navigating the open educational practice landscape. Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 3(1), 58–63. https://doi.org/10/gh63fr

Werth, E., & Williams, K. (2021). What motivates students about open pedagogy? Motivational regulation through the lens of self-determination theory. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 22(3), 34–54. https://doi.org/10/gmvkvq

Wiley, D. (2014). The access compromise and the 5th R. https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/3221

Wiley, D., Bliss, T. J., & McEwen, M. (2014). Open educational resources: A review of the literature. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen, & M. J. Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (pp. 781–789). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3185-5_63

Wiley, D., & Hilton III, J. L. (2018). Defining OER-enabled pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(4). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v19i4.3601

Zimmermann, C. (2018). Leitfaden für die Erstellung von Open Educational Resources. Informationen und praktische Übungen für Hochschullehrende. [Guide to create open educational resources. Information and practical exercises for university teachers.] Open Education Austria. https://www.openeducation.at/fileadmin/user_upload/p_oea/OEA-Leitfaden_online_Aufl2.pdf

Downloads

Published

2022-09-01

How to Cite

Truan, N., & Dressel, D. (2022). Doing Open Science in a Research-Based Seminar: Students’ Positioning Towards Openness in Higher Education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 23(3), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v23i3.6201

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 3 (2022)

Section

Research Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. The copyright of all content published in IRRODL is retained by the authors.

This copyright agreement and use license ensures, among other things, that an article will be as widely distributed as possible and that the article can be included in any scientific and/or scholarly archive.

You are free to

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms below:

  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.