3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
[MGI31-07] A Rubric for Research Data Management in Earth and Space Science
Keywords:research data management, Rubric, Earth and Space science
There is almost no systematic way for students and new researchers at Japanese universities to acquire the skills of research data management (RDM). Instead, they learn to manage data by themselves through trial and error or by emulating the RDM practices of their supervisors. While neither approach to acquiring skill with RDM is particularly effective, there is broad agreement that well-managed data improves the quality and efficiency of research. In fact, many research journals now require open access to data as part of the review process and increasingly, journal readers want to view the evidence that actual data can provide. However, without proper RDM skills, it is difficult for authors to prepare datasets for uploading to appropriate data repositories. To promote RDM education, we are developing a series of rubrics with discipline-specific strategies for effective RDM, beginning with Earth and Space Science. These rubrics allow new researchers to improve their RDM skills through a step-by-step approach. Our Earth and Space Science rubric organizes RDM criteria into four general areas: "Planning for Data", "Organizing Data", "Analyzing Data" and "Sharing and Publishing Data". Each area features six or seven criteria that describe four possible levels of measurable achievement in one or more RDM skills. The rubric will be housed within an ePortfolio that invites new researchers to develop RDM skills individually and in collaboration with peers, document their efforts with multimedia evidence, self-assess using the rubric criteria at appropriate intervals, and share their progress with others. An initial version of the Earth and Space Science rubric will be presented.