Abstract
The way academic research is conducted and evaluated is changing. Researchers, funders and policy makers worldwide are exploring means to accelerate scientific progress by opening up all steps of the research cycle. Collectively, these new research practices are known as ‘Open Science’. Well known examples of such practices are making articles freely accessible (open access) and sharing of data (open data). But Open Science is broader than that and also includes, for example, public engagement, team science and reproducibility. In a broad sense, Open Science entails all research practices that increase the accessibility, transparency, reliability and science in society of research and research outputs (see box 1).
The Netherlands, and Utrecht University in particular, is at the forefront of Open Science. At the national level, the ambitions regarding Open Science have been formalized in the National Plan Open Science and are also part of the current governmental agreement. At Utrecht University, Open Science is an integral part of the strategic plan 2016-2020, and is operationalized in the UU Open Science Programme. Moreover, an increasing number of researchers is joining bottom-up Open Science Communities, such as the Open Science Community Utrecht, which are platforms to learn, share and discuss open science practices.
To warrant alignment of research and education, changing research practices should be reflected in the manner in which we educate our students. Moreover, by teaching Open Science practices, we contribute to a next generation of researchers, for whom open science will be the norm. The bachelor program is in this regard crucial to introduce these practices, as it is in this phase that students conceptualize and consolidate what science is.
We consulted bachelor directors and course coordinators to investigate the desirability and prevalence of Open Science practices in bachelor education. In the section ‘exploration’ we provide summaries of those meetings. In brief, the consensus was that (1) Open science practices are important for bachelor students, (2) the current prevalence of Open Science is limited, and (3) that the relevance and applicability of Open Science practices differs per discipline. In the section ‘implementation’ we propose general learning objectives regarding Open Science. To facilitate the incorporation of Open Science practices in curricula, we provide a collection of 25 teaching formats for various Open Science practices, organised per category (accessibility, transparency, reliability and science in society). We distinguish between Open Science practices that students encounter in the role of consumer of knowledge or producer of knowledge. For each bachelor program, one can select from and complement these teaching formats, to make Open Science an integral part of the respective curricula. We suggest that Open Science practices are to be introduced in Methods and Statistics courses, followed-up in courses of the respective curricula, and that Open Science practices are embedded in the bachelor thesis. Regarding the latter, there are many opportunities for Open Science practices in the bachelor thesis, which are discussed in a separate section.
The Netherlands, and Utrecht University in particular, is at the forefront of Open Science. At the national level, the ambitions regarding Open Science have been formalized in the National Plan Open Science and are also part of the current governmental agreement. At Utrecht University, Open Science is an integral part of the strategic plan 2016-2020, and is operationalized in the UU Open Science Programme. Moreover, an increasing number of researchers is joining bottom-up Open Science Communities, such as the Open Science Community Utrecht, which are platforms to learn, share and discuss open science practices.
To warrant alignment of research and education, changing research practices should be reflected in the manner in which we educate our students. Moreover, by teaching Open Science practices, we contribute to a next generation of researchers, for whom open science will be the norm. The bachelor program is in this regard crucial to introduce these practices, as it is in this phase that students conceptualize and consolidate what science is.
We consulted bachelor directors and course coordinators to investigate the desirability and prevalence of Open Science practices in bachelor education. In the section ‘exploration’ we provide summaries of those meetings. In brief, the consensus was that (1) Open science practices are important for bachelor students, (2) the current prevalence of Open Science is limited, and (3) that the relevance and applicability of Open Science practices differs per discipline. In the section ‘implementation’ we propose general learning objectives regarding Open Science. To facilitate the incorporation of Open Science practices in curricula, we provide a collection of 25 teaching formats for various Open Science practices, organised per category (accessibility, transparency, reliability and science in society). We distinguish between Open Science practices that students encounter in the role of consumer of knowledge or producer of knowledge. For each bachelor program, one can select from and complement these teaching formats, to make Open Science an integral part of the respective curricula. We suggest that Open Science practices are to be introduced in Methods and Statistics courses, followed-up in courses of the respective curricula, and that Open Science practices are embedded in the bachelor thesis. Regarding the latter, there are many opportunities for Open Science practices in the bachelor thesis, which are discussed in a separate section.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2019 |